Stores get creative to attract customers; Retailers redesign buildings, try out different merchandise

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Source: Green Bay Press-Gazette, Green Bay, Wisconsin

By Nathan Phelps  

November 1, 2009  

Shopko recently introduced a new Home Store section to its east-side Green Bay store — more than two years after the retailer rolled out a new look for new stores and a plan to remodel existing properties.

The ever-changing landscape of retail leaves little down time for store planners and designers like Jane Van Auken, who mix science and art to create an enjoyable shopping experience for customers.  

"It's becoming a little more critical right now because there is so much competition, and people are, in this economy, very careful about how they are spending their money," she said. "So you need to create a store they want to go into, because they have so many choices."  

Van Auken, vice president of store planning and design for Ashwaubenon-based Shopko, said the company has seen returns on its new store designs and merchandise selections, which are aimed at women in the 40- to 45-year-old demographic — among its core customers.  

"We're trying to give (customers) a space that they really feel good going into — a comfortable shopping experience," she said. "We're hoping they spend more time shopping with us when they are comfortable."

Joining Shopko in the realm of new looks is Wal-Mart, which is in the process of remodeling more than 500 stores this year with a design that is touted as being more open, brighter, and designed to enhance the shopping "experience."  

The Wal-Mart on Green Bay's west side, 2400 W. Mason St., is one of the newly renovated "impact stores" featuring a new layout aimed at streamlining shopping, wider isles, lower shelves and brighter paint — among other improvements.

"It's everything from the façade being redone ... to a new layout that is designed for customers to be easier to shop," said Amy Wyatt-Moore, a spokeswoman with Wal-Mart. "How does a customer navigate a typical shopping list, and how can we align our store to make it easier for them to shop?"  

The Green Bay store is one of 14 in the state undergoing the renovation, according to the company. The new look, which is being incorporated into about 500 stores this year, will be the basis for new stores as they open.  

All existing stores are expected to be revamped in the next five years.

The changes are being made in response to feedback from customers, Wyatt-Moore said.  

"We've gathered all these things customers have asked for over time and put that into this new format," she said. "Stores get updated on average every five to seven years, so pieces of Project Impact would have been in stores last year, so we've been testing bits of this."  

Mike Gatti, executive director of the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association in Washington, D.C., said redesign and rebranding efforts appear to be giving retailers a return on their investment — a key point as competition in the marketplace increases.  

"We're learning a lot more about shopper traffic patterns, where they look in the stores, what to do with digital signage rather than having it hanging from the ceilings where no one is looking, and you're going to see a lot of that incorporated into the new designs," he said. "The metrics are all about 'how do I make the shopping experience better but how do I get one more item into the basket?'"  

Van Auken said designing stores is a mix of science and art.

"There's a lot of science that goes into as far as how someone shops and which way they turn when they go into a store," she said. "There are all those consumer behaviors, but some of it is just ... what product makes sense next to something else."  

Case in point, the Home Store section of Shopko, which pulls together home goods ranging from cookware and lighting to furniture and additional home-related merchandise. They rolled out about a month ago.  

"It's some experimentation into what the customer is going to like and gravitate to," Van Auken said. "We are looking to take it further, and we have a whole program in mind for next year to roll out to several stores."  

Even as the impact stores started rolling out in full force this year, Wyatt-Moore said there's still the possibility stores could undergo further redesign and changes based on customer input.  

"We'll make adjustments over the next four years, but what you see now is what you will see going forward," she said.