For those of you who have more money than you know what to do with:
Latest Luxury: The Store Concierge --- Retailers Kick It Up a Notch To Coddle Affluent Clientele
By Ann Zimmerman
20 December 2007
The Wall Street Journal
Dallas -- Not long ago, Mark Krug, a concierge at the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek, dealt with a panicked hotel guest who had arrived at 10 p.m. in an irreparably ripped pair of pants.
The executive had an important business meeting the next morning and needed new slacks to match his suit jacket. Mr. Krug knew exactly what to do. He dialed the cell phone of the concierge at the Dallas store of luxury retailer Barneys New York. The concierge, Gary Jackson, who goes by the name Jackson, opened the locked store, scooped up some potential selections and brought them to the hotel by 11 p.m.
"It made us look good and it gave Barneys fantastic customer loyalty," say Mr. Krug. "I call what Jackson does 'making magic.'"
In the race to attract customers, luxury emporiums are doing what the best hotels have done for decades -- installing concierges. Customer service has always been the hallmark of luxury retailers. But Barneys New York (a unit of Dubai World) and Nordstrom Inc., in particular, have kicked it up a notch by stationing concierges at several of their highest-profile branches to fulfill an array of customer requests that have nothing to with shopping -- for example, obtaining seats at the best restaurants or arranging admission to the hottest clubs. In return, the stores say they gain new customers and foster deeper loyalty in their old ones. It is another way for retailers to set themselves apart in a world where even the best stores often carry similar brands.
Seattle-based Nordstrom, for instance, has concierge desks in eight of its 101 stores. They are in stores in the largest cities and serve in part as a local chamber of commerce, providing information about the city's sites, best restaurants and other areas of interest. Among other tasks, they also deliver merchandise to people's homes or hotels at no charge.
Saks Inc. has concierge service in stores in its biggest cities and tourist towns. The concierges will give customers water, take returns or help answer questions about bills and for the best customers can arrange extra-special services. A valued customer of the Manhattan Saks Fifth Avenue, for instance, uses the store's visual team to decorate her home for the holidays, according to Suzanne Johnson, general manager of the store.
The stores with concierges say the service is available to any customer, regardless of how much they spend. But clearly, the extra mile is expended on the customers who are best known to the store. Several of the concierges say not all customers know their cellphone numbers, for instance, for getting last-minute favors.
For sending them business, restaurants, hotels and clubs often comp the concierges. But the programs aren't without their risks. Mr. Jackson, the Barneys concierge in Dallas, recalls calling the VIP manager of a new private club to get a store customer on the guest list. The manager called him the next day to tell him the customer had drunk too much and started a brawl. "I made it clear to the customer I wouldn't be rebooking him in the future," he says. "Their behavior reflects on us as well."
Barneys's concierge program started about a decade ago in its store on Manhattan's Madison Avenue. Taylor Piedra, a former sales associate for Barneys, pioneered the program and now trains the others, who work in Boston, San Francisco, Dallas and its soon-to-open Las Vegas store.
Stationed right inside the entrance behind a custom-made teak and leather desk, under a sign saying Concierge Services, Mr. Piedra is sort of a ringmaster and tour guide. Like hotel concierges, he has sources that provide hard-to-nab theater tickets. And he knows exactly who to call to get his best customers into the newest, hottest restaurants.
One recent day, he gets an email from Lisa Jurick, a customer from New York's Long Island who has heard that the Waverly Inn restaurant in Manhattan's West Village only takes reservations two days in advance. Then she tells Mr. Piedra she wants reservations for two weeks hence for "five peeps." Mr. Piedra makes a note of it. "He is the love of my life," says Ms. Jurick. "When I want something, I want it now and Taylor makes it happen and with such calm."
Mr. Piedra's services are free, and Ms. Jurick says she never tips him, but does give him lavish Christmas presents. Last year, it was a Philip Stein Teslar watch, which retails for more than $1,500.
While Mr. Piedra doesn't do any direct selling, he drives sales nonetheless. His computer has bookmarked a currency converter, to help foreign customers figure out just how much money they are saving on their purchases with the dollar being so weak. "Finding out the exact savings can clinch a sale," says Mr. Piedra.
When Kevin Dyson became the general manager at the Manhattan Barneys, he asked Mr. Piedra what exactly a store concierge did. Mr. Piedra replied that he dug for answers to customer questions and didn't quit until he found them -- "like a ferret, but an elegant ferret."
During his stint, he has had to answer some far-fetched questions, once including where to find a real hippopotamus jaw. Mr. Piedra, who didn't ask why the customer needed it, found a little taxidermy store in Soho that had one.
Mr. Jackson, the Dallas Barneys concierge, plays a different role. He serves as the store host and has been essential to help building clientele at the year-old store. Barneys's previous attempt to crack the Dallas market failed in the 1990s. Jackson stocks beer, wine, champagne and the best customers' favorite liquors. He remembers every customer's name like a good bartender and is out every night finding the new chic watering hole. "Every restaurant and club in Dallas wants our customer," he says, whose background includes designing furniture and jewelry.
He has become something of a celebrity in town, invited to 50 events a month. An out-of-town customer once corralled him to squire his daughter, a local college student, and her out-of-town guests around town to the newest in nightspots.
Last week, a TV actress was shopping in the store when a man who pretended to know her threw his arms around her and kissed her. Mr. Jackson intervened. The actress was upset that the man had gotten his cologne scent on her and asked for a disposable wipe to get it off. Jackson searched all over the mall until he found one.
Showing posts with label Ann Zimmerman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ann Zimmerman. Show all posts
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Target Commercial Interiors
Thought this was an interesting tidbit - Target doing corporate interior design and overhauling:
Designs on a New Market Niche --- Target's Little-Known Unit For Commercial Interiors Aims to Expand Its Business
By Ann Zimmerman
4 October 2007
The Wall Street Journal
Phoenix -- When the Arizona Diamondbacks decided to overhaul the interior of their 10-year-old baseball stadium last winter, the team's executives went to Target. Not one of the 1,500 retail stores around the country, but the retailer's less well-known commercial-interiors division.
Designers from Target Corp. spruced up the stadium's clubhouse, made the suite-level dining areas more inviting and hunted down a massive conference table for the team's boardroom.
While Target has built its brand as a purveyor of stylish-but-affordable apparel and mass-market merchandise, it has quietly carved out a profitable niche applying a similar philosophy to designing interiors for companies. Perhaps surprising for a company that caters to midmarket shoppers at its stores, much of its interiors work is at image-conscious businesses including some of America's largest companies and white-shoe law firms.
Now the unit, Target Commercial Interiors, is trying to broaden its reach to medium-size and small companies as well. And it's nudging its way into the spotlight with more jobs at sports venues, hotels and other sites in the public eye.
TCI, as it's known inside Target headquarters, is a relatively small part of the retailer, which had nearly $60 billion in sales last year. But the interiors business is growing in scope. The unit's more than 100 employees, many of them certified interior designers, don't shop at Target stores for their decorating supplies. But they do leverage the company's scale and sourcing ability to get good prices and find cutting-edge products -- an advantage in an industry dominated by regional and local design and architecture firms.
TCI, with offices across the street from Target's headquarters in Minneapolis, was previously Dayton Commercial Interiors, a 50-year-old unit of Target's original parent company, Dayton Hudson Corp. Since adopting the Target name in 2004, TCI's projects have included designing many areas in the Minneapolis headquarters of General Mills Inc.
TCI designers have been seeking out furniture and fixtures for a Minneapolis W hotel -- one of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.'s boutique hotels -- set to open next summer. Target's team tracked down sleek gray bureaus and round, hot-pink lacquered minibars for the rooms.
"With the Target name, the world is your oyster. The name is everywhere," says TCI President Joe Perdew. He says high-end clients haven't had any qualms about an association with a discount-store brand. "Many of our clients buy very nice, expensive wood furniture. You would think that they would balk at buying it from Target, but the problem never came up," he says.
TCI offers a full slate of design and decorating services, but frequently works with outside architects and designers.
The unit sees an opportunity in work for smaller companies because their options have been generally limited to office-supply stores or local office-furniture dealers, which tend to have a relatively narrow product range, says Ashok Dhariwal, TCI's vice president of operations.
As part of its effort to reach new customers, TCI opened its first office-furniture store in Bloomington, Minn., two years ago. The store -- branded Target Commercial Interiors -- carries professional-grade furnishings from about 20 manufacturers and a broad selection of merchandise, from wall art to 50 different models of office chairs. Some of the manufacturers' smaller, less-expensive items, such as $20 Adesso desk lamps, are also sold in Target's discount-chain stores.
Target says sales at the furniture store are running above expectations for the year, though it won't disclose numbers. And Target officials say they see great potential in the concept. However, there are obstacles to expansion. One key issue: Several furniture lines the store carries, such as Steelcase Inc., have exclusive agreements with furniture dealers in other cities.
Carl Bergauer, outgoing chairman of the Office Product Dealers Association, says TCI's approach is unique in the industry. "If it catches on, you'll see other dealers try to emulate it," he says.
But Mr. Bergauer, who is also president of Dallas-based Facility Logistix, an office-furniture company that supplies large and midsize companies, says Target faces challenges if it plans to expand its office-store concept outside its home market. "It's difficult to hire strong enough people in a retail environment, earning retail wages that also have the experience that's needed," he says. He adds that it's equally challenging to find installation and delivery services in different markets.
For some, the Target name is a leap when it comes to large-scale design and decorating projects. Jeffrey Moorad, the Diamondbacks' general partner and chief executive officer, admits he was taken aback when the team's chief operating officer Tom Garfinkel told him he was hiring Target to spruce up the stadium, bypassing companies that specialize in athletic facilities. "Now, I don't know what I like better, the job they did or what they charged us," says Mr. Moorad. He declined to reveal the price, and TCI says its rates are proprietary information.
Mr. Garfinkel learned about TCI in 2003 when he was working for Chip Ganassi Racing, an owner of car-racing teams in North Carolina, and TCI designed the interior of a new facility.
The Chase Field revamp came after a rebranding of the team that included changing its color to red from teal and purple. To emphasize the romance of the game, TCI designer Lynn Munyon replaced commercial-sponsor signs next to concession stands with big black-and-white photos of fans, in frames that can be updated with new images. Noise-inducing ceramic tiles were replaced with industrial-grade carpet tiles that can be changed as they get dirty.
The designers also found a way to avoid the expense of replacing the portable concession stands -- instead, they simply covered them with industrial adhesive paper in the new team color.
The challenge at Winthrop & Weinstine, a general practice and litigation law firm in Minneapolis, was to find furniture to suit the rich African cherry wood architects had used in the offices. Ms. Munyon found modular wood furniture that looked custom-made but cost less.
"Although Target is a discount store, this division is pretty high-end, yet affordable," says Becky Jenness, the law firm's executive director. The furniture for a partner's office, for example, cost about $15,000. "Architects are not always practical and functional," she says. "Target was both, and helped us come in under budget."
Designs on a New Market Niche --- Target's Little-Known Unit For Commercial Interiors Aims to Expand Its Business
By Ann Zimmerman
4 October 2007
The Wall Street Journal
Phoenix -- When the Arizona Diamondbacks decided to overhaul the interior of their 10-year-old baseball stadium last winter, the team's executives went to Target. Not one of the 1,500 retail stores around the country, but the retailer's less well-known commercial-interiors division.
Designers from Target Corp. spruced up the stadium's clubhouse, made the suite-level dining areas more inviting and hunted down a massive conference table for the team's boardroom.
While Target has built its brand as a purveyor of stylish-but-affordable apparel and mass-market merchandise, it has quietly carved out a profitable niche applying a similar philosophy to designing interiors for companies. Perhaps surprising for a company that caters to midmarket shoppers at its stores, much of its interiors work is at image-conscious businesses including some of America's largest companies and white-shoe law firms.
Now the unit, Target Commercial Interiors, is trying to broaden its reach to medium-size and small companies as well. And it's nudging its way into the spotlight with more jobs at sports venues, hotels and other sites in the public eye.
TCI, as it's known inside Target headquarters, is a relatively small part of the retailer, which had nearly $60 billion in sales last year. But the interiors business is growing in scope. The unit's more than 100 employees, many of them certified interior designers, don't shop at Target stores for their decorating supplies. But they do leverage the company's scale and sourcing ability to get good prices and find cutting-edge products -- an advantage in an industry dominated by regional and local design and architecture firms.
TCI, with offices across the street from Target's headquarters in Minneapolis, was previously Dayton Commercial Interiors, a 50-year-old unit of Target's original parent company, Dayton Hudson Corp. Since adopting the Target name in 2004, TCI's projects have included designing many areas in the Minneapolis headquarters of General Mills Inc.
TCI designers have been seeking out furniture and fixtures for a Minneapolis W hotel -- one of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.'s boutique hotels -- set to open next summer. Target's team tracked down sleek gray bureaus and round, hot-pink lacquered minibars for the rooms.
"With the Target name, the world is your oyster. The name is everywhere," says TCI President Joe Perdew. He says high-end clients haven't had any qualms about an association with a discount-store brand. "Many of our clients buy very nice, expensive wood furniture. You would think that they would balk at buying it from Target, but the problem never came up," he says.
TCI offers a full slate of design and decorating services, but frequently works with outside architects and designers.
The unit sees an opportunity in work for smaller companies because their options have been generally limited to office-supply stores or local office-furniture dealers, which tend to have a relatively narrow product range, says Ashok Dhariwal, TCI's vice president of operations.
As part of its effort to reach new customers, TCI opened its first office-furniture store in Bloomington, Minn., two years ago. The store -- branded Target Commercial Interiors -- carries professional-grade furnishings from about 20 manufacturers and a broad selection of merchandise, from wall art to 50 different models of office chairs. Some of the manufacturers' smaller, less-expensive items, such as $20 Adesso desk lamps, are also sold in Target's discount-chain stores.
Target says sales at the furniture store are running above expectations for the year, though it won't disclose numbers. And Target officials say they see great potential in the concept. However, there are obstacles to expansion. One key issue: Several furniture lines the store carries, such as Steelcase Inc., have exclusive agreements with furniture dealers in other cities.
Carl Bergauer, outgoing chairman of the Office Product Dealers Association, says TCI's approach is unique in the industry. "If it catches on, you'll see other dealers try to emulate it," he says.
But Mr. Bergauer, who is also president of Dallas-based Facility Logistix, an office-furniture company that supplies large and midsize companies, says Target faces challenges if it plans to expand its office-store concept outside its home market. "It's difficult to hire strong enough people in a retail environment, earning retail wages that also have the experience that's needed," he says. He adds that it's equally challenging to find installation and delivery services in different markets.
For some, the Target name is a leap when it comes to large-scale design and decorating projects. Jeffrey Moorad, the Diamondbacks' general partner and chief executive officer, admits he was taken aback when the team's chief operating officer Tom Garfinkel told him he was hiring Target to spruce up the stadium, bypassing companies that specialize in athletic facilities. "Now, I don't know what I like better, the job they did or what they charged us," says Mr. Moorad. He declined to reveal the price, and TCI says its rates are proprietary information.
Mr. Garfinkel learned about TCI in 2003 when he was working for Chip Ganassi Racing, an owner of car-racing teams in North Carolina, and TCI designed the interior of a new facility.
The Chase Field revamp came after a rebranding of the team that included changing its color to red from teal and purple. To emphasize the romance of the game, TCI designer Lynn Munyon replaced commercial-sponsor signs next to concession stands with big black-and-white photos of fans, in frames that can be updated with new images. Noise-inducing ceramic tiles were replaced with industrial-grade carpet tiles that can be changed as they get dirty.
The designers also found a way to avoid the expense of replacing the portable concession stands -- instead, they simply covered them with industrial adhesive paper in the new team color.
The challenge at Winthrop & Weinstine, a general practice and litigation law firm in Minneapolis, was to find furniture to suit the rich African cherry wood architects had used in the offices. Ms. Munyon found modular wood furniture that looked custom-made but cost less.
"Although Target is a discount store, this division is pretty high-end, yet affordable," says Becky Jenness, the law firm's executive director. The furniture for a partner's office, for example, cost about $15,000. "Architects are not always practical and functional," she says. "Target was both, and helped us come in under budget."
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