STORES Magazine - January 2008 - (Page 16)

trEnDS COMPILED BY STORES EDITORS Now Entering: A New Galaxy When the movie “Robots” appeared on the big screen in 2005, its tagline was “You can shine no matter what you’re made of.” At RobotGalaxy, a new interactive store experience that caters to 5to 12-year-olds, the chance to assemble their own robots, program them to say their names and decorate them with an assortment of decals has kids beaming. Modeled after specialty retailer Build-A-Bear, RobotGalaxy invites young explorers (primarily boys) to customize robots using various motorized parts, accessories and decals, along with programmable features like sound, lights and speech. Prices range from $27 to $70. The universe’s first RobotGalaxy stores are in Freehold, N.J., and West Nyack, N.Y. Kids who don’t live near one of the two stores can get in on the action by visiting www.robotgalaxy.com, where they can build their own robot while interacting with other “explorers” via games, membership and the like. The concept is the brainchild of Oliver Mitchell, a Manhattan entrepreneur who credits his son with providing the inspiration; Mitchell approached retail industry veteran Ken Pilot with the idea. Pilot, who was launching the Martin + Osa division of American Eagle Outfitters at the time, says, “I loved the concept, I loved his passion, loved his energy. And what I liked most was that it addressed a place in retail that wasn’t being addressed.” Pilot, a former president of Gap brands, now goes by the title chief galaxy officer. He believes RobotGalaxy can reach 70 stores within five years. 16 STORES / JANUARY 2008 Finger-Friendly Pizza at Papa John’s Papa John’s may not be the “big cheese” in the pizza-delivery sector, but executives are determined to be nimble contenders for a slice of consumers’ wallets. Its latest gambit is a service that lets customers order pies via text message. They can save as many as four different “favorite” orders that include any combination of pizza, sides and drinks. Once they’ve set up an account, customers can send a text message at any time using the shorthand FAV1, FAV2, FAV3 or FAV4. Executives at the Louisville, Ky.-based chain believe that text-messaging will provide a new channel for reaching out to customers with such things as coupons and updates on new menu items. This isn’t the first time Papa John’s has attempted to lift its profile despite having a much smaller ad budget than rivals Pizza Hut and Domino’s. It was the first pizza chain to introduce online ordering (2001), and launched a successful stealth attack on Domino’s during a 2005 episode of “The Apprentice.” Although Domino’s was the exclusive national pizza advertiser on the broadcast, Papa John’s purchased ad time in local markets promoting a meatball pizza similar to the one featured on the show. Waity Matters As Tom Petty sang, “The waiting is the hardest part.” That’s why it’s important for businesses to know the wait times experienced by their customers. The Mystery Shopping Providers Association recently conducted a wait-time survey of more than 10,000 mystery shoppers nationwide. The results were averaged to deterWWW.STORES.ORG http://www.robotgalaxy.com http://www.robotgalaxy.com http://WWW.STORES.ORG

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of STORES Magazine - January 2008

STORES Magazine - January 2008 Contents Executive Editor's Page President's Page Build a 'Bot Sneak Peek at Fashion Trends What Shoppers Think 10 Things You May Have Missed Numbers Worth Counting Full Price/Markdown Retail People Cover Story: Fishing for Talent Retail CEO Compensation Research Concept2Watch E-Commerce Payment Solutions Online Merchandising POS LPInformation LP Vantage Point Newsbeat Industry Watch Cover Story: Making LP PCI-Compliant Mall Security Video Surveillance Industry Perspective Forum RFID Business Intelligence Data Management Logistics Turning Green into Gold Love of – and for – the Outdoors Loeb Retail Letter ARTS Update Point of View NRF News Retail Industry Calendar Last Laugh

STORES Magazine - January 2008

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