design:retail - August 2015 - (Page 40)

searching for steve jobs 040 The Bright Lights on Main Street ROBERT HOCKING RETALE MATTERS robert@retalematters.com @rhockinguk I RECENTLY received a call to consult from Philips in The Netherlands, as they, in turn, had been called to help a small town in the southwest corner of the country, called Goes (pronounced Hoos), plan a retail strategy that would keep their town center from becoming obsolete. The cry for help was quite ominous: town leaders felt they needed a plan for the future to keep them alive-a town down the railway tracks had collapsed, and they didn't want the same result. Under normal circumstances, by the time a call like that is made, it's often too late. Coming from the U.K.-where there's so much written on the death of "Main Street"-I expected to arrive in a place with tumbleweed (or the Dutch equivalent) and boarded up storefronts. Or worse still, chicken joints and gambling shops. Instead, what I found was one of the most delightful, thoughtful small town centers I'd seen in a long time. It was historic, prosperous and, for a town of 30,000 people in a relatively unknown part of the world, had retailers that practiced the very principles that retail needs to get back to. You probably won't be surprised to find out that in America between 2007 and 2012, traditional independent retailers (think florists, bookstores, pet shops and art galleries) lost 20 percent of their number. While at the same time, retail sales rose by 8 percent-indicating that people seem to be walking away from independents and instead are spending money in chain stores. This is shockingly sad. AUGUST 2015 DESIGNRETAILONLINE.COM In the course of the project, I interviewed some of the store owners-and let it be noted, the store owners were actually in the store. Many people complain about poor retail service, but the reason we complain is because of absentee owners that don't pay the people taking care of their customers particularly well, nor do they invest much in them. The beauty of the stores in Goes was that the owners were all there. They had a direct relationship to the content on the shelf, and a direct relationship to the people who shop the store- increasingly a forgotten art. These independents are part of the community. They have a vested interest in its health, supporting local people with wages who, in turn, reinvest locally. The intimacy of this relationship, and the passion you find in places like Goes, is miles away from the investorreturn-obsessed environments of so many companies I've worked with. Too much of retail has become about acquiring stuff rather than the more interesting sociological fabric it used to contribute to. There is too much sameness, too much "on sale" and too little emotional engagement. But, what the shop owners in Goes failed to see in themselves was the true essence of what people increasingly want-a friendly face, something new and something they can count on. It was their uniqueness, their independence, that gave them an edge. They weren't professional PR people or social media strategists. They woke up every morning, and their lives were about creating a store experience, curating content and building the kind of business that people will travel to. As we think about designing for retail, we need to think more about the individual, about the thing that makes a time and a place unique. And as much as possible, we need to remember that cookiecutter approaches are great for the bottom line, but terrible for the heart of a community. ROBERT HOCKING IS A LONDON-BASED RETAIL BRAND CONSULTANT WHO LOVES RETAIL BUT HATES SHOPPING-AND CONTINUES TO SEARCH FOR STORES THAT WILL CHANGE HIS MIND. Photo courtesy of INGRAM PUBLISHING/THINKSTOCK http://www.DESIGNRETAILONLINE.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of design:retail - August 2015

design:retail - August 2015
Contents
Editor’s Note
Show Talk
On Trend
Inspirations
We Love This!
Designer Picks
Clicks & Mortar
Postcard
Have You Heard?
Mingle
The Visual Eye
Searching for Steve Jobs
Joseph Abboud
The New Fast Food
Kit and Ace
Products
Backstory

design:retail - August 2015

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