Independent

Region: Midwest

Location: Lower level of mall, immediately outside anchor store

Five-star rating:

Appearance

Inventory

Staff

External appearance: The entire store was clearly visible from the mall. Framed art and crosses hung on the back slat wall. Black category signs hung from the ceiling including super savers, gift, stationery, software, reference works and Bible covers.

Window display: The left display window featured a large framed Thomas Kinkade on slat wall, with several acrylic shelves holding books. At the base of the window, wedding books including the ever-popular His Needs, Her Needs, with various gifts were set upon draped white cloth.

Bright yellow "clearance" stickers were obvious on a large candle and wedding cross. A deflated orange balloon was in the back corner of the window. Fixed to the glass window, a poster invited customers to "shop online 24 hours. Select from 120,000 products."

The second display window featured a small cloth-covered table, with four acrylic shelves on slat wall holding a variety of male-targeted books. Books and giftware were positioned at the bottom of the window.

Entrance: Wide open entrances led to a tree with white lights standing beside the center pillar and a white rack with calendars labeled 60% off. Blue baskets were neatly stacked to the right near a small table with a drawing for Hague Quality Water (which seemed odd).

To the left were the lacy hangings from Engedi Home, VBS starter kit display and a tapestry wall-décor rack. Just inside the entrance a sign indicated "super sale items 80% off."

Layout and inventory: A VeggieTales episode played on the widescreen television to the immediate right of the entrance. Signage near the wooden bench for viewing read "Treat your family to a video."

At the center of the store, two chairs were set-up by a table with bridal invitation books. Nearby, Relevant Books titles were next to the section of youth/teen Bible studies. A comfy-looking loveseat was next to a work cart near the checkout.

Full racks of DaySpring cards were to the left. Although framed art hung on the neutral slat wall, the uneven lighting highlighted empty spaces. In the music area, Joni's hymnbooks were face-front in acrylic holders beneath music. Usually those titles are buried in books, so this was smart positioning.

At the back left, the Standard sticker rack was filled with white "time to re-order" cards, while a Baby Blessings rack was loaded with Tyndale products. Children's picture books were all displayed face-front across the back of the large section.

Appearance: Unfinished. Even with a huge inventory, empty spots in the store stood out.

Staff: A pleasant woman approached my companion and offered, "If I can help you in any way, sir, let me know," before retreating to the register counter.

Verdict: An "almost" store. In spite of the huge inventory and large number of square feet, the store didn't quite work. Take the huge visual gap in the front windows between the product shown on slat wall and items laid on the fabric at the bottom of the window.

Two suggestions: Hire a visual merchandiser. Rethink store organization and traffic patterns from the perspective of a customer.

If this were your regular store? I found lots of product, which is nice.

Would a non-Christian feel comfortable here? Yes.

What will you remember of your visit a week from now? The high visibility of the location.

THE STORE OWNER RESPONDS: I don't read "Mystery Shopper" as I find it non-contextual. There's no reference as to what the store is, or is not doing, or what really works for them. A description of a store does not say it is successful or not therefore, the information is useless.

There's also a presupposition that all stores have plenty of time, staff, and money to make whatever changes needed without excuse. With time, money, and no extenuating circumstances, we could all have perfect stores. May I suggest, we would do better with more contextual articles by talking to people who actually run the stores?

I'm sorry, but I think these articles are nit-picky and offer little in the way to help our industry. With my store or another, I'm looking for real answers, not a "mystery."

This was originally published in a Jan. 23, 2006 Christian Retailing.

• Prev
• Next