STORES Magazine - February 2008 - (Page 55) Air Terminal Gifts Location: Salt Lake City International Airport Stores: 16 Warehouse: 11,600-sq.-ft. cross-docking facility Your Planet. The store design highlights cultures from around the world. Your Planet specializes in educational materials and a unique selection of products that are recycled, sustainable, natural/organic or otherwise socially responsible. It was presented with the first “Best Green Concession Practice or Concept” award by Airports Council International-North America. “We pay a percentage of every dollar we make and have to guarantee them a certain amount per year.” Positive impact on shrink More efficient forecasting and inventory management also reduces pressure on the company’s warehouse, an 11,600-sq.-ft. facility four miles from the airport (ATG also has approximately 5,000 sq. ft. of storage in basement rooms at the airport). “It’s more of a distribution center from the standpoint that 90 percent of the product is brought in, processed and put right back on a truck for delivery to the stores,” Crismon says. Tomax’s Retail.net system also has had a positive impact on shrink. “When it comes to loss prevention, the issue is not inventory management but POS,” Crismon says. Retail.net has enabled Zeta & Company. A shop focusing on women travelers and selling a variety of unique items like trendy apparel and lingerie, jewelry, handbags, accessories and gifts. West of Brooklyn. A grouping of several retail areas in one store designed to make shoppers feel as though they are circulating within a small courtyard. The mix includes women’s apparel, Native American and fashion jewelry, handbags, souvenirs, a children’s section and a newsstand. it’s been wonderful for repetitive Rocky Mountain motif, the categories like candy, water and shop offers merchandise souvenir apparel.” unique to Utah and the This has significantly reduced Southwest, including souinstances of what Crismon calls venir apparel, jewelry, col“being a day late and a dollar lectibles and specialty short.” foods. “In 2001, we started asking Crismon’s News & ourselves why sales weren’t inViews. The store has frontcreasing the way we expected,” facing fixture design for he says. “Airline traffic and fuel periodicals and books, plasprices are things over which we ma monitors displaying have no control, so we focused world news and stock on the question of whether peoquotes and an easy, flow-through layout. ple just didn’t want to buy — or On the Fly. Staged as a convenience-oriented whether we were just out of urban market, the store serves fresh deli sandstock on things they wanted.” wiches, gourmet coffee, fruit and snacks. In the areas in which ATG implemented reorder points, it experienced a 20 to 30 percent reduction using several algorithm engines. “Forein outs “and that’s being conservative,” casting gives us a new edge by working Crismon says. off of actual sales and notifying us when Additionally, the new system enables we are above or below the curve,” ATG to work more closely on assortCrismon says. “Even though we are a ment and selection at its stores. “That’s small retailer, we have to deal with the the key for us and we are now taking the same variables as the big ones. And this next step with Tomax by getting into a is going to make us more efficient.” merchandise forecasting program.” This is all the more important in view The system keeps a running 52-week of lease requirements for airport stores. forecast that is regenerated daily, en“Airports require a guaranteed miniabling ATG to have three years sales hismum or a percentage of sales — tory on hand and manage the forecast whichever is higher,” Crismon says. WWW.STORES.ORG Vistas. Designed with a ATG to design reports that show the status of cash drawers by site, by register and by employee, dramatically reducing shrink levels. “We don’t even let employees count out their tills at the end of the night,” Crismon says. “It’s all bundled into a bag and processed in another room. By taking cash handling reconciliation away from employees, they have enough time to handle more important business — taking care of customers.” StORES Len Lewis is a veteran retail industry journalist and commentator and the editorial director of Lewis Communications. STORES / FEBRUARY 2008 55 http://Retail.net http://Retail.net http://WWW.STORES.ORG
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