Wednesday, October 13, 1999
INDUSTRY NOTES: RETAIL
Home Depot installations pinch Sears
BY LISA BIANK FASIG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Small hardware stores and home-improvement chains aren't the only businesses threatened by expanding Home Depot; appliance stores and Sears are as well.
Last week, Bloomberg Business News reported that Home Depot is expected to overtake Sears, Roebuck & Co. in the sale of installed products, such as carpets and cabinets. Meanwhile, one small appliance retailer recently named Home Depot as an unlikely competitor for the market of stove and refrigerator buyers.
Home Depot figures its focus on installation is forward-thinking. The market for installed products is estimated to be $130 billion, Home Depot Executive Vice President Larry Mercer said at a recent consumer conference. The market is expected to grow about 50 percent faster than the do-it-yourself market in the next 10 to 15 years.
The chain of supersized stores is supporting several retail areas to maintain and build sales. In a recent interview with an executive of Recker & Boerger in Springdale, Home Depot was named as an appliance rival, along with Best Buy and Circuit City. Home Depot also is building a chain called Villager's, which sells hardware in convenience store formats. The home improvement chain also plans to sell its products online.
Home Depot entered the Cincinnati market in 1998. Since its seven-store expansion here, Furrow closed its west-side store and Hechinger Co. said it would close area Builders Square and HQ Home Quarters stores.
Quicken.Com offers product, price info
Quicken.Com, through agreements with two other Internet companies, has launched some programs that let shoppers get product reviews and price comparisons at more than 50 online stores.
Quicken Shopper is a free software product available through an agreement between Quicken and ClickTheButton.com Inc. To use, browsers, install the Quicken Shoppers icon and then click it while seeking a product in an online store. Quicken Shopper is free for download from Quicken.com's Shopping Channel or at Quicken.clickthebutton.com.
Quicken also aligned with Epinions.com (Quicken.epinions.com) to offer a free online shopping guide called Product Reviews. Here, users can read consumer reviews and and see which products to avoid.
Comparison shopping sites such as these, called “shopbots,” are becoming more prevalent as online users complain that it takes too long to flip from site to site. The name shopbot is derived from “robot.”
Florence Mall Sears holds grand reopening
Sears at Florence Mall will celebrate its recent make-over with a grand reopening Saturday.
The 158,000-square-foot store added 8,000 square feet of selling space, as well as wider aisles and updated displays. The store, at Ky.18 and Mall Road, is one of about 50 nationwide that the retailer is renovating this year as part of a $4 billion program.
Online store of the week
Leading gadget merchant Sharper Image is having so much fun with its online store that it is making it easier for shoppers to buy its products.
The retailer expects sales at sharperimage.com to increase sixfold this year compared with last year. That can equal about $30 million, or 10 percent to 12 percent of total revenue, the company said. Last year, the online store generated $4.9 million.
The retailer said the Web site has linked new shoppers to its electronic devices and grown-up toys. Last holiday season, 70 percent of its sales came form shoppers who hadn't used the catalog.
P&G unveils nutrition drink
P&G looks within to grow
Retailers list top toys for Christmas
Eatery casts line in river
TRISTATE BUSINESS SUMMARY
Blue Ash firm's shares lose 5.5%
INDUSTRY NOTES: RETAIL
Losses rise for FDIC
