Home Center Merchant

Bill Fishman

Bill Fishman & Affiliates

11650 lberia Place

ONUe earned a black belt in shop- Y ping. Since the mall opened only one highway exit north, she can pick up her catalog purchase at Penney's, do the May Company cosmetic counter. grab lunch at Broadway and make it back to her desk on a one hour lunch break.

San Diego, Ca.92128 stores shy away from shopping mall locations. The higher rents, the poor receiving lacilities for bulk merchandise, and the limited merchandise pick up areas flor customer purchases are the primary disadvantages. But I've begun to wonder whether the traflic that a mall delivers doesn'l more than comDensate for the added rent and inconveniences. Sears does a great job of merchandising bulky hardwares at malls. So do the major department stores and anchor mass merchandisers.

Occasionally, on a weekend l)onna will invite me along for the ride. The minute we hit the mall I head straight for lJrookstone's. I'm intrigued with their merchandise mix. lt's interesting that the average Brookstone Co. store is about one-fifth the size of the average home center or hardware store, but I find that I can spend much more time browsing through one. Maybe there is a lesson to be learned by their product mix, their merchandise presentation and their store locations.

Typically, home center and hardware

The merchandise selection for mall location home centers might have to be tailored back. Lumber could be limited to shorts and eight footers. Take-withyou paneling could leave through the back door. Delivery might become the most important store service. But there would also be room for expanding the merchandise selection.

Take a good look at some of the interesting home items at Brookstone's and The Sharper Image. Upscaled sundials, flat garden hoses, unique flashlites. unusual garden tools. sonic gopher chasers. etc. By the way. these are some of the household items that keep the Brookstone stores jammed between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

It's the merchandise presentation that makes shopping so inviting at Brookstone. Most items are ,?0t mass displayed on the selling floor. Products are given lots of room lor display and the merchandise is delivered to a pick up counter after a ticket is written. The signing for each item is magnificent. The copy is carefully written so that even the most mundane product appears as an exotic one-of-a-kind-fi nd.

There are higher operating costs for a mall operation: rent, high tech displays, material handling, etc., but I'm sure that every home center operator also would be envious of the margins that mall merchants record.

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