StORES Magazine - September 2007 - (Page 26) fullprice/markdown Connecting Concepts L FULCE RI P CIRCUIT CITY CEO Phil Schoonover hopes to connect with shoppers by opening concept stores that blend the retailer’s expertise with that of partners like Comcast and Ethan Allen. The goal is to provide a seamless multi-platform buying experience for customers looking to purchase a home theater, for example. Speaking at a recent summit sponsored by the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing, Schoonover demonstrated how a typical shopping scenario unfolds. A buyer is approached by a sales associate with a tablet PC. Using the computer to hone in on the buyer’s specific needs, the associate makes purchasing suggestions. Once a buying decision is made, the sales associate schedules the hardware delivery and cable-service installation. A handful of concept stores are already open, including “The City” in Virginia and “Connect” in Massachusetts. Schoonover expects to have 38 concept stores open before the end of the year. & RETAIL HITS MISSES Spicing Up the Mix INNOVATIONS keep coming from the folks at iTunes. Apple announced in July that it will roll out the first foreign language gift card. This comes on the heels of the iTunes Latino launch last November. Tarjeta iTunes (iTunes cards) are available in denominations of $15, $25 and $50; Best Buy and Target are the first retailers to offer the cards. “Music is part of our culture,” says Cristina Benitez, author of “Latinization: How Latino Culture is transforming the US.” “It’s something that resonates deeply inside of me.” Interestingly, iTunes is now the third-largest seller of music, trailing only Wal-Mart and Best Buy. Online, it dominates the legal download category, capturing 70 percent of all sales last year. L FULCE RI P Addictive Plot? TANK BOOKS are being pitched as tales to take RK- your breath away. But, as it turns out, the marMA WN keting has less to do with the reading material DO Lilliputian Lunch CHICAGO-BASED MINNIES is bucking the “bigger is better” trend in food portions by luring hungry patrons with bite-sized burgers and sandwiches. The ‘50s-style diner serves up traditional favorites such as grilled cheese and the Rueben, but it also features some nouvelle items: Mykonos (roast chicken, tzaziki sauce and kalamata tapenade) and a sandwich called Thanksgiving delight (roast turkey, cranberries and wild rice gravy). Minnies appears to be a perfect fit for waistline watchers. And, it turns out, those who are less concerned with calories will fare just fine, too: hungrier customers are welcome to mix and match menu favorites. L FULCE RI P 26 STORES / SEPTEMBER 2007 than one might expect. A Tank Book is a novel packaged like a pack of cigarettes. In the U.K., where a ban on smoking in public places went into effect on July 1, concept creators are hoping it will tempt some smokers to kick the habit. Tank, a British think tank, is the brainchild behind the book concept. It has repackaged classic works such as Kafka’s “Metamorphosis” and Kipling’s “The Man Who Would Be King” to resemble a pack of cigarettes. The design resemblance is uncanny, right down to the cellophane wrapping on the outside, the silver foil on the inside and the diminutive box size. No word on whether the books are being sold from cigarette vending machines. WWW.STORES.ORG http://WWW.STORES.ORG
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.