Retail Theater

Kerry Herndon

December is around the corner and that means the New York Produce Show is about to happen. I exhibited the micro-greens that we had just started to grow for the first time last year. I’ve spent very little time in New York City even though my son lives and works there.

The great mistake I made was forgetting that New York can be cold in December. Bitter cold would be a good description. Being Florida born and raised, the cold was more difficult to handle. Being in New York City with Christmas decorations in full flare was wonderful. We had to visit the windows at Bergdorf Goodman. Each year they pull out the stops to make astounding window displays of great imagination and very high fashion. Millions of people take the time to visit the Bergdorf windows each year. While only a tiny percentage of the population can afford to shop at Bergdorf, they spend great effort to make these public displays of amazing art available to all that want to walk the perimeter to the giant square block store.

I’d watched a documentary about the history and current reality of the company, so seeing it in person was more satisfying than it would have been without the context. It wasn’t the only thing on our list of things to see. We went to every floor of the Sacks Fifth Avenue flagship store to take in the holiday decorations and see the seasonal merchandise displays.

We also made the trek to Rockefeller Center to see the tree and go to the NBC store. It may be a legal requirement to visit Rockefeller Center if you’re in New York City in December. Times Square is another must see for the shameless tourist, including me. Lots of specialty stores that only work in places with massive tourist numbers thrive there. The M&M store does well in Times Square, but doesn’t in most other locations where they’ve attempted to replicate the Times Square success.

The inside was much better than the outside due to the extreme cold. I’m sure the cold wouldn’t have been as big a problem if I had the proper clothing to protect me from the elements. Fortunately, since my son Andrew is more or less now a New York native he knew just what to do. Near the mid-town Hilton that housed the Produce events is the flagship store for the Japanese clothing chain Uniqlo. I’d never heard of this company, but Andrew said it was the place to find what I needed to survive the cold at a very reasonable price.

To say the flagship store was most impressive would be an understatement. The use of space and clean approach to merchandise displays were simultaneously inviting and compellingly simple. Simple done well is extremely difficult to accomplish. Oh, and the prices were very affordable. I was confused since everything in New York City carries a huge price premium because it just costs a ton of money to do business in that city. But the stuff here was very affordable, bordering on cheap. Wool cap, scarf and heavy wool socks instantly improved my quality of life for the remaining duration of the stay in the great city. This combination of value, style and merchandising is almost a singular experience in my career as a consumer.

All of these retail venues have very different approaches to their markets, but in every case, they know who the customer is and what they want to communicate to them. It’s the singular focus on the customer that makes the difference between success and failure for a retail organization. Retail customers are finicky and constantly changing. Fashion changes at an astonishing speed. Customer wants and needs are very difficult to predict. The best we can do is to provide a great product on a beautiful stage and hope consumers agree and take something home. GP

Kerry Herndon owns and operates Kerry's Nursery Inc. in Homestead, Florida. He can be reached at kherndon@kerrys.com.