Creating Communities of Place Office of December 95 State Planning M Department of the Treasury emo Vol. Governor Treasurer I, No. 2 Christine Todd Whitman Brian W. Clymer BIG BOX RETAIL Big box retail is currently the in the State in the last five years. If most dynamic sector of the retail Kmart and the other chains are fac- OSPlanning Memo is a monthly industry.While many forms of tradi- tored in, the total growth in super- publication which highlights strate- gies, techniques and data of interest to tional retail have languished in the last store retail space may have been clos- the planning community in New five years, big box retail has achieved er to twice that amount. Jersey. I welcome your comments on significant gains in the marketplace. This trend continues around these memos and your suggestions for The term “big box” refers to the state, with numerous superstores future topics. large industrial-style buildings with under construction or in various vast floorplates or footprints, up to stages of the development review Herb Simmens, Director 200,000 square feet. Although single- process. In addition, Target Office of State Planning story, they often have a three-story Department Stores, the discount 609.292.3155 mass that stands more than 30 feet branch of Dayton Hudson, one of the [email protected] tall, allowing the vertical stacking of nation’s largest retailers, has merchandise. Big box buildings in the announced a planned expansion into range of 120,000 to 140,000 square the Northeast. feet occupy the equivalent of two to Big box retail presents chal- What is Value Retail? three city blocks, or 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 lenges and creates opportunities for There are two key trends in football fields. municipalities. Municipalities and the American retail industry of the Big Box growth in New regions should consider whether it is 1990s: consolidation, expressed by the Jersey in the last five years has been appropriate, where it is most appropri- sustained growth of national chains; significant. As of the end of 1995, ate, what impacts to anticipate, and and a greater focus on providing Home Depot operated 16 stores in how best to mitigate the negative “value” to the consumer.The rise of the state, Wal-Mart operated 13, Sam’s impacts. the big box is linked to both trends. Warehouse Club had six and Kmart To be prepared, it is impor- Value retail reflects a new had 46. tant for municipalities to understand level of price consciousness on the Kmart has long had a pres- the various formats. Because big box part of both consumers and retailers. ence in New Jersey, mostly with older retail is a fairly recent phenomenon, It is a broad label covering several stores in the range of 50,000 to many municipal master plans and zon- retail concepts, such as discount 60,000 square feet. The other three ing ordinances do not adequately department stores, "category killers" national chains have only been active address it. Recognizing this, the Office and warehouse clubs. It can be found here in the last five years. of State Planning has prepared this in urban, suburban and exurban con- The openings of the Wal- Memorandum to assist municipalities ditions, either in stand-alone build- Mart, Sam’s and Home Depot stores that are either considering big box ings, or in various types of planned represent the addition of 3.5 million retail or facing applications for this shopping clusters, such as "power to 4 million square feet of retail space type of development. centers" and "value malls". OSPlanning Memo Value retail operators share ● large advertising and promotional ● no-frills sale floors and building the following general characteristics: budgets. facilities; and ● reduced staffing and labor costs. ● an emphasis on providing Lower prices to the con- Studies indicate that today’s "value" to the consumer, i.e. sumer are achieved through cost- consumers have less interest in quality name brands at discount cutting strategies such as: shopping, make fewer trips to shop, (considerably less than depart- and buy more on each trip than in ment store) prices; ● large-volume purchasing, often the past. Consumers consider saving ● a preference for a superstore directly from the manufacturer, time a priority, and they prefer (big box) format; minimizing distribution and stores offering “everyday low prices” ● high-volume turnover, with warehousing costs; to occasional department store pro- lower profit margins than con- ● high-tech purchasing and inven- motions or bargain-hunting from ventional retailers; and tory control systems; store to store. What Are The Major Value Retail Formats? There are four major value retail formats: discount department stores, warehouse clubs, category killers and outlet stores. Discount Department Stores lion-plus in sales in 1994, and more large-volume turnover, as well as a Discount department stores than 300,000 employees at more strong membership base. Most offer a wide variety of products -- than 2,200 stores. charge members an annual fee. up to 60,000 items -- ranging from Although the three indus- Sam's Warehouse Club, a groceries to apparel to auto prod- try leaders have built retail empires division of Wal-Mart, is the industry ucts to electronics to garden sup- operating stores in the range of leader. Other major players include plies, all at discount prices.This 60,000 square feet, the recent Pace and Price Costco. It is estimat- group includes some of the largest trend has been to consolidate small- ed that more than 1,100 warehouse retailers in the world, such as Wal- er market areas and concentrate on club stores will be in operation Mart and Kmart. a new generation of superstores in nationwide by 1996. Wal-Mart had $82 billion- the range of 130,000 to 200,000 plus in sales in 1994, and sales vol- square feet. These Wal-Mart "super- Category Killers ume has been growing by 20 per- centers" and Kmart "Super K" stores Category killers offer in- cent a year. It has more than are often accompanied by the clo- depth selection in a special retail 500,000 employees at more than sure of older, smaller stores. The category. Examples include Toys "R" 2,000 stores. Kmart had $34 bil- unrelenting competition from the Us (children’s products), Borders industry leaders has contributed to (books and music), Circuit City BIG BOX FACT the financial troubles of smaller (electronics) and Home Depot chains, such as Caldor and Bradlees. (home improvement). Big Box growth in New Category killers, which also Jersey in the last five years has Warehouse Clubs include some of the nation’s largest been significant. As of the end of Warehouse clubs sell a wide retailers, know their market seg- 1995, Home Depot operated 16 range of goods, in bulk, in many dif- ments very well and trade large vol- stores in the state, Wal-Mart ferent product categories but offer umes of merchandise. This allows operated 13, Sam’s Warehouse little selection, with under 5,000 them to establish direct relationships Club had six and Kmart had 46. items stocked. Selling at near-whole- with manufacturers and to cut costs Kmart has long had a sale prices, with limited staff and by eliminating wholesalers. Store presence in New Jersey. The other advertising and very low profit mar- sizes for category killers range from three national chains have only gins, warehouse clubs compete 20,000 square feet to the 120,000 been active here in the last five directly against conventional super- square feet of the average Home years. markets and other discount stores. Depot. Warehouse clubs operate on 2 BIG BOX RETAIL Reprinted with special permission of King Features Syndicate Outlet Stores items or a previous season's line at apparel and often a variety of other Outlet stores are the dis- steep discounts. Outlet stores are products at considerable discounts. count branches of national depart- frequently clustered in power cen- They appeal to the traditional depart- ment stores, such as Nordstrom’s ters or value malls. ment-store shopper with a value ori- (Nordstrom Rack) and Macy's entation, and are frequently found in (MCO), or of national manufactur- Other Discount Retailers power centers or value malls, as well ers (Anne Klein, Bass Shoes, North Merchandisers like Marshall's, as conventional shopping centers. Face, etc). They sell overstocked TJ Maxx and Filene's Basement sell Types of Planned Value Retail Developments Once ostracized by shopping centers, discount retailers are currently perceived as very desirable tenants. Power centers and value malls are the two types of discount retail agglomerations that have emerged as particularly significant. Value retailers are also appearing in conventional regional malls, on equal footing with traditional department store anchors, or even as anchors in smaller, community shopping cen- ters. Many discount retailers also continue to develop or lease free-standing buildings that are not part of a larger commercial development. Value Malls ous value-oriented retail types, such specialty retailers. Examples include Value malls combine in a as factory outlets, department store Franklin Mills in suburban single, integrated development vari- outlets, category killers and large Philadelphia, Potomac Mills in subur- 3 OSPlanning Memo ban Washington, D.C., and the Power Centers of smaller, in-line stores. They can MetroMall under construction in "Power centers" generally range from 250,000 to more than 1 the City of Elizabeth. Value malls bring together the various branches million square feet and have as many approach 1 million square feet and of the big box family -- for example, as a dozen anchors and co-anchors. tend to locate at the edge of metro- a discount department store, a ware- Anchor tenants typically occupy 60 politan areas.