Home Center Merchant

Bill Fishman

Bill Fishman & Atfiliates

11650 lberia Place

San Diego, Ca.92128

IfHREE of the most interesting new I types of stores in the United States are The Sharper Image, Banana Republic and Brookstone Company. I am always drawn to them like a magnet.

There is more than one common denominator in their operations. All three offer unique merchandise-much of which cannot be found in other stores. Two of the three feature hi-tech merchandise. All three offer the shopper an out-of+he-ordinary shopping experience with their visual merchandising techniques. Brookstone Company even brings novelty to the way the merchandise is brought to the customer on a conveyor system.

If you have never actually visited one of these stores, you are probably familiar with these companies through their mail order divisions (that is their other common thread). Each produces an exciting, careful- ly written catalogr that demands at least perusing if not digesting every word. The Sharper Image Catalog has been offered to passengers as in-flight reading for many y€rs.

Brookstone Company and The Sharper Image offer unusual hard-lines merchandise in consumer electronics, hardware and office accessories. Banana Republic features clothing, mostly in khaki for the sportsperson (especially the hunter) and tc day's avant garde casual dresser. A walk through a Banana Republic store delivers the feeling of shopping for your next safari adventure. Almost every giument has a story to tell about its original design and function (i.e.: an Italian air force officer shirt).

The other two stores display most of their goods in almost a picture frame settingone of a kind on display with the inventory in the back room. Each item is easy to touch and has a small sign with a complete description.

The sites for these stores iue carefully selected in high foot traffic shopping areas catering to the more affluent shopper. What I find unusual is that their customer profrle is the same shopper who buys his brand name sporting goods, appliances, liquor, tools and office supplies at the Price Club. tlf you have never s€en their merchandise offerings, I suggest you rnd for their catalogs.

So why are you reading about three specialty stores in this publication?

Because, if nr as home center merchants adapted some of these concepts and devoted some in-store spa.ce to highly unusual (no matter what the retail price), exotic products, dramatically displayed and alternated frequently, maybe we could increase the store traffic and get out of head-to-head price combat with warehouse operators. Commens please!

Banana Republic Catalog Sales

175 Bluxome Street

San Francisco, Ca. 94175

Brookstone Company Catalog Sales

5 Vose Farm Road

Peterborough, N.H. 03458

The Sharper Image Catalog Sales

680 Davis Street

San Francisco, Ca. 94lll