Retail Concepts: Retail Squared
Call it “Brick-and-Mortar Makes a Stand”: Large retailers are renting their space out to smaller, self-contained businesses. You know that nail salon you always see when you’re checking out at Wal-Mart? That’s one example.
Regular readers of the Daily Biz know I’m something of a “retail junkie”, so this story from CNNMoney is essentially candy for me. Sears is renting out space to Forever 21. Target is making room for Radio Shack. Discount stores, department stores, big box stores, and even grocery stores are turning into teeny tiny shopping malls and I love it!
The win-win here is a no-brainer: smaller retailers or service providers capitalize on the foot traffic from the large retail space. The larger retailers gain additional customers spilling over from the specialized smaller entities. The larger store also gains valuable differentiation: maybe Wal-Mart is closer, but you need to get a cellphone from the Radio Shack inside a Target. Or the other way around: maybe you prefer Target but you want to pick up dinner from the Subway inside Wal-Mart.
I wonder where “partnering” ends and “renting space out” begins. The article mentions the example of Kroger grocery stores carrying a special installation of Murray’s Cheese. How is that different from having a Levi’s jeans stand inside any other store? The scale? The sourcing? The interactivity? Questions for another time!
