In search of that special feeling
Ray Allegrezza, Editor in Chief -- Furniture Today, March 25, 2007
As you shop this week's market, I want to share this advice with you: Spend as much energy envisioning how you'll merchandise the product as you do shopping for it. You probably don't need to be reminded that retail in general continues to be tough. Or that the housing market is slowing down while uncertainty about the economy is escalating.
Still, you can find a number of good-news stories in the retail arena. A perfect example is Apple. Five years ago, the computer company was pondering its future and determined that opening branded stores was the answer.
Apple's detractors said it was biting off way more than it could chew. Business magazines such as Business Week ran stories predicting a short, disastrous run.
But they failed to consider how well Apple CEO Steve Jobs had done his homework. He discovered that Mickey Drexler, running The Gap at the time, had a reputation as one of the best retailers around, and Jobs put him on Apple's board. Jobs then searched for the best person to run the retail venture and ultimately hired Ron Johnson, then a merchandising executive at Target.
The team put their heads together and designed stores that celebrated — not merely sold — product. If you've been in an Apple store you know that it's as much about the experience as it is the products. Jobs has said: "People haven't been willing to invest this much time and money or engineering in a store before."
But as he points out, the money spent or even the architecture of the stores is not the critical element. It's an intangible — the feel of the store — that makes it work. Speaking of Apple's customers, Jobs has said, "They just feel it. They feel something's a little different."
That intangible, however, is incredibly tangible at the cash register. Apple stores generate more than $4,000 per square foot.
So, with that in mind, welcome to market. Some 2600 exhibitors and 12 million square feet of showroom space await you. There's certainly no shortage of new product or opportunities.
My hope is that you will use what you discover here to help you create a retail experience so remarkable that your customers, like Apple's, feel something special when they walk into your store.
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