Wal-Mart Bashing

These days, just about everyone loves to bash Wal-Mart (when they're not shopping in one of its stores). According to the conventional wisdom, the mass market goliath has created a tsunami in American retailing by driving countless mom and pops out of business; forcing once-great department stores to merge, change their names, or turn out the lights for good; and squeezing vendors until they're forced to move off-shore. About the only thing the folks from Bentonville, AR, haven't been accused of doing is masterminding the great 2005 flu vaccine shortage.

But wait a minute! Was Wal-Mart's original goal really to be the bully that everybody loves to hate? Or has the discounter been a visionary filling a need? One of our own thinks it's the latter. Jon Levin of rep firm Orchard Street Associates (OSA) in Chicago says it's foolhardy to blame the pitiful state of American retailing on Wal-Mart. The real culprits are lack of product innovation, debased customer service, and lousy marketing, to name a few.

Jon and his wife, Frenda, "refugees from the apparel industry," founded OSA nearly seven years ago. Applying what they preach to their practice, they invested in information technology, structured a commission package to attract good salespeople, and developed customer service programs that include drawings for cruises and a quarterly newsletter sent to 20,000 customers. OSA, located in Chicago's Merchandise Mart, represents more than 25 lines, and is serviced by 18 associates. Read what a concerned and committed rep firm principal has to say about the state of our industry, and what we can do about it, on page 16.

With 2005 underway, we are introducing some new retailers to our "We Asked …" panel. Melanie Ginavan's store, Artezen, in Bloomington, IL, is a 2004 REA gold winner for Visual Merchandising, and Cinda Baxter's Details Ink store, in Minneapolis, took home a silver for Promotion. Brian Smucker, who owns Baksheesh in Sonoma, CA, is a veteran retailer who has impressed us over the years with his business-oriented approach to retailing. You'll find their comments on getting the most use out of the web in this issue, as well as many more responses in the months to come.