A chain's new look centers on providing the right kind of customer atmosphere

While Christian retailers are being encouraged to diversify in the face of ongoing competition from other channels, broadening their product mix, some are finding that a re-commitment to their core is paying dividends.

Although Mardel Christian & Education's teacher supplies and its inspirational gifts are significant factors in its continued success, the quiet makeover that has been revitalizing the regional chain has books and Bibles squarely as its centerpiece.

With 34 stores in six states, Mardel's growth has not been slowed by the economic downturn and newcomers—like the recently opened location in Corpus Christi, Texas—are based on the new-look store first introduced a couple of years ago.

Since then, several older locations have been retrofitted along the new lines, with aspects of the changes in style and merchandising also incorporated into older stores where a full makeover is not possible for one reason or another.

The Mardel makeover is based on a potpourri of sources, from internal meetings among leadership and staff to discussions with customers and focus groups, conversations with visiting supplier reps, lessons from visits to other retailers—from high-end names to small-town convenience stores—and even a phone call from one store's restroom.

Some were surprised when the chain embarked on such a major project as the economy started to dip. But "retailers have to embrace change when the opportunity arises," said Jason Green, chain president.

"One of the biggest mistakes retailers make is that they wait until they are successful to say, 'OK now we can change this,' because what ends up happening is you then become a victim of your own success and become hesitant to change—and are unable or unwilling to when the time comes."

A car enthusiast who often uses auto analogies to illustrate business points, he added: "Last year's best car manufacturer is still last year's model. ... One reason we struggle a lot as Christian retailers is we don't give people a compelling reason to come visit us. We are not entitled to their business. We have to earn their business just like everyone else."

To show how Mardel has been endeavoring to do that, Green recently walked Christian Retailing through one of his new-look, Dallas-area stores, opening the doors to share some of the chain's successful ideas and changes with others.

FRESH STYLE

The differences start in the parking lot. Gone is the old-style cartoony Mardel's logo that greeted shoppers as they walked up. Dating back to the 1980s—an era in which many Christian retailers are still stuck, style-wise—its place has been taken by a bolder, more contemporary sign whose look and feel is carried through inside.

Inside the lobby, before customers enter the store proper, they pass showcase windows in either side of the entrance. "Previously this was just where we parked our shopping carts," Green said. But he and others realized "we have great product that we want people to see as they walk in—kind of slow them down and catch their attention, set their pace and the tone of the store.

"If you've read Paco Underhill's Why We Buy, he talks about the transition space as you walk into a store and how that sets the atmosphere. We want people to tell us they feel like our store is peaceful and it's a place they want to come just to be there, so let's start that from the entrance."

The displays are changed at least seasonally, sometimes monthly and at least refreshed weekly. "The same product might be out there, but they'll move it around," Green said.

Head office determines themes and perhaps some key products for the displays, but most of the actual content is left to the local teams: "We want them to give it their local flavor," he said.

Noticeably absent in the entrance are any big sale or special-offer signs—a decision that is echoed inside the store.

"We have a policy for clutter reduction in the store, so you won't see as many overhead banners or signs to draw attention," said Green. "We feel that at some point it becomes annoying. … You go into some secular stores and you see sale, sale, sale. At the very least, you become numb to it. If everything is on sale, nothing is on sale."

The first obvious change inside the store is under foot. It's a high-end ceramic tile, "a little more expensive than we were putting down, but its life expectancy and the maintenance costs over time are actually less," said Green. The other option requires stripping and cleaning "and it gets damaged easily, so over the life of the store, it works out about the same for total investment."

Also immediately striking is that reading is central. Special offers and promotions, including gifts, are featured at the front of the store, but "we don't do it at the yell-and-scream-at-you level."

Beyond the new-release displays up front, books and Bibles are the main focus. Actual SKUs have not changed much, just the emphasis and display—a combination of revised layout and different fixtures.

"One of the main things we have done is change the style and look of the fixtures," said Green, "to bring the openness and height down." In came "darker and richer tones, away from the grays. We used warmer hues and neutrals."

The lower displays "mean we can stair-step, and it's not just one big flat surface," he said. "It gives dimension without being overpowering. It allows us to merchandise our product better.'"

Reducing the height of fixtures also means that customers can now see all the way to the back of the store. "We noticed that even in places like Wal-Mart, Target, they are lowering the shelves. In our existing stores, the counter heights were 7 feet tall, so that made the store feel smaller and made visibility poor. All the neat stuff we had back in the store, you really didn't see."

As well as making the store feel more "open," the new display heights have helped with customer service. "You can see where the customers are," said Green. "If the counter is 7 feet, you can be on the other side and not even know they are there. Now we can see all of the people in the store and it helps us find them and know where we need to go to help them."

BIBLE FEATURES

The reconfiguration means that books are central to the store, with the educational products that used to be there switched to the right-hand side. The books are anchored by a customer-service desk in the center of the store, with Bibles along the rear wall. Cherry-wood shelving lends a library feel to the area, with study stations where customers can open up copies of the 1,000 Bible products to try them.

"We want them to take the Bible and compare it, feel it, hold it in their hand, compare to different translations. We encourage them to look through them. We want customers to have the right translation, the right tool because the worst thing a person can have is the life-changing Word of God, but then they are confused when they read it or try to study or learn," Green said.

"That is why we have the selection we have and multiple translations, and we want our staff to engage with the customer to find the right Bible. We want someone to walk out purchasing a Bible that they are going to read. It doesn't do any good for it to sit on the shelf."

The children's department adjoins books and Bibles, to the right—moving from its former position at the front of the store. Shelving is even lower in the children's area than in the height-reduced rest of the store. "Nothing over 5 foot tall, so you don't have to reach to grab a book. Games and toys are down where kids can get to them or they can play with them."

The footprint for the music department has been shrunk some, but the category is still a significant one. "There have always changes in the format and delivery of music," said Green. "We went from LPs to 8-tracks to cassettes to compact discs. … But the desire for music is still there.

"The industry has declined in CD sales, but we still have people come in and this is how they discover music," he said.

When someone becomes a Christian, their taste in music may not change, but their choice of lyrical content may, Green observed. "So what that does is open up a huge backlist for Christian retailers."

While keeping a strong music inventory, Mardel has reduced the space it takes up. "We used to have a large wall dedicated to what's hot and what's new, and we decided that it was no drawing people in as it used to, so we created a different fixture for our new music and our hot music that is in the front of the department."

Some of the saved space has gone to an expanded apparel area—which includes an unlikely feature for many Christian stores: a fitting room. "We have always done your classic Christian T-shirts, and we still do phenomenal business with those," said Green. "But we have customers who like the higher-end shirts, hoodies, things like that."

As the chain scaled back on music, Green and others realized shoppers "would come in wearing Abercrombie & Fitch—and if they were wearing these shirts, we knew that they were willing to spend money for a fashion statement." So why not one that mirrored their faith, the Mardel team agreed, introducing some of the new Christian apparel lines. And "if we are going to sell nice apparel we need nice apparel racks."

The fitting room was added because "for most people a large T-shirt is a large T-shirt is a large T-shirt, and there is not a whole lot of variation. But when you get into some of the other styles, especially the women's tops and blouses, they fit differently and people just need to try them on—and they want to put a look together. They don't want to feel hurried, just pulling together things over their head in the aisle."

SERVICE FOCUS

Though the store has casual seating where shoppers can relax and browse, there is no free WiFi, and the one-time coffee shop sections have been largely done away with. There is now just one table at the front near self-service where free coffee—a special Mardel roast that can be bought—is available.

"We did the espressos and all that," said Green. "We realized that we are better at selling books than we are at selling coffee. Obviously, too, with the advent of Starbucks and places like that, we just let them be great at what they do," he added. "We want customers to linger, but we would rather them linger throughout the store rather than parking in one spot and staying there the whole time."

Similar thinking, in addition to security concerns, was behind the no-Internet decision. "We just found with our customers that was not what they really expected from us. Their 'third place,' they had … so let's do what they want us to do while they are here, which is provide a great assortment of books."

Part of that book commitment includes a significant and sophisticated bargain program, which sees remainder and discount items color-coded and progressively marked down week by week—enticing return customers. The titles are displayed randomly on bargain shelves and also featured in among the regularly priced books.

"We found that if we kept them all in one place, yes, we sell them, but we can also sell additional ones when we have them on the way to other things," Green said.

Gifts continue to be a strong category, located to the left of the store. Seasonal displays front and center are mixed with everyday items that are applicable. "It makes the flow into the gift department," Green said, who noted how lower and more open display fixtures had helped in this part of the store, too. "Because of the layout in our existing stores, in some cases we had seasonal in one area and gifts in another, and we felt like we were meant to do a better job to get the customer to see everything."

Throughout the store, signage is "warmer and less yellows" and "sale, sale, sale." We want people to see the price and the value, but we want the product and display to catch their attention too, not be overpowered by a loud sign. You see a lot of that in the nicer furniture stores that are moving away from the way from the sale kind of signage to, 'Look at this recliner and here's the price on it.' "

The cautious approach to signage extends to supplier materials. Cardboard displayers and vendor racks are extremely limited. "They have to be approved, and we are very selective. No folding tables or temporary displays."

Instead, Mardel shows suppliers how it intends to display product "and they appreciate that. At Christmas time, for example, we won't bring in the cardboard, box-card displayers, but we will give the product prominent presentation on some of our permanent nice fixtures. We are giving them presentation, but we believe that on our fixture, it is a better look and a better feel."

That better look and feel even extends to the restrooms, which feature the same quality flooring as the rest of the store. Green followed the lead of another business, whose restrooms he heard being praised, and sent one of his team to check them out and call from inside to say what he found.

Since the Mardel restrooms have been upgraded, "we had one store (manager) complaining that people come in to use the restroom and leave," he recalled. "If that gets someone into the store, praise God. Let's make sure once they are there, we keep them."

'From a products focus to an experience'

A veteran independent's new look sees sales rise

Longtime champion of independents Steve Potratz has seen new life breathed into his own business following a relocation forced on him by rising costs and a disaster.

The California retailer and founder of the Parable marketing and franchise group has been able to implement long-desired changes since consolidating operations in a new 4,600-square-foot location in San Luis Obispo.

It replaces a smaller, long-standing location in the city's prime tourist downtown area where the already pricey rent was set to be increased by 30% and a second store in Atascadero that was destroyed by a flood in July 2009.

"We've been able to implement principles we have taught, but been unable to do (until now) because of the size of our previous stores," Potratz told Christian Retailing, sharing details of the changes to offer encouragement and ideas to other independents.

Central to the new store—which is spacious compared to the former 2,660 and 3,300 square feet at the San Luis Obispo and Atascadero locations, respectively—are wider aisles and a concrete "power aisle" that sweeps round to the right from the store entrance, with shoppers stepping off it into wooden-floored and carpeted sections.

The extra space has also given Potratz more room to feature products. "There have been no major changes in what we carry," he said, "but there have been major changes in how it's displayed."

Books are at the center of the store with other departments around the perimeter, and while the reading inventory has not increased, its presence has. "We were always were a strong bookstore," Potratz said, but now the display ratio is two spines for each face-out title, instead of five spines.

Also getting a greater focus is the Bible department. Potratz has developed a hybrid system that combines Zondervan's translation-based approach to merchandising with Thomas Nelson's felt-needs system, which advocates focusing on the intended use of the Bible before getting down to options and versions.

The Bible section includes a table and area where shoppers can sit down and get their hands on the different editions that are available. "We really wanted to elevate the category," Potratz explained. The emphasis is "something that gives us a very unique selling proposition compared to Barnes & Noble or anybody else."

There is other seating in the store, too, and free WiFi, though no coffee—with Starbucks as a neighbor, Potratz doesn't need to invest in that service himself … just enjoy the benefits of the extra traffic.

The various changes have produced great results. Overall sales have been up around 40%, with the first full month of book receipts up 50% and children's revenues increasing 198% over the former stores.

"Sales overall are way up," said Potratz. "The surprise has been in books. We have always been a strong bookstore. I never expected the major increases in book sales that we are experiencing."

The business has been named the new model store for the Parable group, with plans to pass on lessons to franchise stores in monthly Webinars.

"The point is that we are trying a number of changes that are producing great results," said Potratz. "The reason people shop our store has completely changed from a products focus to an experience. … Stores can make minor changes without spending a lot of money and produce big results, if those changes are focused on the consumer experience."

Part of that has involved attention to small details, like lights and sound. Potratz uses "warm lighting that makes the store feel very welcoming and brings out the color in products," with brighter lights in some feature sections. Background music is selected carefully "so you are reproducing a sense of Sunday morning worship."

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