Waccamaw rides rising tide in home fashions - Cover Story

Discount Store News, August 5, 1996 by Dawn Wilensky

Much like the river that shares its Indian name, Waccamaw has experienced the strong undertow of competition over the years, yet has remained afloat by reacting to the ebb and flow of the home furnishings industry.

The chain has fought hard to stay on course by reinventing its merchandising and operating strategies over its 19-year history. An aggressive expansion faltered in the early '90s; after its slow growth phase during the last two years, Waccamaw is on the move today. The closely held company recruited president and ceo Greg Johnson last fall. With decades of home merchandising experience in the department store tier, Johnson will keep the 38-store chain moving in fresh fashion directions. Although the product mix is similar to that of other home specialty chains, Waccamaw invests heavily in romancing the goods.

Category by category, Waccamaw presents shoppers with an in-store merchandising concept that is closer to a department store than some of the other specialty chains like Bed Bath & Beyond and Linens 'n Things, which spend less time finessing displays and more time piling merchandise high and deep.

"We are doing less signage and letting the merchandise speak for itself," said Johnson. "I don't need a sign to call out a theme--the customer should understand the theme without any explanation, if we're doing a good job."

Vendors acknowledge that in both pricing and merchandising, Waccamaw has a somewhat unique approach.

"Waccamaw's philosophy is to show and display department store merchandise at discount store pricing," agreed John Azzolino, vp for merchandising product development at American Rug Craftsmen. "This differs from other category-dominant retailers that work on a traditional markup structure and don't necessarily show all higher-end merchandise like Waccamaw does."

"Waccamaw, like department stores, is not afraid to devote anywhere from 200 sq. ft. to 400 sq. ft. to freestanding shops," said a bedding manufacturer. "I don't see the same willingness from chains like Bed Bath & Beyond, which takes a different posture and merchandises bedding as a wall section."

Waccamaw has come a long way from its humble beginnings in 1977 as a pottery store in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Founders George Bishop and his son David were inspired by the success of Williamsburg Pottery in Virginia and decided to open their own format. At that time, the store measured in at more than 200,000 sq. ft. and was more like a flea market complete with closeouts, irregulars and imports, merchandise skewed toward its steady tourist traffic. The chain has steadily downsized its initial prototype size to approximately 55,000 sq. ft.

Waccamaw has changed hands several times over the years and is now owned by a group of private investors. Through a succession of top merchants, the chain has reduced its reliance on closeout merchandise to a greater focus on in-line home decor, housewares and home furnishings.

These categories are presented in a hybrid environment that combines the down-home charm of a Wal-Mart complete with an elderly greeter at the door, the pizzazz of Home Depot's Expo with a "wow" display at the front of the store, the savvy of HomePlace with inventive and colorful displays, and the treasure hunt effect of Bed Bath & Beyond with its kaleidoscope of products.

The chain's roots still influence product mix. "While we share many of the same attributes as other big box environments like Bed Bath & Beyond, Linens 'n Things and HomePlace," said Johnson, "we are more heavily skewed toward home decor." When choosing how to emphasize various lifestyles, the chain draws on its home decor savvy.

Casual living is the mantra at Waccamaw. The chain has cherry picked the soft lines categories--bedding, bath with all the coordinated accessories, decorative rugs, window treatments and tabletop--and teamed these with on-trend items from hard lines categories like home decor, framed art, gourmet foods, decorative lighting and ready-to-assemble furniture.

These categories are well represented in its base of 38 stores in 10 states (Illinois, Indiana, Alabama, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida and New York). Waccamaw will grow to 43 stores this year and 50 by yearend 1997. The first new '96 store opened in Sarasota, Fla., in May.

Johnson is confident that the chain is securely on the right track to gain market share. "Our window of opportunity is several fold. First it's fine-tuning what we already have; it's building strong relationships with vendors and building brand identity. Uniqueness of product is really a strong point of Waccamaw because of our strong direct importing business," Johnson said.

Currently, 75% of the company's decorative accessories are direct imports, while 25% are from domestic resources or U.S.-based importers.

Johnson began his career more than 25 years ago at Abraham & Strauss. Since that time he has focused his energies in home furnishings with stints as merchandise manager at Hecht Co. and senior vp, gmm for home with May Department Stores. Most recently, he was senior vp, gmm of home furnishings for Federated Department Stores.