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May 2009

Retail Superstars: Inside the 25 Best
Independent Stores in America

Drive down any main street of any city or town in America and you will pass dozens and dozens of stores. In some places the stores are bunched together in large shopping malls or strip centers. In many of the largest cities most of the stores will be part of a national chain. Others may be part of a regional or local chain. Still others just might be single store businesses.

In a nation with far too many stores, there are some highly successful, independent stores that have grown and prospered regardless of the competition or the economy. These stores stand out in a sea of me-too stores that tend to look alike and sell the same merchandise.

MY JOURNEY TO FIND THE BEST!

Six years ago I set out to find the best independent stores in the United States. The process of researching and visiting hundreds of independent stores has resulted in my new book, Retail Superstars. Each chapter describes one of these stores, the owners and staff, and some history of how they progressed from a humble start-up to their considerable success today.

Yes, I considered far more than the 25 stores that eventually made the book. The others didn't make the cut for a variety of reasons. They were either not distinctive enough, successful enough, in business long enough, or what I considered the very best. While the decision about which stores were in the book was mine, these stores have all achieved success by satisfying the needs of their customers. After all, customers ultimately judge which stores achieve superstardom.

In the not-too-distant past, any look at or profiles done of successful independent stores generally were limited to small mom-and-pop stores that had achieved some level of notoriety within their communities. That absolutely is not the story I tell in this book. These highly successful independent stores and the merchants who oversee them are nothing like the mom and pops of days gone by.

Several of the stores see hundreds of thousands of visitors each year and a couple see more than a million visitors each year. A number of the stores generate sales in excess of $50 million annually. One generates nearly $300 million annually.

While a couple of the stores are small measuring less than 2,000 square feet, most are large. One store tops out at an astounding 300,000 square feet, which is substantially larger than most of Wal-Mart's superstores or Costco's warehouse clubs.

Each of the 25 stores is truly unique and that is their most effective strength. It is how they compete favorably with national chains and larger competitors. Some are unique in their merchandise offerings and selections. Others are unique in their store environments. And still others are unique in the service and services they provide. One characteristic that clearly stands out about each of these great independent retail businesses is the nearly obsessive commitment the ownership, management, and staff have for providing customers with an outstanding shopping experience.

For years we've been talking about improving the customer experience in stores. But for the most part, the experience in stores hasn't really improved much. Customers still get ignored. They still have a hard time finding what they came into the store to buy. And they still get treated with apathy or worse by associates.

As you read about and hopefully visit the stores profiled in Retail Superstars, you will discover that providing a great in-store experience is part of the culture, business philosophy, and an integral part of their daily operations. You will also learn some little things these retailers do that make a huge difference in a customer's in-store experience.

RetailSuperstars.com shows photos of the stores, has book reviews by several publications, and provides links to web sites for ordering. We are also in the process of creating YouTube videos for several of the stores. The first, Retail Superstars Part 1, shows Jungle Jim's International Market and the second video, Retail Superstars Part 2, shows Abt Electronics.

A PERSONAL REQUEST!

Retail Superstars, like any book published by a major publishing house (in this case Portfolio, a division of the Penguin Group), will be available in most of the major brick-and-mortar stores and online book-selling sites. But I encourage you to buy it from your local independent bookstore or from Powell's City of Books in Portland, Oregon. Powell's is one of America's great book stores and is featured in the book.

I strongly believe we need to support great independent stores of all kinds, because if we don't the day may come when we look around and every single store in every community in America will be part of a big chain. They will all look alike, sell the same merchandise, and lack the creativity and personality the independents give us.

THE CHANGING ROLE OF DEBIT AND CREDIT CARDS!

As this is written, both the U.S. House and Senate are working on major revisions in the rules credit card companies must follow. The two houses will have to come to a mutual agreement on the actual provisions of the bill, but with significant majorities voting for the bills in both houses, there's little doubt they will quickly settle any differences. As to what this means for retailers, we'll have to wait and see. It is important we pay attention to what the credit card companies might change after they adopt the new rules.

According to a recent announcement by Visa, for the first time in the short history of debit cards, fourth quarter 2008 saw consumer use of debit cards exceed that of credit cards. The increase in debit card use can be attributed to the fact that consumers seem to prefer using debit cards over writing checks and carrying cash. The decrease in credit card use may also be a byproduct of the recession. With consumers tightening their budgets they don't want to take on the debt using credit cards allows.

MORE STORE OPENING NEWS!

Even in this time of recession, retail bankruptcies, and declining consumer confidence, some retailers are sticking to their aggressive plans for new store openings. According to retail real estate information provider CoStar Group, Walgreens will open an additional 540 drugstores this year. CVS plans to open 275 new stores. Wal-Mart is opening 125 additional SuperCenters. Office Depot has 118 new stores planned for this year. And Gap will open an additional 100 stores. In a somewhat surprising move, JC Penney announced this week that it will open 17 new department stores in 2009.

Until next month...

THIS KEYNOTE ADDRESSES TODAY'S ECONOMIC TURMOIL AND PROVIDES PROVEN STRATEGIES RETAILERS CAN USE TO SURVIVE AND THRIVE

Anytime there are significant changes in the economy, consumer buying habits, and the consumer marketplace in general, it's important for retailers to take a look at what they ARE doing as well as what they are NOT doing to improve, fine-tune, and grow their businesses.

Rather than being reactionary to tough times, it is far more productive to challenge the status quo, evaluate all the costs associated with operating a retail company in this new environment, and reposition the business for when the economy turns back around.

In this eye-opening presentation, retail expert George Whalin, will discuss five things retailers should STOP doing and five things they should START doing right now to survive and thrive in these tough economic times.

The ideas and tips George shares in this valuable presentation are real-world solutions to the challenges retailers face every day in these difficult times.

THIS IS A PROGRAM RETAILERS WON'T WANT TO MISS!

Whether you're planning a convention, trade show, corporate conference, or managers' meeting, a presentation by George Whalin will add value for your attendees. Check out George's other presentation topics at whalinonretail.com.

If you have an opinion or thoughts about any of the topics posted, I invite you to comment at retailerblog.com It's easy to do. And if you have a topic you would like to see addressed on the blog, send me an e-mail at george@whalinonretail.com.

An Invaluable Resource in Tough Economic Times!

George Whalin's book RETAIL SUCCESS! provides real-world solutions to the challenges retailers face in these troubling economic times. This book, filled with George Whalin's retail expertise, is written in the same easy-to-grasp style as his monthly newsletters.

Go to our web site today where you'll find several other books in addition to RETAIL SUCCESS that George recommends.

We encourage you to pass this publication along to your associates and colleagues. If all or any portion of this newsletter is reproduced in another publication, attribution should read as follows: Copyright 2009. Reprinted with permission from George Whalin's Retail Management E-Letter. To occasionally reprint portions of this newsletter one time, no express permission is required. To reprint in more than one venue or multiple articles, please contact us at 800-766-1908 or info@whalinonretail.com.

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