Bloomingdale

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BloomingdalesInviting the Bloom Into the Store
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Overview

• Federated Department Stores
• History of Bloomingdales
• Bloomingdales Inviting the Bloom into the Store
• Bloomingdales Answer to the Problem
• Problems
• Research Design

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• Federated Department Stores
• Owns Macys, Richs, Lazarus, Goldsmiths,
  Bloomingdales, Burdines, and The Bon Marché
• Currently Owns 456 Stores in 34 States
• Also operates direct mail services through Macys
  By Mail and Bloomingdales By Mail

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• In2002 Federated Department Stores reported
  15.435 Billion in Net Sales
• This was a 3 drop from the 15.651 Billion in
  2001.
• Bloomingdales has 31 stores.
• 2002 Revenues were 1.7 Billion.
• This was the highest sales revenue per square
  foot out of all of the Federated Department
  Stores.
• This is almost double Richs sales per square
  foot.
• The only store with higher sales per square foot
  is Sears.

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Federated Department Stores Four Key Strategies
to Improve Performance and Innovation

• 1 Compelling assortment of products
• 2 Improved shopping experience
• 3 Price simplification
• 4 Enhance marketing

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• 1 Compelling Assortment
• Editing assortment
• Partnering with new name brands
• Developing private brands

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• 2 Improved Shopping Experience
• Reinvent strategy
• Remodeling
• Technology

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• 3 Pricing Simplification
• Create best value program
• Eliminate coupons
• Competitive prices

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• 4 Enhance Marketing
• Shifting Advertising Dollars
• Focused Newspaper Ads
• New Marketing Systems

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• Bloomingdales History
• It all started with the hoop skirt.
• Started on April 17, 1872 as a dry goods store by
  Joseph and Lyman Bloomingdale in New Yorks lower
  east side.

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• The Bag
• Its not just what you buy- its what you take
  it home in, too
• In 1961, Bloomingdales created the first
  designer shopping bags. Many since then have
  become collectors items.

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• Bloomies History (cont.)
• By the 1970s everyone was shopping at
  Bloomingdales in New York.
• Ralph Lauren, Perry Ellis, and Norma Kamali all
  got their first opportunities at Bloomingdales.
• Bloomingdales quickly became a sightseeing spot
  for the public to see celebrities. Queen
  Elisabeth even visited the New York
  Bloomingdales.

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• Bloomingdales Inviting the Bloom into the Store
• Bloomingdales developed a new Customer-Friendly
  Design philosophy
• Asked focus groups to find customer related
  problems with the current store design.

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• Focus Groups found that the most common
  complaint focused on the lack of adequate
  lighting.
• They suggested the use of natural light along
  with the artificial fluorescent lights.
• They based their decision of the fact that
  clothing colors tend to look different colors in
  different types of lighting.

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• Design Committee
• Designed a new store for the Adventura Mall in
  Miami.
• The design was a 220 ft. façade made entirely of
  glass.
• To fit in with Miamis building codes the façade
  was covered by a metal screen.

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• The metal screen was designed to let light in
  through very small perforations.
• It also was designed to prevent glare, fading of
  clothing colors, and sun damage.

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• Because of the metal screen artificial lighting
  was also necessary.
• Both light sources together doubled the lighting
  in any other Bloomingdales.

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• Was Bloomingdales correct in making changes
  based solely on the findings of focus groups? If
  not, what type of research design should have
  been adopted?

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• Bloomingdales decision to use the focus group
  was both wise and unwise.
• The focus groups allowed them to develop more in
  depth ideas and gain a better understanding of
  the individual concerns than other survey
  methods.
• On the other hand, Bloomingdales should have
  used more than one survey method, such as
  secondary data and surveys.
• Bloomingdales should have also surveyed a
  similar area, such as Los Angeles, to get the
  opinions of a comparable market.
• Would a store in Miami want more light coming in
  through windows?

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• What type of information available from
  syndicated firms would be useful for
  understanding consumer preferences for department
  stores?

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• A plethora of information is available for retail
  organizations.
• There are numerous firms who specialize in retail
  design, such as Org-Marg.com which offers the
  following
• Benefit segmentation and positioning research
• Brand health check
• Concept testing
• Communication development
• Consumer profiling
• Customer satisfaction and commitment studies
• Diagnostic studies for enhancing customer loyalty
  
• Effectiveness of communication and promotions
• Efficacy of loyalty programmes
• Loyalty programme development
• Market mapping and consumer profiling
• Mystery shopping exercise
• Potential estimation
• Store location studies
• There are also many published information sources
  which can be found in library databases.

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• Discuss the role of projective techniques in
  understanding consumer preferences for department
  stores.

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• Projective techniques are used to prompt an
  answer through indirect questioning.
• Testing for an environment is difficult to do
  when the subject is consciously thinking about
  their surroundings.
• A good way to test would be to run a study where
  the independent variable is the lighting in the
  room, but question them about the brilliance of
  the colors of the clothing.

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• The design was so successful that Bloomingdales
  has used it in their new stores in King of
  Prussia, PA and Garden City, NY.
• The store in NY City is currently making plans to
  improve the lighting there.