In Canada, new prototype establishes Sears as the core brand - Company Profile

DSN Retailing Today, Jan 26, 2004 by Mike Duff

TORONTO -- Sears Canada has introduced a new prototype that already is boosting several departments by emphasizing how the retailer can fulfill the desires shoppers express today. Introduced in the larger two of Sears' four store classes thus far, the remerchandised units are brighter with superior sight lines and a more sophisticated sign package that emphasizes customer lifestyles.

On Oct. 16, 2003, Sears Canada reopened one of the new prototype units at Yorkdale Shopping Center in Toronto. Like similar units, the expanded store features an easy-to-shop interior, with wider aisles, clear and bright sightlines and color-coded departments that allow customers to navigate the store more quickly and easily.

Vincent Powers, director of corporate communications, told DSN Retailing Today during a store tour that Sears was striving for a "panoramic" field of vision in stores by lowering gondolas and creating dedicated displays at each aisle end--with the exception of the rare aisle that terminated at an entrance. Ideally, at aisle intersections, shoppers can turn in any direction and see a display fronted by tabletop presentations and backed by brand or segment specific signage that ensure products, and not store architecture, are emphasized.

The effect sought is brand-oriented but one that puts everything in a Sears context. What that means in practical terms is most evident in fragrances and cosmetics. The Yorkdale store is a so-called select store of a class that carries a full line of goods but in a less-formal setting than is the case with the retailer's core stores, or rather more like a Macy's store in the United States as opposed to a Bloomingdale. Select stores carry a broad line of premium fragrances and cosmetics while passing on the most upscale and priciest items. Still, the assortment includes many of the most well-known names in the product area. such as Lancome and Christian Dior, but in a very egalitarian setting, at least in the latest prototype.

The flashy signage developed by the cosmetic companies was taking away from store identity, Powers said, so in the new prototype, Sears established uniform signage for beauty displays, permitting only limited countertop promotional point-of-sale material. Ultimately, the new prototype is made to emphasize not the jungle of brands often encountered in today's retail environments, but just one, and Sears is the brand.

While the store balances captive and national labels, the merchandising does give private and proprietary brands a strong presence, whether they be Nevada jeans, Jessica women's wear, Lizzie McGuire tweens apparel or Martha Stewart Everyday, the label that migrated to Sears Canada from Zellers last year.

In all, the new store offers an expanded selection of Sears' full line of national brand and private label merchandise, including fashion apparel--including the Jessica line--accessories,cosmetics, home fashions, home Improvement products, electronics and major appliances, including Sears exclusive Kenmore brand as well as national label goods. In addition, the store will feature a Sears Craftsman hardware department with a warmer, more female-friendly atmosphere with white goods adjacent and leading into housewares, catalogue shopping area, a Sears Travel office, photo studio, optical counter and watch and jewelry re-pair center.

Among the departments, Powers said kids and intimates had experienced particularly strong improvements in new prototype units.

To make shopping more comfortable for the apparel consumers, the new prototype stores place customer service centers in highly visible locations adjacent to fitting rooms. The arrangement provides a sense of security for customers using the fitting rooms, where help from service desk staffers are at hand. Sears also gives Canadian consumers a break in making fitting rooms a lot easier to find than is the case in many retail settings.

Merchandising in the new prototype stores also emphasizes the three-prong value strategy instituted by Sears Canada, which features three classes of goods: Sears More Value, Sears Essentials and Sears on Sale. More Value is a sharp-price-for-quality designation, while Essentials is referred to as everyday value with low and opening prices set to establish Sears' competitive position. "Essentials addresses price issues without sacrificing quality," Powers said.

Goods that are designated More Value and Essentials never go on sale, and their prices end at 97 cents as a signal to shoppers not to worry that they will be less expensive in a couple of weeks. Sears on Sale, in contrast, does experience price cuts. Private label good will be more evident in the More Value and Essentials parts of the pricing architecture, while national brands will represent the bulk of Sears on Sale offerings.

The pricing structure might be expected to generate some confusion among Sears customers, but the retailer is using point-of-sale material designed to persuade customers that tag and label match. Product signage posted throughout the store includes the pricing being applied to a piece of goods as well as several points emphasizing, under the heading "Here's Proof," that the quality proposition is compelling. The products are illustrated in the context of lifestyle images that includes representative Sears shoppers--even if they look a little more like models than is typical--often engaged in activities that are set to demonstrate that the store is a resource in tune with customer needs.