What's a Nice Gem Like You…?

I was out with a colleague recently, taking in a favorite pastime of B2B journalists. Cleverly dubbed “retailing,” this pastime consists of visiting stores and sizing up basic in-store features such as product mix, shelf space, endcaps, impulse presentation and the like. Eventually, we found ourselves in the jewelry department, leaning on a glass display counter beside the obligatory sign that reads, “Please don't lean on counter.”

What had drawn us to the counter was a particular diamond engagement ring. The diamond was more than a carat. I tell you, it was huge — and so was the $5,400 price tag. The ring itself, a solitaire setting in yellow gold, was placed at the center of an array of engagement rings of various sizes, shapes and costs, with prices ranging from the low hundreds to the extravagant prize in the center of the display case. As we stared, my colleague and I shook our heads, wondering out loud: “What's a diamond ring like this doing in a Wal-Mart?”

What's that again?

That's right: the $5,400 diamond engagement ring my colleague and I were mesmerized by was in the jewelry display case at Wal-Mart. But who would think of coming to a Wal-Mart to buy such a ring? For that matter, who would think there'd be a ring like this here, I mused, half out loud and half to myself.

My thoughts were interrupted by a conversation going on over my left shoulder.

“I bought her that one over there in the second row,” said a man's voice.

“It's really nice, man. When are you going to give it to her?” asked another.

“Dunno yet.”

I turned to see two twentysomethings. One held two cans of motor oil; the other, a small bag with half a head of Romaine lettuce spilling over the top. I glanced at my colleague, and we gave each other a nod; we were having a “defining moment” at the Wal-Mart superstore in Rogers, AR, a town located within shouting distance of Bentonville, home of the world's largest retailer.

We were there for a two-day, invitation-only Wal-Mart media event; and what we'd been hearing from company executives during the event was now being played out before our very eyes. Wal-Mart is in transition.

That day, Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott had explained to us that the retailer was broadening its merchandise horizons. “We want to keep our most loyal customers coming to our stores for their everyday needs,” he said. “But we also want them to buy merchandise they may not typically pick up at Wal-Mart.”

Now my colleague and I knew what he meant: Merchandise they may not typically pick up at Wal-Mart. Like a $5,400 diamond engagement ring, perhaps?

“What's going on at Wal-Mart these days cannot be denied,” Scott had told us. “Wal-Mart is a company in transformation.”

Stay tuned.