The 'good' fight
ASTRA reminds its retailers there's a reason they're special
By Jason White -- Playthings, 6/1/2004
Specialty retailers need to remember their roots—the things that made them special. Taking on the Targets and Wal-Marts of the world is nearly impossible for specialty stores, since they don't have the same resources.
Choosing to be the best at one specific area—finding a niche—and competing with mass on that level rather than competing on all levels, particularly price, is one of the suggestions from a panel at this year's American Specialty Toy Retailers Association's (ASTRA) conference in Chicago.
When FAO Schwarz reopens its two remaining stores this summer, the company will return to being what it once was, a specialty toy store with a sharp focus, according to CEO David Niggli. He announced during the May meeting's opening panel that FAO will no longer stock any toy sold in the mass market. "We want to return to giving customers a unique place to shop with unique items to see and buy," says Niggli, also the retailer's director of merchandising. There are enough unique, quality products to stock the stores' shelves as the chain struggles to emerge from bankruptcy, according to Niggli. That will be a key point of differentiation for the surviving stores.
…With the 'most-est'Josh Lowitz, a consultant with McMillan/ Doolittle uses superlatives to describe what he calls the "EST" concept. Specialty retailers, he says, should decide whether to be the biggest in assortments, the cheapest, easiest to shop or offer the very hottest goods to compete. "Find your EST," Lowitz tells the retailers. "Customers rely on the retailer to help them find that needle in the haystack; it's something the mass market chains can't do. " The more a specialty store can do to alleviate these issues the more likely customers will return.
According to panel members who were addressing The State of the Industry: Where Have the Consumers Gone?" another useful tack is showing customers the benefits of shopping at their specialty stores. It's not enough to just tell them. One of those benefits can be direct access to the owner. In the specialty shops the owner is typically on hand most of the time so feedback from customers gets right to the source.
Yet another benefit might be partnering with other specialty stores. Many retailers can learn from each other. Joanne Farrugia, outgoing ASTRA president, says. "With these close partnerships the feedback is certain and effective."
Guerrillas in their midst"Guerrilla marketing" might create additional opportunities, says Phillip Cooke, a founding member of the Council of Independent Restaurants of America. The organization helps local restaurants band together and develop marketing plans and materials. He suggests getting involved with community events and charities-particularly where there is no mass merchant presence. This allows specialty stores to show they are willing to go out of their way for the community, he says.
A study conducted by Liveable City and The Austin Independent Business Alliance (AIBA) suggests the affects the mass market chains have on a community and how much money is lost by shopping the big chains. The study claims about $48 dollars out of every $100 spent returns to the community when shopping specialty, compared with a $13 return from shopping mass.
It's not about trying to outspend or out maneuver the mass market retail chains, it's about giving back to the community. "If we teach people to be citizens first and consumers second we can show the benefit we bring to the community," says Jennifer Rockne, co-founder and director of the American Independent Business Alliance.
Manufacturers can step up and help, Roger Bilsten, president of Manhattan Toy suggests. "I have sponsored Groovy Girls party kits, gifts with purchase, consumer materials/wish lists, multi-lingual catalogs, and themes and recipes all at cost or no charge to retailers," says Bilsten. It's the small things that can grow the customer base and help build solid relationships between the retailer and manufacturer for years to come.
Real Toys Build Real Brains, is the marketing position ASTRA wants to create through a grass-roots marketing program. It hopes to develop an industry specific marketing strategy training program that will be available at the member' stores. Kathleen McHugh, ASTRA's executive director, says the association remains committed to developing these marketing plans for the specialty stores.
