Let’s Talk Retail

Since it’s impossible to hide from the fact of this self-imposed follow-up holiday (and yes it is a holiday – since hardly anyone works today) BLACK FRIDAY, I am wondering why retail gets such a bad review these days.

Every politician and city father is desperate for a great retail-shopping season, which traditionally begins the day after Thanksgiving and runs until Christmas Eve. Now it’s anyone guess. Thanksgiving is now toast; it is like a pre-party dinner warm up and strategy session prior to the trip to 10:00 run to Wal-Mart with all the aunts and cousins. Sad.

The Occupy Best-Buy Movement

When the volume of retail dollars is shown on graphs and charts on the TV news (with hordes of shoppers queued holding small children over their heads) what they really are saying is, “See that number, multiply it by 8.5%, that’s the state’s piece of the action. More action, more pieces.” And lord knows we need more pieces.

Now that most large retailers (called big box retail for the obvious reason – 250,000 square feet of consumer bliss) have turned into strange reflections of the Occupy Movement with hundreds if not thousands camped out for a week before BLACK FRIDAY (now a week long holiday for them), all to buy stuff.

Shopping can be fun, adventuresome, enlightening, disturbing, revealing, satisfying, and confusing. Must be that hunter-gatherer thing. Bag a big-screen TV, stand with foot on the box, like Teddy Roosevelt, and show the world your prize. Take a snap with your new 8MP Android phone – send it to all your FB friends, go viral. Conquest can be fun.

But now, there is a blandness creeping in the retail scene. I used to travel to see new things, find cool and interesting stuff. Now you walk through the Macy’sBloomingdalesNorsdtrumPennySears store, much is all the same. The same stuff you will find in Marks & Spencer and Harrods in London, Bon Marche in Paris, and probably Beijing (where most of the stuff comes from anyway). So what is a retailer to do?

First they are adding living rooms and comfortable seating, “Come, stay, enjoy. Coffee? Much to choose from. Food? Around the corner. Bathroom? The finest.” Someday you may want to live here. There was a time, when I was a young designer of retail centers, the client said, “No seating! If they sit, they’re not shopping.” Now, move in, stay, bring the family, the game will be on at 1:00.

Next, concierge services. The Grove in LA (amongst others) has a drive-up valet and they park your car and will even wash it while you browse the stores. More of this will be coming. They even sell cars in the malls – Santana Row in San Jose, California has a Tesla dealership.

The big malls (Mall of America, et al) have motels and hotels connected to them. Sleep, Love, Shop, Cool.

Wi-FI, schmi-fi. You MUST have WiFi, work-tables, power outlets, and couches. Period.

Casinos are now more than just places to add to the coffers of the state, they are expanded their retail where they are now competitive with local retail centers. There will be more of this, in fact at one large Indian casino, I was told, they are investigating major retail stores inside the casino. Imagine a Macy’s entry right next to the craps table, what more could you want?

Restaurants are the next big things in retail; the food court has gone nuclear. Todd English seems to won this round for now, he’s more ubiquitous than Tommy Bahama. Ethnic foods are huge, fast food huger, all-you-can-eat buffets – category killers. Where restaurants used to be stuck in the corners (i.e. foodcourts) they will now be moved into pricier locations, they will become attractions instead of just necessaries. Watch for more big names to jump in, Guy Fieri and many more from the Food channel. Not necessarily because they are good, but because they are known. In fact, now people actually arrange their vacations around Food channel restaurants. How many Triple D restaurants have you been to?

Retail itself will continue on its sad course, same-old, same-old. We shop for price not product, and I’m no different. Went looking for a slow-cooker the other evening, went to Crate and Barrel, Sur La Table, Williams Sonoma – all too pricey. Macys, perfect and at half the price. That’s what’s happening in retail. Is there a chance for the bespoke clothier? In a mall – not a chance, yet.

For the last forty years, since the first wave of enclosed malls swept the country, there has been a revision to the retail model every ten to fifteen years. We are now seeing the latest in the village square concept: outside, walkable streets, shop after shop doors, street front windows, big boxes set in the corners, restaurants and entertainment built into the fabric, just like the town where your grandparents lived. There is something warm and fuzzy about the place – hard to do, but works. Good example is Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga.

Is the mall dead? Hardly. But as the economy changes so will these retail dreadnaughts. Denser retail, more leisurely, richer interiors, more natural light, more elegant parking garages, and better treatment of customers (now guests). This is the most competitive business model in America: wringing a buck out of the consumer, if you can make them happy, they will do it gladly.

Stay tuned . . . . .

Noodling People, Farm Land, Cool Videos and Thanksgiving

Nood-ling (nōōd’lĭng) n. 1. Fishing for catfish using only bare hands, practiced primarily by crazy people who cannot afford proper fishing gear. 2. The intentional annoyance by bloggers who are skeptical of the news as it’s reported, as in “Noodling bureaucrats is more fun than fishing bare hand for catfish and a lot more surprising.” This is now an end of the month feature.

 

Why People Move – Not Answered

I came across this very cool interactive display from Forbes. The map shows, down to incredible detail, the in- and out-migration from every county in the United States, all based on the most recent census data. CLICK HERE. Click on a few counties, your choice, and try and figure out why anyone would want to move there or for that matter leave. Enjoy.

Recovering Farm Land

There is an old adage that says, “The last crop ever planted, is a house.” Well it seems that recently a lot of land that had been under option, or even outright ownership, by developers is going back to farmland. In an article in the Wall Street Journal (11-14-11), by Robbie Whalen. HERE  Sorry about the nasty subscriber thing but these guys do have to make a living. There is also another interactive series of maps about housing demand and land reversions also at the WSJ. HERE

All the News Ain’t Good

During a time of bad news occasionally it seems like piling on but there was the Chevy Volt catching fire (seems you have to drain the battery after a crash – it might catch fire later) HERE . Then there is the ongoing High Speed Rail debate. They can debate all they want, but like the Super Committee and the budget, the costs will only keep going up, and up, and up. Throwing your hands up and giving in won’t make it free or cheaper. HERE  and SF Gates Politics' Blog.

A Year In New York Video - Must See

Again Aaron Renn (see left column below) has found another great video. While I have not spent a great amount of time in New York City - HERE VIDEO (great story by Andrew Clancy), it’s nice to watch the work of a man that does love NY.

And Lastly if You Love Cities Video

Dominic posted this excellent video on cities (I picked out Chicago, Toronto, LA and a few others), Timelapse- The City Limits. I hope you have a very good screen, you just have to watch it full size. Very cool. 

And what is it about Vimeo and the extraordinary quality of their videos.

And Finally Thanksgiving - A Few Turkeys

Here are two very disturbing videos of that celebrate the holiday; the first reminds me of the old SNL video The Bass-A-Matic. Click HERE if the video doesn't work.

And without a doubt the greatest: “WKRP in Cincinnati: Turkey Drop.” Sadly Fox has decided to shut down any unauthorized version cut from the original and you have to watch the whole show but if you click on the bar to the 18 minute mark its starts – go HERE FOR HULU VIDEO.

Stay Tuned . . . . .