Noteworthy Nuggets - Halloween, Bookstores, and General Ephemera

Sometimes we just notice things that are interesting and noteworthy. As the rain pelts the windows of Muse operations, we pelt you with some noteworthy ephemera:
Calling the Textbook Dead:
Ipads and Kindles and Ebooks oh my! This is the year that the textbook dies right? Of course pundits have been predicting the death of the textbook from as long ago as 1925. Yes, 85 years ago, the filmstrip projector arrived in school classrooms. Inventor Thomas Edison stated proudly that "books will soon be obsolete in schools. Scholars will soon be instructed through the eye". 
The TV Brand
What the most successful TV merchandising sales brand of all time? No not Jersey Shore. "The Simpsons". Word wide, this ubiquitous animated story of every one's favorite dysfunctional family has racked up merchandising sales of more than $8 Billion. Second was Sesame Street. Time to stock up (again) on Simpsons merchandise, along with Big Bird underwear.
Halloween 2010
One month till Halloween 2010! Have your costume ready? This year Halloween will be big business, with an estimated $5.8 Billion in sales. That's an increase of 17.7% on Halloween costumes, decorations and the like. Believe it or not, 11.5% of Americans plan to dress up their pets. Americans are still in the economic doldrums, and plan to use Halloween as a bit of escapism. But, they will spend money on their costumes, and reduce their spending on candy. Poor young kids trick and treating.  The Lady Gaga costumes will be in large supply, but the candy corn will not.
Toys popping up everywhere.
If there is a sales category that might be best left alone this holiday season, it's Toys. Toys R Us is opening a phenomenal 600 pop stores across the country in vacant mall spaces. FAO Swartz is opening another 10 pop up stores, and Sears has plans to unwrap 85 toy shops in their stores. This coming as national bookstore chains are expanding  their product lines with toys. Will it all work? We bet not. We're thinking the Toys R Us gambit, while successful on a small scale last year, will be too much, too late this year.
Make my dishes clean!
Interesting story in a recent Sunday issue of the New York Times, showing how consumers are getting angry at their dishwasher detergent. Turns out that detergent manufacturers like Procter and Gamble have been reducing the level of phosphates in their products in an effort to be more environmentally aware and meet tough new legislative guidelines.
All well and good, but consumers are un happy with the products effectiveness once phosphates are eliminated. It's an interesting conundrum. Do you want clean dishes or clean uncontaminated water? Turns out you might not be able to get both.
Smart Corporate Partnership.
Macy's has partnered with "The Heart of Haiti", a non profit organization to offer handmade products from Haitian artisans at 25 stores this fall. The products offered support full time work for over 200 Haitian artists whose business was interrupted by the earthquake this year. The Macy's partnership will assist these artisans to rebuild their businesses. A worthy purchase.
From Window Dresser to Couture
Simon Doohan has made a name for himself as the great brain behind the visual merchandising at Barney's in New York. He has become famous  with his out of the world windows during the holiday season, along with penning and peddling a few books along the way.
Now Doohan is stepping out with Target to create a line of "Costume Couture" designed by Doohan for the Halloween season. It is available now, exclusively at Target. You can see his designs HERE. We are not sure that it's really that interesting in terms of design, but we give Doonan his due for continuing to effectively self promote.

In a New York Minute - The Walgreens experience

A few weeks back, I had the opportunity to visit New York City for a week. It was a spur of the moment trip, and I didn't give much thought to my plans, just headed out looking for adventure. Of course I couldn't stop my curious mind from making note of some retail and cultural trends  as I walked and explored the Big Apple.
My first stop, like all good tourists, was Times Square. Now I've been to Times Square before. Yet, it never ceases to amaze me." Bright Lights, Big City" said Jay Macanery, and the area continues to live up to that moniker. It's all giant neon and scrolling screens, looming above a mass of humanity. Humanity of course being all tourists. I doubt many New Yorkers spend much time there, what with the flashing cameras,  the out of towners, and the heavy preponderance of chain restaurants all proclaiming how BIG they are (The Largest Chili's in the world!).
There is lots to write about Times Square retail wise, but what I experienced was the Walgreens Drugstore. It's a super drugstore to be sure. A tower in the middle of Times Square, and is the first retailer that greets you as you come up from the subway. But it's a Walgreens, and beside the giant neon ads on the front of this drugstore, the three floors inside remind you of that.
My experience at Times Square Walgreens is what's interesting. Or frustrating. Or maddening when you see chain retailers that want to operate all of their units from the same mediocre play book.
You see I wanted a bottle of wine. Yes, I could go into any number of places to have a glass of wine, only to discover that (a) they don't put the prices of drinks on menus and (b) there is a very good reason for that when you get the bill. So, being ever so slightly worried that I would spend all my consumable cash on 2 glasses of wine, I went looking for a wine/liquor store around Times Square.
There are none. Well, I'm sure there are,   but I was starting to feel a bit peckish and the glare of the Toys R Us Ferris Wheel may have disoriented me. Or,  it was the crowds and the big SUV Strollers that seem to always be biting at your heels. And then my great inspiration. Walgreens! Wine and Beer! I love America! Perfect. Pick up a bottle, walk across the street to subway, go back to my place and day one of my adventure pleasantly comes to a close.
And yes Walgreens sells wine and beer, and some alcohol cooler things that I think are marketed to 14 year olds. (Seriously, what adult drinks bubble gum tutti fruit rum infusion coolers? And why? ). So I pick up my wine and begin the quest for a corkscrew. Yes, normally I pack a corkscrew for emergencies such as this, but  this was a spur of the moment trip, so my packing regime was a bit out of whack. Trolling the shelves for said corkscrew, I finally found a surly employee who, without so much stopping to chew her gum, raised a well manicured finger and spat out "Housewares - third floor". Thank you dear I muttered, wondering if customer service manuals were written by members of the East German Police.
Cruising the escalator to the third floor I wonder aimlessly until I find the minuscule housewares section, somewhere between hygiene products and disposable diapers for every age group. I'm carrying my bottle around, curiously drawn to the 12 liner feet of every age group diapers (cradle to the grave indeed),  and finally, after three cruises through the aisles found the shelf tag for corkscrews. Out of stock. *sigh*
So here I am. Corked bottle in hand, third floor of what I am sure is the LARGEST WALGREENS IN THE WORLD, and no corkscrew. I thought of going back down and asking Miss manicured finger if they had one in the back room, or picking up the bubble gum rum infusion drinks with the easy twist off cap. Neither seemed like a great plan, nor did the "I Heart NYC" Corkscrew that I found in the souvenir section for the princely sum of $25.00. So i left sans corkscrew, hoping that I could find one back at the apartment that I was staying at. I stood in a long line, paid for my wine and stepped over the SUV strollers. I pushed out the Walgreens entrance,  a  a sigh of relief, and stood next to Miss manicure finger puffing on her Virginia Slim.
Of course you are asking yourself. What does this whole story have to do with Walgreens head office and operational efficiency and building sales? Well let me tell you:
First off, It's your environment that matters in retail. You can 800 stores, all across the country, but each one is unique in where it is located. Someone at head office has missed the fact that they could make a lot more money by expanding their wine and beer and bubble gum cooler selection. No not at all 800 stores - but at the Times Square one. If I have trouble finding vino, I'm sure I am not the only one, so why can't the chain recognize this and work to modify the selection based on location? Seems a no brainer to me.
Second, What's that adage in retail about putting complementary products together to drive add on sales? Did Walgreens miss that day at retail 101? Why on earth would you put wine on one floor and corkscrews two floors up? Everyone, from the manager to the district manager,  to the head office plan-o-gram folks, should have figured that one out. It's like putting the Anthro textbook at one end of the store and the Anthro study guide far off in the other corner.
And finally, I've been around the block a few times retail wise. I can smell a push a mile away. I bet they haven't had stock of the $5.00 corkscrews for ever, forcing consumers to by the cheap plastic "I Heart NY" products for four to five times the price. Yes that increases sales, but at the cost of consumer cynicism and lost on-going loyalty.
So there are my retail tips for the day. Look at your location and what you can leverage. Remind yourself to check your product selection and see if it makes sense, and above all, watch those out of stocks!
I went home, found something that was close to a corkscrew, and had a lovely glass of wine from a mason jar.
Hopefully Miss manicured finger has finished her gum.

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