The Retailer Search

Where have all the retailers gone? That's a question just about everyone is asking these days. Americans with a desire to start their own business aren't opening gift and home decor shops at the rate they were in the '80s and '90s. Still, there are brave souls succeeding at a time that has bested so many others. We see them in our neighborhoods, during our travels around the country, at trade shows, and in the entries to our annual Retailer Excellence Awards (REA) competition. Every year, we look for trends among the retailers who've entered in the store design, visual merchandising, or promotion categories.

What we see this year is a changing face in specialty gift and decorative accessories retailing. Gift boutiques are selling wine-related merchandise in wine stores in Illinois and at wineries in Napa Valley. Tabletop, cards, and wall decor are being sold in a Rhode Island emporium that also features a diner serving hotdogs and malts. A craftworks store is part of a museum complex in Michigan.

And retailers are being choosy about location. Old buildings and revitalized downtowns are popular. One Oklahoma retailer saw sales drop 35 percent at her strip mall location, and opted to move to a main street storefront. The diner/gift emporium mentioned above is housed in an historic former movie house. A Wisconsin family set up shop in a restored 1926 fire station, and a Texas retailer runs her interior design and home furnishings business in a building modeled after a 19th century home. There wasn't a strip mall or enclosed mall location among all the entries.

We know that gift retailing has shifted to other independent venues as well. Garden and nursery shops are part of the mix, as are upscale hardware stores and kitchenware shops that also feature cooking classes. The common denominator among all these venues is that gifts are being sold where today's consumers are choosing to shop, whether they're just interested in saving time, or as part of an enhanced dining, gallery-hopping, or vacationing experience.

We'll tell you more about our 2005 REA entries in upcoming issues. In the meantime, turn to page 92 to find out who this year's finalists are.