Big boxes are getting smaller

Big-box stores are getting smaller.

Because so many big box retail chains are cutting back on store sizes, Barry Shlachter writes in the Fort Worth Star Telegram that this is a national trend.

It’s also one of the Small Town Rules, where we know that bigger isn’t always better.

A few juicy quotes from the article:

“Small is a big idea nowadays. There is definitely a trend to a smaller footprint.”
–Sheri Bridges, a marketing professor at Wake Forest University and faculty director of its retail marketing center.

“Best Buy calls it ‘community-oriented retail.’”
–Bridges
I can hear the Small Town Rules ideas in that one! 

“Quite honestly, a lot of retailers have come back to the customer service days where the customer feels loved. If you can win on service, even if a product is online, people will come. They enjoy the entertainment factor of shopping in the store.”
–Charles Wetzel, CEO of the Fort Worth-based Buxton Group, which advises retailers on site selection.
That would Small Town Rule 4, where we all bring back customer service like small towns have maintained all along.

[Photo of “The Biggest Store East of Skiyou” in Washington State by Becky McCray.]