The Retail Industry Goes Through Turbulent Times, 12-13-2006
Retail is the second-largest industry in the U.S. by number of businesses and number of employees. Competition among retailers has never been tougher. A retailer without a significant competitive advantage doesn't stand a chance. Superstores are battling each other on every major corner while direct marketers (including catalogs and online sites) are stealing customers from stores. Online selling at deep discounts is even making immense inroads into consumer purchases of automobiles and travel. The retail war is on and according to a recently released report from Plunkett Research, Ltd., the most intriguing new trends in this tumultuous industry are:
- Department Stores have Evolved into Giant Apparel, Cosmetics and Accessories Stores.
Major department store chains continue to evolve in an effort to arrest their falling sales. Today, most "department" stores are actually mall-based apparel, accessories and cosmetics stores, with a few also offering a reasonable depth of housewares.
- Category-Killers and Big Box Retailers Struggle to Keep Up With Discounters.
Home Depot is widely accepted as the most recognized category-killer. It has squashed mom-and-pop hardware stores like grapes. Today, category-killers like OfficeMax, Bed Bath & Beyond and Staples are ubiquitous, dominant retailers in dozens of segments. It is possible to have too much of a good thing in retailing, and there may be too many superstore chains in some categories. Mergers and failures have already begun.
- Malls Morph to Stay Afloat.
The days of the dull, old-fashioned enclosed mall are numbered. Of the 48,695 shopping centers in the U.S., only 1,130 are enclosed malls. Anchor tenants such as major department stores are moving or going out of business, leaving mall owners with echoing empty spaces of painfully high square footage. An estimated one-third of the malls in the U.S. are obsolete or soon to become so. Malls are forced to adjust in order to stay in business.
To find out more about these exciting trends and more, check out Plunkett's Retail Industry Almanac 2007, just released, or go to www.plunkettresearch.com and sign up for a subscription to Plunkett's completely up-to-date online database!
About Plunkett Research, Ltd.
Plunkett Research, Ltd. is a leading publisher of complete business research and analysis resources, designed to enable professionals in marketing, research and finance to access complete trends analysis, statistics, technology analysis and financial analysis of the world's most exciting industries. For more information, visit www.plunkettresearch.com, or call 713.932.0000.