In some of the glowing reviews of my new book, some writers and bloggers have called attention to the fact I am referred to throughout the book as Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor®.
There’s a reason, it is a registered trademark of my business, the Retail Doctor; legal counsel insisted. Continue reading Why I’m Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor with a ® »
People often ask me for the “magic bullet;” that one thing that will make them money.
In a word, it is being “remarkable.” Most of us only have remarkable when the Dow drops 900 or gains 900 points.
Remarkable is doing a job so well your customers have to talk to someone about it.
They engage their friends and market your business in ways you can’t imagine. That is the power of being remarkable.
Case in point, when I was in Mexico, I discovered Explore Cancun Tours offered an all-day bus tour from Cancun to the Yucatan peninsula. They provided onboard snacks, lunch at a local restaurant complete with local girls dancing native dances, expert narration, ice-cold Coronas waiting for us as we reboarded the bus and a hospitality and graciousness rarely seen. Continue reading Retail Marketing: Ask For Referrals »
Blame Marky Mark and Calvin Klein for igniting the half-naked boy phenomenon back in 1992. It launched the underwear category to new heights. It was new. It was bold. It was eye-catching. 
Fast-forward 18 years later…
I was on Alex Witt’s MSNBC program last weekend to talk about Abercrombie & Fitch and their reissue of their soft-porn catalogue. It ran from the late 90’s until 2003 and features semi-naked and naked boys and girls shot in black and white by photographer Bruce Weber – just like the last time.
But a lot has changed in 7 years …
Back then, many parents were upset about it and launched boycotts. That was before Facebook and other social media let them spread the word quickly.
A bigger problem bringing it out in 2010, is the way it ties into the very real problem of sextexting with teenagers sending naked photos of themselves to each other. If you doubt the problem, check out the new PSA about it here.
My take on the Abercrombie & Fitch catalogue and their brand? Emperor’s New Clothes.
Pundits have stated that it is a “brilliant move” to “reconnect with their core customers.” Maybe. Maybe.
Here are the bare facts…
The real story is same store sales were down double-digits in 2009 and still down 3% in May of 2010 when other retailers were posting increases, some in double digits. Take a look at these charts from retailsails.com
Time magazine did a great Abercrombie profile a couple months ago on CEO Mike Jeffries. He was named one of the five Highest Paid Worst Performers of 2008 by the Corporate Library (his 2009 compensation has yet to be disclosed.)
There is definitely a swagger and arrogance to the brand. Whether it is the over-perfumed stores, loud music or using sex to sell but there’s more.
One site has a comment from a person saying they were an A & F manager, “It is true that the company cares more about whether we have a hot new girl working than if we made a customer angry or not. We are to keep the store looking up to “standard” so associates have to constantly fold and replenish, regardless if there is a long line at the register.”
Last weekend, when I asked Alex if she would let her kids shop at Abercrombie & Fitch, she immediately said, “No.”
What if I had asked Alex if she would let her kids drink Starbucks and she had said, “No”? Can you imagine what Howard Shultz would have done? Called up his marketing guys immediately, “Find out why, correct it, get them back. We can’t afford to lose customers.”
As much as Abercrombie wants to be a club, its not a celebrity – its a clothing store. If “sex sells” then why have they lost so many of their customers? Sure their Manhattan store sells 100 million a year to gawker tourists, but how about the 100 locations they are looking to close in the US according to istockanalyst.com?
Abercrombie & Fitch
What’s different from 2003 when their last catalogue was printed is many kids still live at home and mom and dad have to pay for their clothes in light of high credit card bills, decreased income and job uncertainty.
So you want to piss them off? There’s cutting edge and then there’s what my mom used to call cutting your nose off to spite your face.
I may be in the minority here but this is a desperate measure to try and say how the brand is still relevant when the market has shifted.
How do you know if your brand is out of touch?
These are by no means all the ways but whether you are Apple, Aeropostale or Abercrombie & Fitch, you still need to take in what others show and tell you. If its not working, you change course to move forward, not hope for past glory.
Otherwise, your own hubris lets you think you’re parading in diamond-encrusted robes when in reality, you’re naked.
Learn how to grow your business here.
I received a call from a reporter Friday looking for comment about Aldi, a giant grocery chain of over 800 stores in the US with an average size of 17,000 sq. ft. They don’t take credit cards, no baggers, deli, flowers, etc. Oh yeah and no name brands – its all private label.
This flies in the face of stores like Safeway’s smaller footprint The Market that has only a handful of the best brands – at higher markups – in all categories. This allows them to add more profitable fresh fruits, prepared meals, expanded Deli and a Starbucks.
Here’s the kicker, after debuting nearly two years ago, The Market still only has one prototype in Long Beach, CA. Aldi is opening 100 in 2010 and even more in 2011. That got me to thinking, “Are Retailers Banking On America Becoming Poorer?”
Read any of the breathless articles on the Dollar Stores and their meteoric rise in stock price and you’re sure to receive the message that Americans are trading down. But are we doing less with less?
America’s retail was founded on aspirational shopping. We wanted things that meant we were better than the other guy or would make use feel smarter or would help us to appear who we perceived ourselves to be. That led to all the name brands’ marketing campaigns for new and improved-which often cost more.
Now brand names are selling off their unique selling propositions to compete with their own premium products as “private label.” Exact same PMS colors describe the product in such similar terms – who wouldn’t pick the private label?
Look no further than legendary detergent Tide. The Wall Street Journal reported last year that Tide Basic is currently for sale in about 100 stores throughout the South. It lacks some of the cleaning capabilities of the iconic brand — and costs about 20% less. You settle for less to receive less. Its very existence is one of the most telling signs to date of how mass marketers are trading down themselves.
Are we willing to settle for less? Less service? Less choice? Less aspiration? Does that make us feel better after working all day? And what does that do to our psyche?
OK rabid anti-capitalists – don’t flood me with your “of course we’re wrong.” I’m talking to the bulk of you working, shopping and living some form of American dream that I am. Yes its not what we were taught in the sixties but it is still founded on merch – creating and consuming a wide variety.
John Winthrop admonished the future Massachusetts Bay colonists that their new community would be a “shining city upon a hill,” watched by the world. Presidents Kennedy and Regan both quoted that term frequently to invoke pride and hope.
After 9/11, the housing bubble and recession, are we forever to be picking through generic “stuff?” Responsible to scan, pay and bag ourselves and leave feeling that we deserved the Yugo instead of the Lexus? And are retailers who dwell in the Rent-To-Own, Discount Dollars segment just riding a trend that could be ending or reinforcing our worst fears and reshaping retail?
And if we keep settling, how does that play out? For example in:
EBay and the rest continue to diminish expectations. Sorry, it’s used or a second, it’s not smart.
Will we become even more disaffected, depressed and unable to sleep as we settle for minimal experiences that reinforce a siege mentality?
What do you think? Are businesses banking on us becoming poorer?
Don’t forget: my new book The Retail Doctor’s Guide to Growing Your Business, a step-by-step approach to quickly diagnose, treat and cure (Wiley & Sons) in stores Monday, May 3.
In an article by Jennifer Saranow in the WSJ , Gap Inc. says it has trained “hundreds of thousands” of Gap store employees in the art of folding since the late 1980s.
The folding craze at Gap began in the 1980s when Millard Drexler, who as a boy had sorted towels at his uncle’s towel-delivery service, took the helm as president of the Gap Stores division. Mr. Drexler and his team put tables in Gap stores and had employees decorate them with piles of folded shirts and sweaters. The goal was to better emphasize certain items and color choices and make it easier for customers to sort through clothes.
These former employees now fold their clothing meticulously even going so far as to not be able to shop without straightening up retailers’ folded displays. It isn’t clear whether the next generation of retailers will produce so many compulsive folders.
Contrast that to when I was putting myself through college and the number one thing the seasoned department manager at the Broadway taught me, “Its about selling the merchandise to our customers.”
A pretty display is one thing but it is passive. Imagine if Gap and all the trainers who spent hours getting the perfect crease had instead been learning how to sell the merchandise.
BTW, the trend now is to leave the displays looking a bit messed up – it looks like people were interested in the merchandise rather than a museum.
