Retail Site Location

http://www.delhaizegroup.com/images/store_foodlion.jpg

I went to the new Food Lion grocery store, right outside of Forest Oaks Country Club. It is located right off highway 421 and Liberty Road. I found that this particular retailer falls under neighborhood community shopping centers. The new Food Lion is located in a little shopping strip with a nail place. It is located in a very small neighborhood center and is very convenient for people who live in the Forest Oaks community to go to.

The main advantages the Food Lion has is that they offer customers very convenient locations and easy parking. The parking lot is huge and they have relativity low occupancy costs. Another advantage of the new Food Lion's location is traffic. You don't have to worry about heavy traffic getting to the Food Lion and leaving. It is located off the 421 highway and near Forest Oaks.

However, there are some disadvantages to the new Food Lion's location. First of all, they have a limited trade area due to it's size. The grocery store also lacks entertainment and restaurants. The only reason customers will come out to the neighborhood strip is to go to the grocery store or to get their nails done. There isn't much more to offer entertainment wise and restaurant wise. Another disadvantage of the location is the weather. There is no protection from the weather compared to enclosed shopping malls.

Overall, I think the new Food Lion is in a good location. People living in the Forest Oaks community haven't had a convenient grocery store to go to in years. Now they finally have a very convenient place to grocery shop. Other than the few disadvantages, I think the new Food Lion location will continue to do well because there aren't any other close grocery stores around.

Why Circuit City Failed

Circuit City went bankrupt during this difficult economic crisis. There are many reasons why Circuit City failed. First off, it dumped sales of many popular appliances. Secondly, when it spun off Car Max, it let a lot of talented management go. Therefore, without proper management Circuit City began to fail. Another reason Circuit City is now out of business is because of Best Buy. Best Buy became more innovative and popular than Circuit City. Additionally, Costco was another one of Circuit City's competitors (Bnet.com).

When Circuit City knew they were hurting for business, they tried to save money and stopped paying commissions to their sales people. They also let the majority of their experienced sales associates go and commercial credit became very tight. This did not help at all. This is another reason why Circuit City is now out of business (Bnet.com).

As you can see from Circuit City going bankrupt, the economic crisis we are now in is affecting the retail industry greatly. When Circuit City failed George Whalin, president and CEO of Retail Management Consultants said"This is very significant. It shows you how bad things are for the retail industry" (CNNmoney.com). Hopefully the retail industry will start to improve as soon as possible. Circuit City is not the only retail business to declare bankruptcy. Many other retail business such as Clarie's, Linen-N-Things, Sharper Image, and many more have also failed. Hopefully we will start to see a turn around in the retail industry soon.

http://blogs.bnet.com/ceo/?p=1493
http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/16/news/companies/circuit_city/

VALS

VALS is very interesting to me. I think they really can tell what consumers are like in the marketplace today. When I took the survey, I answered all questions truthfully and my results were experiencer and achiever. Experiencer was number one and achiever was the second type I would be based on my scores. I think it is very neat how they are able to tell this.

When I found out the results and read on their website about what an experiencer was like, I totally agreed. The main statement I agreed with was "experiencers are avid consumers and spend a comparatively high proportion of their income on fashion, entertainment, and socializing. Their purchases reflect the emphasis they place on looking good and having "cool" stuff" (VALS.com). This basically sums me up. I don't know about the "cool stuff" part, but other than that they definitely nailed my type.

The target person we described in my group Tuesday, definitely fit one of these types. I would say that "Cameron", that shops at Abercombie and Fitch, would also be an experiencer. The statement I would agree with on Cameron would be "their energy finds an outlet in exercise, sports, outdoor recreation, and social activities"(VALS.com). This fits part of the Abercrombie and Fitch description in my mind.

http://www.sric-bi.com/VALS/experiencers.shtml

Research on NORDSTROM Department Store

Now that you know why Nordstrom is my favorite retailer, here is some useful information on how Nordstrom came about.
First of all, Nordstrom was founded by John W. Nordstrom, when he emigrated to the United States in 1887 in hopes of opening a department store. Fourteen years later, John W. Nordstrom opened a shoe store in 1901 called Walin and Nordstrom and this is when Nordstrom was officially founded. Later, he opened another store and decided to put his two sons to work. In 1928, John W Nordstrom retired and sold his shares to two of his sons (Wikipedia 2009).

Nordstrom is now known as an upscale department store chain throughout the United States (Wikipedia, 2009). Today, Nordstrom has 109 full line department stores in 28 different states. They also plan to open 50 more stores within the next ten years (Wikipedia 2009). Norstrom today carries handbags, clothing, accessories, jewelry, cosmetics, fragrances, and in some locations Nordstrom even carries home furniture (Wikipedia, 2009).

Additionally, Nordstrom is well known for their excellent customer service. They also have been rated in Fortune's Magazine "100 Best Companies to Work for", for the past two years. This year they are rated number 72 in Fortune Magazine "100 Best Companies to Work for", and last year they were rated number 36(Wikipedia, 2009). Overall, I think Nordstrom is an excellent retailer and will continue to grow and expand.

Favorite Retailer And Why

Out of all the retailer's out there, Nordstrom would have to be my favorite. Nordstrom has so many great qualities, such as, excellent customer service, designer handbags, designer jeans, designer shoes, and friendly employee's. Nordstrom has great customer service because if you find a designer item somewhere else cheaper, Nordstrom will gladly match their price. Additionally, if Nordstrom is out of something you were hoping to get, they will gladly order it for you online, while your in the store and charge you no shipping. The item also usually arrives very quickly.

Another reason Nordstrom's my favorite retailer is because of the high end designers they carry. They have many designer handbags I love, such as Betsey Johnson, Matt and Nat, Juicy Couture, and many others. I can always fall in love with a handbag from Nordstrom.
Additionally, I love Nordstrom because they have a huge selection of designer jeans. They carry True Religion, Rock and Republic, Seven for All Mankind, and many others. I also love going jean shopping at Nordstrom. Nordstrom also has a great selection of shoes and I always find myself drawn to the shoe department when I'm shopping there too.

Lastly, Nordstrom has very friendly employee's that are always willing to help you. I have never encountered a rude employee from Nordstrom. They always show that they do have excellent customer service and customers really matter. This is why out of all the retailers around, Nordstrom is my favorite. I always can count on excellent customer service and good quality items.

Picture from http://richisthenewblack.com

How the Housing Crisis has affected Home Fashion Retail

The housing crisis has definitely started to affect home fashion retail industries. As most of you know we are currently in a recession and this is a big cause of why home fashion stores aren't doing so well. For example, Linen-N-Things just recently went bankrupt and they hope buy promoting half-off sales during the holidays will pay off their debt.

Another reason home fashion stores are not doing well is because people are now in need of just the basic necessities. They don't have that extra money right now to go buy a fancy rug or brand new bedsheets. For now, most people will use what they have because of the recession affecting their spending choices. Probably, grocery stores are benefiting the most because people will always need food.

As you can see, the recession has definitely come to affect home fashion stores. People are more in need of the basic necessities to get them through this difficult time. Home fashion goods are not the top priority right now and can be found at cheaper stores, like Wal-mart instead of Bed-Bath & Beyond for example. Hopefully, during this time of the year, since Christmas is around the corner, sales of the home fashion industries will start to increase.

Guest Speaker

I really enjoyed Elyse Mullis, the guest speaker, we had that came and spoke with our class today. It was nice to hear an example of a job you could get in the consumer, apparel and retail studies major. Also, I found it interesting that Elyse majored actually in English and minored in consumer and apparel.

However, she really knew what she was talking about. She taught me a lot about what I need to do before I graduate. I know now, that I need to look for as many internships as possible and not only look for one. Doing as many as I can would only offer me a better opportunity for different jobs throughout the field. Hopefully, I will find a internship where I get paid though, since she was unlucky in that aspect. Through hearing her speak on internships really showed me that they are really important and if it wasn't for her internship at the Greensboro Coliseum she wouldn't have been able to get a job at Westminster Fabrics in graphic design.

Overall, Elyse Mullis was a great speaker and thankfully we had the opportunity to hear her speak to us. She was very interesting, fun, and really showed us how much she loved her job now. She explained that it starts out not exactly how you want it to after graduating, but will turn into something great after a little hard work and effort. She seems really happy working for Westminster Fabrics and hopefully will continue to be. I really found this speaker interesting and fun. It was a good learning experience.

Picture from Westminster Fabrics.