When you lose that special spark

The Bombay Company’s plan to close its U.S. stores prompted me to search Furniture/Today’s archives to find stories we’d published earlier about the retailer. The headline on a story in our Sept. 15, 1986, issue caught my eye: “Bombay targets growth through expansion.” 

In that story, then-Bombay President Robert Benda told Furniture/Today the chain would continue its stellar growth by a greater focus on reliable suppliers, a refined product mix and regional mall locations. 

He also mentioned a stronger emphasis on proprietary designs and new adaptations of traditional pieces as key ingredients for success. Those of you in the business back then know that Bombay’s eclectic and design-driven mix helped put it in the passing lane of the retail fast track. 

As one of the earliest importers of mostly flat-pack lifestyle furniture and accents, Bombay’s fresh assortment, vivid presentations and distinctive looks rapidly helped set it apart from the comparatively vanilla-flavored offerings of traditional furniture stores. 

And for a time, Bombay was the bomb; the baron of buzz; the prince of presentation. 

But funny things — or in this case, not-so-funny things — happen to specialty retailers who lose the ability to be special. For one, competitors smell an opportunity and make their move. 

In Bombay’s case, big-box retailers such as Costco, catalogers and Internet retailers seemed to come out of the woodwork, offering similar products that came fully assembled, often at sharper prices. Consumers, by nature fickle, began to shop elsewhere for the next hot thing. 

Bombay said it would reinvent itself, but if indeed it ever did, the changes weren’t dramatic enough to reignite the spark. In retrospect, one also could question Bombay’s decision to put so many of its stores in expensive malls. 

High rents aside, the logistics of a mall didn’t favor the take-with nature of its business. Buying a dress or a suit, then carrying it out to the far end of the parking lot makes a lot more sense than trying to haul a heavy marble-top cocktail table out to your car. 

Some say retail is theater. I agree. But how many times will you go back to see a movie, even a great one, once you know the ending?