In New York this week I visited several Staples stores – large and small format stores. This business continues to play with their model and with what they can sell in a stationery business. Take the aisle-end I saw in a Staples store on 3rd Avenue – they were promoting Soda Stream products – do it yourself flavoured carbonated water.
This Soda Stream display begs the question: what can be sold to a stationery customer?
Okay, so plenty of people shopping Staples are not looking for traditional stationery. I get that. However, this Soda Stream display is at odds with most of what else was being offered in this location.
Just as Staples is not bound by tradition of what a stationery store would / could sell, now should we. Overall, as a channel, we have been constrained. The world has changed. retail has changed. Much relating to our core product categories has changed. Combine these changed and we have no choice but to change as much or more.
Mark,
Keep the photo’s coming as an Ancol Board member in SA I’m seeing a whole new world of opportunities for a our newsagent members … the challenge is for newsagents to break out and be different.
John
John I’m sharing only a fraction here. Every trip I make is an eye opener as much for what I see in stores as what I learn at conferences.