Lessons to be Learned

Bill McCurry

The reality hit me on a beautiful spring morning. The chain was still across the garden center driveway. The Coldwell Banker sign, offering “5.3 acres for development,” was a chilling reminder how different business is today.

I was driving to the airport. On the way, I reminisced about this garden center that my wife and I first visited 14 years ago. They had a demonstration/hardscape/water garden, beautifully landscaped on a natural hill. As our granddaughters learned to walk, we would bring them to climb the seemingly huge steps to see the fish-stocked fountain at the top. On each trip they would get to buy their own plant to take home. They were becoming gardeners. Then one season we climbed the seven steps to a fountain with dirty water and dead leaves. Fortunately, there were no dead fish. Neither grandchild ever wanted to return.

How did this garden center fail? The answer: slowly. The derelict demonstration garden was first. After our visit, they blocked the pathway with wheelbarrows. I watched some shoppers climb over the blockade to walk up the unkempt pathway seeking what no longer existed. No sign warned, “Garden closed.” The owner refused to acknowledge what had happened.

Over the next couple years I used multiple pictures of the garden center to illustrate a “great bad example.” I don’t show many of those images. I try to stay positive. Nonetheless, we can learn fantastic lessons. For instance, watch a nicely dressed shopper in sandals feel mud oozing between her toes. Watch her instantly get back in the car and drive away.

I was headed to Chicago that day to meet a local retailing giant, Abt Electronics. I knew nothing about them other than basic online research. They dated to 1936 when Jewel Abt gave her husband David $800 to start a radio store. Son Bob is still active, as are his four sons who share the title co-president.

While third generation retailers aren’t unique, Abt is. They employ 1,250 people in one store on a 34-acre site. Inside that 350,000-sq. ft. single location you’ll find about 100,000 sq. ft. with the most complete selection of home appliances, kitchen appliances, consumer electronics, etc. Abt doesn’t have the same frustrations as Best Buy or Radio Shack. They’re breaking ground for another 100,000 sq. ft. building. In May 2014, Consumer Reports explained: “Savvy shoppers rated Chicago-area Abt Electronics best overall for large appliances for the fourth year and for good reason. Abt topped our scores for selection, service and checkout ease, among other areas, which can mean the difference between a satisfying experience and a shopping nightmare.”

How does a single store garner enough national votes to beat out Costco, Walmart, Target and others? It’s that “satisfying experience.”

Standing in the store’s center court I was admiring a Maserati. Every retailer needs one in their display area. It was showcasing the Bowers and Wilkins Bookshelf speakers, a very pricey system. This vehicle didn’t seem out of place. Understand, Abt sells $200 dishwashers. They don’t focus solely on the high price products. Mike Abt, one of the co-presidents, told me, “We want the shopper from every price point to know us as their best shopping experience. Over time they may want to move up or down the price scale and we want them to do that with us.”

The Maserati was parked next to a choreographed fountain, an inspiration from the Las Vegas Bellagio. Fresh live plants surround the fountain. There’s a full-blown aquarium with viewing positions where adults and youngsters can sit watching multicolored fish and ocean critters. A machine allows a human to be totally encapsulated in a bubble. Saturdays there are fresh-baked cookies, hot chocolate and even peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches.

If you get to the IGC Show in Chicago or The Gardens at Ball, take a trip to Abt in suburban Glenview and understand how the retail experience is being perceived and appreciated by Abt’s loyal shoppers. Quality retailing is entertainment. It’s theater, making shoppers leave the Internet, glad they came, whether alone, with friends or with the entire family. What are your customers experiencing? GP

Bill would love to hear from you with questions, comments or ideas for future columns. Please contact him
at wmccurry@mccurryassoc.com or (609) 688-1169.