The State of Retailing....
It's interesting to look back at the retailers who use to be, but are no longer: Circuit City, Montgomery Ward, Venture, K's Merchandise, Waldenbooks, Borders (just to name a few).
Looking at the state of retailing today, I wonder who will be the next to fall? For several Christmas's now, news has reported how dire the situation is at K-Mart, Sears and Toys R Us. But, enough has apparently happened to keep those stores alive. But, I feel the situation at K-Mart and Sears is bordering on "dire". Customer service in those stores flat-out stinks. Our K-Mart is dirty, disorganized and often does not have a great selection (if any) of items that are on sale. Our Sears has shut-down over 50% of the store... blocking off corridors once filled with families and shopping carts and turning off the lights. It is a sad shell of what it use to be... going all the way back to when it occupied the current Decatur Public Library building.
And, J C Penney is in a real pickle too. Their management's decision to completely change their marketing strategy... and change it pretty much "cold turkey".... has really, really flopped. I read yesterday that same-store sales were down 16% for 1st quarter, and that's even with their reinstatement of the coupons and discounts that they were known for, prior to the cold turkey change a couple years back.
Other than K-Mart, I wonder about the other 3 big "box retailers": Wal-Mart, Target, Meijer. I really enjoy both Target and Meijer. Wal-Mart was so cool back in my high school days.... now, it seems to be a shadow of its former self, with fewer customer service associates and more "junk" from overseas rather than "MADE IN U.S.A.". More and more, I hear people saying they prefer Target, even if prices are higher than Wallyworld.
And then there's Walgreens vs. CVS. Just as Wal-Mart killed many of the small, family-run hardware, grocery and general merchandise stores across our land, these 2 drugstore behemoths are doing a number on small-town drugstores. Seems like it's hard to find a street corner along the high-traffic corridors anymore that doesn't have one of these 2 sitting on it. Both are pricey.
What about Lowes vs. Home Depot vs. Menards ? Constant competition between these 3 for the mighty "lumber buck". I still have a real problem being able to buy my milk and cereal at the same place (Menards) I buy deck screws, but if that's their genius marketing strategy, more power to them. It's all about diversifying themselves from the others.
And finally we've got the Dollar General vs. Family Dollar vs. Dollar Tree match-up. Stores everywhere. Some of the stuff a deal. Some of the stuff cheap junk made overseas. How many stores can these folks build and their neighborhoods support? I will admit though that it is fun to go into a Dollar Tree and find the wackiest thing to spend a dollar on. You oughtta check out my cool fedora that I picked up!
I wish I had more time to study these competitor competitions more closely, looking at marketing plans and studying the financials. There's some real fights going on to keep from being the next Circuit City.
Looking at the state of retailing today, I wonder who will be the next to fall? For several Christmas's now, news has reported how dire the situation is at K-Mart, Sears and Toys R Us. But, enough has apparently happened to keep those stores alive. But, I feel the situation at K-Mart and Sears is bordering on "dire". Customer service in those stores flat-out stinks. Our K-Mart is dirty, disorganized and often does not have a great selection (if any) of items that are on sale. Our Sears has shut-down over 50% of the store... blocking off corridors once filled with families and shopping carts and turning off the lights. It is a sad shell of what it use to be... going all the way back to when it occupied the current Decatur Public Library building.
And, J C Penney is in a real pickle too. Their management's decision to completely change their marketing strategy... and change it pretty much "cold turkey".... has really, really flopped. I read yesterday that same-store sales were down 16% for 1st quarter, and that's even with their reinstatement of the coupons and discounts that they were known for, prior to the cold turkey change a couple years back.
Other than K-Mart, I wonder about the other 3 big "box retailers": Wal-Mart, Target, Meijer. I really enjoy both Target and Meijer. Wal-Mart was so cool back in my high school days.... now, it seems to be a shadow of its former self, with fewer customer service associates and more "junk" from overseas rather than "MADE IN U.S.A.". More and more, I hear people saying they prefer Target, even if prices are higher than Wallyworld.
And then there's Walgreens vs. CVS. Just as Wal-Mart killed many of the small, family-run hardware, grocery and general merchandise stores across our land, these 2 drugstore behemoths are doing a number on small-town drugstores. Seems like it's hard to find a street corner along the high-traffic corridors anymore that doesn't have one of these 2 sitting on it. Both are pricey.
What about Lowes vs. Home Depot vs. Menards ? Constant competition between these 3 for the mighty "lumber buck". I still have a real problem being able to buy my milk and cereal at the same place (Menards) I buy deck screws, but if that's their genius marketing strategy, more power to them. It's all about diversifying themselves from the others.
And finally we've got the Dollar General vs. Family Dollar vs. Dollar Tree match-up. Stores everywhere. Some of the stuff a deal. Some of the stuff cheap junk made overseas. How many stores can these folks build and their neighborhoods support? I will admit though that it is fun to go into a Dollar Tree and find the wackiest thing to spend a dollar on. You oughtta check out my cool fedora that I picked up!
I wish I had more time to study these competitor competitions more closely, looking at marketing plans and studying the financials. There's some real fights going on to keep from being the next Circuit City.
