Goodbye Bloomingdale's … hello Sears? - discounter opens unit in former Bloomingdale's location - Apparel Merchandising

Discount Store News, Sept 16, 1996 by Susan Reda

Sears is putting its trade-up, "soft side" strategy to the test this month as it opens its newest store at a former Bloomingdale's site in tony Garden City, N.Y.

The unit, in a downtown shopping area sporting long-standing units of Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue, embodies every element of the company's recent retail evolution. This latest prototype--complete with a ceramic main floor, improved adjacencies and apparel and cosmetics departments that rival most department stores--is such a dramatic change from the look of stores remodeled just a few years back that one can imagine shoppers who walk through the doors will be squinting to check the sign over the entrance.

"We are continuing to evolve as a company, and the Garden City store represents our latest thinking about the customer, the company and our new concepts, including Circle of Beauty, Crossroads and Canyon River Blues," says Bob Mettler, senior vice president of the Sears Merchandise Group, who emphasizes the role this store plays in advancing the corporate goal of becoming a more compelling place to shop.

"For decades the mentality of this company was `We're so big we can't change quickly,' " recalls Tom Clarke, general manager of the Garden City store and a 25-year veteran of the Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based corporation. "Now, the only aspect of Sears that remains sacred is our commitment to change. And this store is a testament to that tenet."

The transformation of Sears Roebuck & Co. began in 1993, shortly after Arthur Martinez took the reins. As the architect of the turnaround, Martinez shuttered 113 stores, eliminated 50,000 jobs and, in a move some deemed sacrilegious, closed The Big Book, Sears' massive general merchandise catalog. After making a clean break with several unprofitable elements of the past, the restructuring began to snowball.

Today, Sears is more than halfway through a five-year, $4 billion capital spending program aimed at renovating mall-based stores and re-allocating selling space to apparel. Thus far, the company's progress has silenced the industry's harshest critics. Last year, net sales advanced 4.7 percent to $35 billion, retail profits exceeded $1 billion for the first time and sales per square foot--a telltale indicator--advanced to $353 from $289 in 1992.

Management's determination to leave the old ways behind and embrace new methods is evident in every corner of Sears' Garden City store. Acquired from Federated Department Stores in early 1995, the innards of this former Bloomingdale's store were almost completely gutted and rebuilt to suit Sears needs. The remodel, estimated to have exceeded $12 million, was no small task given the store's expansive 300,000-sq.-ft. size. Just over 160,000 sq. ft. of selling space was carved out and, in a move that runs counter to the corporate goal of freeing up backroom space for selling, generous stockrooms were parceled out for each department.

"We would never build a store today of this size or with so much stock space, but we have it here and we plan to use it to our advantage," explains Clarke. "In electronics, for example, having a vast perimeter stockroom enables us to show more product out of the box and give shoppers the chance to play with it. Once they decide what they want, we can retrieve it quickly. We feel that will enhance our customer service." In the apparel areas, ample space enables Sears to maintain better stock levels on the all-important basics and reduce the chances of being out of stock in sale merchandise.

The corporate commitment to the apparel business is beyond reproach in this latest Sears prototype. Apparel dominates two floors of this four-level store, with women's, juniors, intimates, footwear, cosmetics and jewelry located on the main floor, and men's and children's housed one flight up, along with domestics. The lower level is home to Sears Brand Central, sporting goods, paints, seasonal departments and leased areas, including an optical center and a portrait studio. On the fourth floor, designated primarily for office use, inventory storage and employee training and amenities, is a 200-seat restaurant.

In an obvious attempt to cater to the community's more affluent customer base, the larger-than-average apparel departments in Sears' Garden City unit feature a mix of goods that is heavily weighted toward updated and trendy looks. According to Mettler, however, there are no plans to layer on new merchandise tagged with more upscale price points. "We'll skew the business differently to cater to local market preferences, but we're not buying merchandise specifically for this store.

"For example, in the average Sears store, our daytime dress business ranges in price from $30 to $100. We can skew the dress business in Garden City toward the $70, $80, $90, $100 dresses and still stay within the parameters of Sears. We're not going to sell $150 daytime dresses just because the store is located in a more affluent area," explains Mettler.

Sears will show local apparel shoppers its "softer side" through an improved main floor layout and logical adjacencies. Cosmetics and jewelry are situated in the center of the floor. To one side is intimate apparel, accessories, hosiery, footwear and Mainframe, its juniors department. On the other is collections, sportswear, dresses, denim and activewear. Realizing that women don't want to see a refrigerator out of the corner of their eye when they're shopping for a special occasion dress, the segues from one department to the next are smooth and inviting. Unlike other Sears stores--including the Hicksville, N.Y., unit, which was the first to be overhauled in 1993--appliances and electronics are merchandised due south of apparel, one level below.