New prototype stores are giving space back - discount houses, retail trade, enlargement and redesign of stores - Prototypes & Presentations

Discount Store News, April 15, 1991

New Prototype Stores Are Giving Space Back

Many of the nation's leading mass retailers are experimenting with new prototype stores designed to more efficiently meet the growing demands of the '90s consumer.

From Kmart's Oak Park (Mich.) prototype to Montgomery Ward's Tucson (Ariz.) "mini-mall" to Bradlees' new merchandising format that fits numerous store sizes, discount mass retailers view the reshaping of their stores as a survival issue. Those that get left behind may never catch up.

The common theme at all the prototypes appears to be giving space back to the customer. The nation's three largest discounters, Wal-Mart, Kmart and Target, each cite customer-friendly enhancements, such as wider aisles, faster checkouts, more shopper services, etc., as the primary driving force behind their new formats.

Based on early returns at many of the new prototypes, particularly the Kmart Oak Park Look and Target's Greatland superstore, these new mass retail formats are significant testimonials to the future success of general merchant discount retailing.

Kmart, the Troy, Mich., discounter, got the store prototype bandwagon rolling in earnest last year as it began a $2.3 billion program to renovate or relocate all stores to its "Oak Park" prototype by 1995. Now, it is getting ready to introduce this fall a second-generation of the prototype it debuted at Oak Park, Mich., Aug. 3, 1989.

At 91,000 square feet, including 76,000 square feet of selling area, the new prototype will be identical to Oak Park, except for 5,000 more square feet for seasonal and promotional merchandise.

The first larger unit should debut in November, said Richard Miller, executive vice president of Kmart Stores. All new stores built and all existing units renovated in 1992 will be of the new size, Miller said.

The extra space permits "more dramatic display of seasonal and high turnover merchandise than in Oak Park," Miller said.

As of April 1, Kmart had opened or renovated 208 units out of 2,350 to the Oak Park prototype size of 86,000 total square feet, Miller said. The discounter plans to bring somewhere between 400 and 500 more up to speed in 1991.

The total to date consists of 53 new stores, 40 relocations, 93 enlargements and 22 refurbishments.

In 1992, Kmart plans on another 400 to 500 prototype stores. The exact number is difficult to predict because of local problems that can crop up with zoning, he said.

The bulk of prototype stores will open in 1992 and 1993, he said, and the program will be winding down in 1994 and 1995.

Kmart envisions a goal of 2,500 stores by 1995 and is opening about 50 new units a year. The revitalization program also involves enlarging 620 units, relocating 280 others and closing 30 stores. In addition, 1,260 units need only to be refurbished to the Oak Park Look.

"What we're doing is opening up space within the store," Miller said, "for a freer flow for customers and a more open feeling."

Side aisles have gone from as narrow as 4 feet 6 inches to a minimum of 6 feet, and main aisles have been widened to 15 feet, wherever possible, he said.

At the same time, Kmart "isn't sacrificing linear selling space," Miller said.

In remodeled units, Kmart is enjoying high single digit same store sales gains, Miller said. In relocated stores, Kmart is registering same store sales gains in the high double digits, he added.

Although Kmart apparently plans no more American Fare hypermarkets, beyond the three operating in Atlanta, Charlotte, N.C., and Jackson, Miss., it adopted many of merchandise presentations ideas of American Fare in developing the Oak Park Look.

In apparel, for example, floors are finished with tile, rather than carpeting, so that most fixtures can be on wheels for easier remake of the department. Apparel occupies 38% of selling space, an increase from traditional Kmarts.

Kmart scrapped its traditional orange and blue color scheme. It upgraded fixtures for a high-tech and raised ceiling height, allowing merchandise to be displayed more effectively against back walls, such as a 12-foot high "wall of fleece."

Gridded, trac lighting highlights displays in cosmetics and jewelry departments.

Kmart even updated its snack bars, renaming them "Eatery Express" and moving them to the front of the store from the rear.

To make it easier for customers to get assistance, Kmart has installed 16 call boxes throughout the store.

"We wanted to enhance the presentation to show our customers what our merchandise really looks like," chairman Joseph Antonini said at the Oak Park opening.

Enhanced presentation was one of the benefits Marshalls discovered as the off-price apparel chain began revamping several larger size stores that it had purchased from other companies.

Marshalls' newest prototypes, remodels of former Channel Home Centers that at around 50,000 square feet are about twice the size of a traditional Marshalls, feature a teal and red motif, newer fixtures, improved signage and large graphics that give the store a more fashionable atmosphere. Already, the chain finds it is attracting a more upscale, department store customer.