The announcement of Walmart’s purchase of Moosejaw took me by surprise. Moosejaw is a solid retail brand that has developed a great rapport with their customers and admirers. It will be interesting to see what the future holds.
MooseMart?
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Author Archives: skittel
Quietly going away?
While the closure of their Pacific Place store was heavily reported in the Seattle Times and the Puget Sound Business Journal, Eddie Bauer closed another of its Pacific Northwest locations quietly last month. The closure of their store in the Washington Square Mall was not covered by local news.
A dear departed friend
Former Sports Authority in Beaverton, OR
Another way not to coach
by Polylerus
I stopped in national chain store at the mall the other day, drawn in by the signs in by the many promotional signs in the window.
Standing near the front of the store, an employee was working with a customer as a smiling manager approached. Without so much as an introduction, the manager asked the customer, “Did he mention the sales going on?”
“Not yet,” responded the somewhat bewildered customer.
Turning to the employee, the manager continued, “I can’t believe you haven’t mentioned the promotions even after our huddle this morning. Jesus!”
At this point, I didn’t want to see any more and left the store. I think the customer was thinking the same thing.
Another one closing their doors
Shortly, the Macy’s store located in downtown Portland will be closing their doors for good putting an end to over 100 years of retailing. Meier & Frank got its start in 1857 when Aaron Meier started a mercantile to serve the latest arrivals to Oregon. This building opened in 1909 serving as the flagship store for the Portland based department. Continue reading
Safe and welcome
This is a sign that retailers in Portland, Oregon are posting on their doors. It is their attempt to give stability in these less than stable times. It is not about politics but about customers. Well done.
Kit and Ace – a closure with class
Unlike the “For Lease” sign from the landlord or a hastily scribbled note taped to the door, when Kit and Ace closed their pop-up shop in Portland they left a strong message. On the shop window was a professionally printed poster with the message that they had accomplished their mission. During their short lease, they connected with the community, tested things out, collected feedback and hoped to stay in touch, for now, through their website. Nicely done.
The Expert – Part 1
EXPERT – Someone having, involving, or displaying special skill or knowledge derived from training or experience.
This is the first in a four-part series on dealing with experts in your retail store from several different perspectives. For the sake of these posts, when I refer to an expert I am referring to someone who has advantaged knowledge or experience about the products being sold and their usage. Today’s perspective is dealing with a customer that is an expert.
I was doing a little research today and I ran across an image that caught my eye. Digging a bit further, I discovered the image source was from Keep Calm-o-matic.
The Keep Calm-o-Matic is the place to express your creativity, dreams and imagination. You can create, discover and shop.
They make a variety of customizable products based on the WWII poster used throughout England to encourage their citizens to carry on in spite of the rocket attacks and bombings from the Nazis. (The website is so easy and engaging I bought a customized poster and a coffee mug and I do not even drink coffee.) See for yourself at http://www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk
The Great Unsung Pop-Ups
I was reading a post on thestorefront.com talking about how pop-up shops began to appear in the 1990s and this got me to thinking. I think this is wrong.
I think the greatest in pop-up shops pre-dates the 90s by quite a bit. For me, the ultimate examples of pop-up shops are thousands upon thousands of small merchants that set up shops at the local, county and state fairs across the United States during the summer months. These merchants travel from town to town, setting up their booth, selling their wares for the run of the fair then move on to the next. These are the true unsung pop-up shops.
My favorite fair pop-up shop is Steichen’s Grocery & Deli at the Minnesota State Fair. Located in an alley between the Sheep & Poultry Barn and one of the beer gardens, Steichen’s has been operating at the fair since 1933. The Steichen Family were long-time 
merchants in St Paul were they operated a general merchandise store on University Ave from the 50s to the 80s and later ran a sporting goods store in Roseville (now closed).
But through all those years, the Steichen family has spent the waning weeks of summer serving the needs of fair-goers in Minnesota.
The Observant Customer 