Characteristics of stores doing well in current economy

Amid the current economic crisis, with retailers such as Circuit City and Mervyn’s filing for bankruptcy, I thought you might be interested in the thoughts of Tony Gao, Ph.D., a marketing professor at Northeastern University’s business school, on the characteristics of the stores that are doing well in the current economy (you can find Prof. Gao’s bio here: http://cba.neu.edu/faculty/directory_detail.cfm?e=240):

“Stores with the following characteristics are still doing well in the current economic turmoil:

1. Store selling essential merchandise such as drugs, groceries, and gas. Example stores are CVS, Walgreen, Stop and Shop, and gas stations.

2. Stores that have a general reputation for offering good value such as Wal-Mart, Costco, and deep discounters such as Dollar Tree.

3. Stores that have a broader merchandise assortment (thus in a better diversified situation) such as the supercenters of Wal-Mart and again, Costco.

4. Stores that have a broader geographic presence across the country and the world, in some cases.

5. Stores that have over the years built a loyal base of customers who will be inclined to support the retailer in hard times.

6. Stores that have over the years built strong relationships with key suppliers.

7. Stores that are led by a top executive that have the full and undoubted support from the board of directors.

“If a retailers happens to have all or most of these attributes, it might find itself in a relatively stronger position in this market downturn than most,” Dr. Gao concludes.