Today, I visited the new Crestview Hills Town Center in Northern Kentucky, my first visit since its grand opening as a new lifestyle center. Originally built on the site was the two-story enclosed Crestview Hills Mall built in the 1970s. The only signs of life, though were the Dillard's store, some mall walkers, a few shops, and the escalators, in the Mall's final years - it never really took off as a major shopping center. In 2004, demolition on the mall began to replace it with an open-air lifestyle center, like found at Rookwood or Deerfield (only better, IMO), including an all-new 2-story Dillard's.
Oddly enough though, like a Simpsons episode, it's not the main point of the entry. I checked out the Borders store, and I was certainly glad to go through the doors, very cold outside. One book I came across was entitled "The Bully of Bentonville," an critical expose (among others) on Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, by Anthony Bianco. Like most Americans, I think Wal-Mart is an overall good company and concept, but is not perfect (but have a better view than the authors of some of the books and media would). I picked it up, and browsed the middle of the book, which mentions Wal-Mart's growth strategy of building new Supercenters in Midwestern cities. The focus is on one of these metro areas, Cincinnati, which has about a dozen planned, many of them either now open or under construction. The closest Wal-Mart Supercenter right now to my home is in West Chester at I-75 and Cinti-Dayton Road. In a few months, one in Forest Park at Cobblewood Plaza is set to open - and another in Evendale near the corner of Reading and Glendale-Milford is being built.
Cincinnati may be relatively new grounds for the Wal-Mart Supercenter, but is no stranger to the superstore/hypermarket concept (that is, a discount retailer that contains a supermarket with a full line of foods, plus general merchandise). bigg's is mentioned as the first 'hypermarket' in the U.S. when it opened in Eastgate in 1984 by a joint venture of U.S. and French companies. The second store opened at Forest Fair Mall in 1988 (now Cincinnati Mills). bigg's now has 12 locations in the area (and another in Clarksville, IN, north of Louisville), though some locations are food-only, general merchandise is very limited. Like Wal-Mart, bigg'sdoes not utilize union labor, which has been publicized heavily by local food unions.
Also discussed some is Meijer, the Michigan-based, family-owned retailer, which also owns several superstores in the Cincinnati area, similar to several Bigg's stores and Wal-Mart Supercenters. While Meijer pioneered the superstore concept in the U.S. in 1962, it finally entered the Cincinnati market in 1996, and started a price-war with the incumbent retailers. These included Kroger, which has been the nation's largest grocer (for a grocery-only chain, now, that is), based here in Cincinnati, as well as the smaller Thriftway, which had recently been sold to Winn-Dixie, after decades of local ownership.
Within 10 years of Meijer's entry to the market, Kroger remains on top, with the most locations in all neighborhoods and suburbs. bigg's has also grown around here, having doubled its number of locations. Meijer itself has remained strong and added a few stores around town. But Thriftway, along with its parent, Winn-Dixie, suffered the most. The prices, service, and selection in their stores was poor. Not only did all Thriftway stores close in 2004, Winn-Dixie pulled many of its stores, including all of its Kentucky locations - partly due to Wal-Mart Supercenters.
Bianco brings up bigg's and Meijer because he expects Wal-Mart to hit them hard once many of the Supercenters have been up and going in Cincinnati. Kroger may sustain the least damage, as their hometown local presence as a grocer, and ability to conduct deep discounts and sales will keep them strong. bigg's however, could be in trouble, as they and the Supercenters are probably most similar - union-free and use of 'true minimum pricing.' But I take notice that the chapter is called 'Would the Last Independent Grocer Please Get Off the Monorail?..." Could it possibly be a focus of none other than...
Caught in between the chain stores in town is, of couse, Junge Jim's International Market in Fairfield. Founder and owner "Jungle" Jim Bonaminio gave a great and colorful interview (including some words not for kids!). Might I add though, that Jungle Jim's is a must-visit for anyone that likes food. His store may be an independent, with only one location - but its size is greater than any Wal-Mart Supercenter - and that's in food alone! In fact, Bonaminio has a second (but smaller) store planned in Oakley, in part of the former Milacron plant.
Why would Bianco give some silly big 'food land' time in a book about Wal-Mart? The two have their similarities and differences. Obvious are their desire to provide a one-stop shopping experience. Also, both are anti-union, though Bianco emphasizes that Jungle Jim is openly against the unions, saying they would kill his employees' productivity, but Wai-Mart CEO Lee Scott has put a more PC spin type of response. Note that when a Wal-Mart in Quebec, its workers voted to join a union (and in Canada, unions have more power, I assume), the company chose to close down the store rather than allow unionization. Different between the two is that Wal-Mart (and other chain retailers) are trying to keep their customers in the store for two hours, where as Jungle Jim's would like to get them out in 15 minutes - both the opposite of their current situations.
So, if Wal-Mart is going to out-price and out-locate Jungle Jim's, then how will the independent wacky man get by? He wants to become a destination for 'foodies.' Not only has he expanded the store, a mini-mall has been attached to the store, including some food and specialty stores. Restaurants, an event center, and even a hotel have been desired. Most notably is the monorail he has planned. YES, MONORAIL. In 1998, Bonaminio purchased eight monorail trains from Kings Island for $1. (Rant on this one later) The trains first ran in 1974 when an animal safari opened, until it closed down in 1993 as part of the Paramount takeover. Jungle plans to get the monorails circling around the store's perimeter later this year. Yet, in the book, Jungle sounds a bit concerned. Should he be?
However, I argue, that the competitors have been, and will continue to co-exist with Wal-Mart Supercenters. Wal-Mart may deliver on price, but price isn't everything. Compared to bigg's, Meijer, Target, and especially Jungle Jim's, the quality, service, and appearance of Wal-Mart is lacking. Their aisles are narrow and often crowded, employees aren't the best, nor many of their shoppers. And the architecture screams CHEAP and COOKIE-CUTTER. I've been to standard and Supercenter Wal-Marts, but find myself in Kroger, bigg's, Meijer, Jungle Jim's, and Target more often.
I won't get in-depth with the labor issues and 'putting mom & pop out of business,' many I disagree with Bianco on, but I will take the common 'libertarian' line: the best way to hurt Wal-Mart is to not shop there. If you love shopping at Fred's Market, and find their prices to be not too bad (though still higher than Wal-Mart), you should shop there. But we can't deny that Wal-Mart has forever changed retail through innovation, productivity, non-stop competition, and 'cutting out the fat.' Name a store, whether it's a small independent grocer, or even a upper-class, top of the line department store, that doesn't want to cut costs.
Bottom line: Wal-Mart could improve here and there, but there are far bigger threats to our cities and communities than some American success story.
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