Today in retail, Tractor Supply Company updates its “Life Out Here” strategy, while Levi’s is buoyed by the return of baggier jeans. Plus, Walmart wants people to spend more time in its stores and is testing interactive elements to make it happen.
Walmart Debuts Interactive Store Dubbed ‘Time Well Spent’
Walmart’s Springdale, Ark., store will add a number of interactive elements that will make the retail location “a destination where people want to spend their time” through an initiative the company calls Time Well Spent, the company announced Thursday (Jan. 27).
The addition of interactive elements to Walmart’s incubator location — and to others in the future — follows last year’s store redesign in 1,000 locations that focused on better navigation and wayfinding. The interactive store will feature improved lighting, space enhancements, digital screens, QR codes and more, according to a blog post on the company website.
Walmart will use what it calls “activated corners,” elevated brand shops, space for brands to better tell their stories and digital touchpoints to transform Walmart into a place where people want to spend more time.
Lowe’s, Petco to Pilot 15 Mini Store-in-Store Locations
Lowe’s and Petco have entered a joint venture that will place store-in-store pet supply outlets inside 15 of its home improvement warehouse locations in three states.
The companies’ research found that nearly 3 out of 5 consumers (58%) said they would be more likely to shop at a home improvement retailer if they could also get their pet supplies there.
The first Petco store-in-store location is set to open at a Lowe’s in Texas in February, followed by 14 other Petco locations being added to additional Lowe’s locations in North Carolina and South Carolina by the end of March.
Tractor Supply Company Looks Long Term, Updates ‘Life Out Here’ Strategy
Rural lifestyle retailer Tractor Supply Company on Thursday (Jan. 27) said it will enhance customers’ in-store experience through service improvements and a transformed staffing model, create personalized mobile offerings and make improvements to its supply chain capabilities.
The moves are part of TSC’s Life Out Here strategy, which includes store productivity growth through Project Fusion and its Side Lot transformation program. The company says it will deliver on the increased demand for consumable, usable and edible merchandise with its supply chain enhancements.
TSC’s fourth-quarter net sales for the fiscal year ending Dec. 25 were $3.32 billion, up 15.3% from the same time in 2020, while fiscal year net sales jumped 19.9%. Comparable store sales also both showed impressive gains, up 12.7% for Q4 and 16.9% for fiscal 2021.
Levi’s Says Casual Trend, Baggy Jeans, Larger Waistlines Driving Denim Demand
Global apparel retailer Levi Strauss & Co. CEO Chip Bergh is “optimistic about denim and denim category growth as we go forward,” he said on the company’s conference call for the quarter that ended in late November.
He pointed to the “continued acceleration of the casualization trend” around the world, as well as “a new denim cycle” with “looser, baggier fits” for both men and women and the fact about 40% of Americans’ pants don’t fit them anymore, triggering the need for a mass “closet upgrade or refresh.”
