Putting their best foot forward: Wal-Mart makes comfortable fit with vendor - E.S. Originals Inc., shoe manufacturer

Discount Store News, June 4, 1990

Putting Their Best Foot Forward

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Retail/vendor partnerships appear to be a major thrust of the '90s. Perhaps the best example of the changing relationship between merchants and suppliers is the Wal-Mart "vendor store" concept. The creation of the first Family Shoe Center Boutique at Wal-Mart illustrates how this partnership can be successfully implemented.

"This venture with Wal-Mart provides us with a unique footwear merchandising opportunity and serves to complement our company's creative marketing programs," said Ellis A. Safdeye, founder and chairman of E.S. Originals, a privately held company, which also supplies footwear to Meldisco (K mart's licensed shoe department operator), Ames, Target, Rose's, Volume Shoe, Payless Shoes, JCPenney, Sears and others.

"By creating visual excitement through lifestyle settings of E.S. Originals' merchandise and reinforcing Wal-Mart's commitment to quality brands at everyday low prices, we can offer consumers a fun and relaxing environment in which to shop."

Like other suppliers chosen for Wal-Mart's vendor store program, which has been employed so far in two stores (Janesville, Wis., and Charlotte), E.S. Originals was asked to develop a new department that would generate more volume yet maintain Wal-Mart's traditional low price points and cost structure.

The New York-based branded and private label footwear supplier was one of 13 shoe vendors that received a letter from Wal-Mart in July 1989. The letter asked them to take a look at the existing Janesville unit and challenged them to come up with new ideas for the proposed Charlotte vendor store.

Less than three months later, after bringing in a design firm to help plan the concept shop, E.S. Originals' sales director Eddie Esses was at Wal-Mart's shoe buying headquarters in Fort Smith, Ark., presenting the plans under the theme: "Visual Merchandising Can Make a Difference."

"Two days later, we heard from Wal-Mart," said Esses, during an interview with DSN at the Charlotte store. "`You got it!' they said."

Working on a Dec. 31st deadline, which was later pushed back one month due to problems created by Hurricane Hugo, E.S. Originals and the design firm Thompson-Leeds quickly put together a 2,800-square-foot department featuring nine licensed name brands - including Voit, Sergio Valente, Sasson, Coppertone, Safety Lights, The Flintstones and Campus Club - displayed on new custom-made 54-inch fixtures.

Located in a rear corner of the store, a blue neon "The Shoe Center" sign is clearly visible from the front because it is mounted on a 17-foot by 8 1/2-foot entrance arch over the department.

The department also features polarized motion displays, colorful overhead signage panels, large backlit photos depicting lifestyle themes, television monitors and half-bust mannequins. The area is color-coordinated, with counter tops and gondolas matching the carpeting. Unlike most Wal-Mart shoe departments, which have long aisles, "The Shoe Center" is segmented with shorter runs.

"We gave back space to the consumer but maintained the same pricing structure as in the regular Wal-Mart stores - just the presentation is different," said Esses. The mirrors and benches are shopper amenities not found in other Wal-Mart shoe departments. "We're very familiar with department stores so we were able to draw upon that experience to create this department for discount stores," Esses said.

"We'll see this as a trend going into the '90s among a lot of discounters," he added.

Compared with a normal shoe department which turns about three times a year, the Shoe Center boutique is expected to turn close to five times, resulting in 1.6 to 1.7 times greater volume.

PHOTO : The Shoe Center at Wal-Mart's vendor store in Charlotte, N.C., groups family footwear according to lifestyle needs.

PHOTO : Ellis A. Safdeye (left), chairman of E.S. Originals, and William Hutcheson, vp/gm of Wal-Mart's shoe division, survey shoe department.