Toys department needs winding up - Kmart toy department - Kmart Power Merchandising

Discount Store News, Feb 21, 1994

When it comes to marketing toys, Kmart is an item merchant.

The retailer searches the market for the top items in a category, and merchandises them in a department of just 500 skus located adjacent to sporting goods in sight of the children's apparel area.

The program has been criticized by some toy vendors, who complain that Kmart is falling behind its competitors in assortments, failing to become a destination store and, ultimately, disappointing consumers too frequently.

According to research conducted exclusively for Discount Store News by Leo J. Shapiro and Associates, Kmart shoppers rated the toys department a mean 5.64 on a nine point scale where "one" means poor and "nine" means great. In 1990, shoppers rated the toys department a mean 5.66. While the gap between the 1990 and 1993 scores is negligible, the result should be disappointing to Kmart considering it is now past the halfway point in its multi-billion renewal program and toys has undergone a variety of improvements in the past few years.

But there is some good news for both vendors and Kmart executives. Kmart is poised to put toys on automatic replenishment this spring, which should help the retailer remain in stock on some of the most sought-after toys -- a big complaint by vendors and shoppers --which also should improve, turns and, in the long run, profitability.

In addition, according to the Shapiro research, Kmart's newest stores, those opened one year or less, received a mean score of 6.00, one of the highest scores of any Kmart merchandise department. Only H & BA, domestics and stationery and school supplies scored higher than toys with consumers who shop the newest of the chain's stores.

The toys department also fares fairly well with consumers who have shopped the most recently remodeled units. Consumers scored the department a mean 6.01 on the nine-point scale two months ago, compared to 6.12 in 1990, and 6.32 four years ago for stores that underwent a "major" remodel. In the current survey, shoppers of stores with major remodels scored the toys department a mean 6.00.