Closings, grease marks spark retailer responses
David Perry, Executive editor -- Furniture Today, February 24, 2003
Some of my retail friends have weighed in on a couple of issues I raised here recently. I'm sharing their points with you this week for two reasons. One is that their views are interesting. The other is that I want to remind you that your comments are always welcome. A good discussion of any issue is healthy. Got that? OK.
We begin with the question of what happens when a bedding retailer closes its doors. Where does that business go? is the $64,000 question. As you may recall, I cleverly covered all the bases in an earlier column. I noted that some bedding experts say most of the business goes away, while others say most of it will shift to other retailers.
One retailer wrote: "I will share an experience with you. In 1993 (a bedding specialty store) closed across the street from my store. Initially business increased, only to fall a few quarters later. From experience, I believe that without retailers promoting bedding, and with depressed conditions, sales will fall. In the end it depends on the consumer."
So this retailer says, with real-life experience to back him up, that less promotion means fewer bedding sales.
I also got a thoughtful letter from Herme A. Bloom of Home Budget Center in New Castle, Del. He noted the question I raised — Where does the business go? — cannot be clearly answered unless the retail scene can be studied in a controlled environment. And that isn't possible, of course.
Nevertheless, Bloom offered these points:
First, the established dealers in the market who maintain a good reputation will gain market share from consumers who are loyal to a store that treats them well, or who buy at the first store they visit.
Second, the consumers who respond to advertising promotions of one sort or another also will be shared by the remaining bedding retailers.
Third, business does not expand with the number of stores that enter the market. The pie just gets sliced thinner. In other words, there is a finite amount of business out there.
Finally, we move on to the topic of grease marks on mattresses. As you may recall, a retailer told me those marks are a big problem. Amen, said a major retailer who called after he read that column.
This retailer, whose name you would immediately recognize, said he pulled two vendors off his floor, whose names you also would immediately recognize, for a variety of reasons, including grease marks. "This is a huge problem in our industry," the retailer told me.
But his story had a happy ending: He switched his business to a producer who is able "to keep grease out of the mattress bag."
So all is not lost on the grease mark front. On that note, we thank each of our respondents. As they say: Keep those cards and letters coming.
