Bloomingdale’s:
Inviting the Bloom Into the Store
Overview
• Federated Department Stores
• History of Bloomingdale’s
• Bloomingdale’s; Inviting the Bloom into the
Store
– Bloomingdale’s Answer to the Problem
– Problems
• Research Design
• Federated Department Stores
– Owns Macy’s, Rich’s, Lazarus, Goldsmith’s,
Bloomingdale’s, Burdines, and The Bon
Marché
– Currently Owns 456 Stores in 34 States
– Also operates direct mail services through
Macy’s By Mail and Bloomingdale’s By Mail
• In2002 Federated Department Stores
reported $15.435 Billion in Net Sales
– This was a 3% drop from the $15.651 Billion
in 2001.
• Bloomingdale’s has 31 stores.
– 2002 Revenues were $1.7 Billion.
– This was the highest sales revenue per
square foot out of all of the Federated
Department Stores.
– This is almost double Rich’s sales per square
foot.
– The only store with higher sales per square
foot is Sears.
Federated Department Stores Four Key Strategies
to Improve Performance and Innovation
– 1 Compelling
assortment of products
– 2 Improved shopping
experience
– 3 Price simplification
– 4 Enhance marketing
• 1 Compelling Assortment
– Editing assortment
– Partnering with new name brands
– Developing private brands
• 2 Improved Shopping
Experience
– Reinvent strategy
– Remodeling
– Technology
• 3 Pricing Simplification
– Create best value program
– Eliminate coupons
– Competitive prices
• 4 Enhance Marketing
– Shifting Advertising Dollars
– Focused Newspaper Ads
– New Marketing Systems
• Bloomingdale’s
History
– “It all started with the hoop
skirt.”
– Started on April 17, 1872
as a dry goods store by
Joseph and Lyman
Bloomingdale in New
York’s lower east side.
• The Bag
– “It’s not just what you buyit’s what you take it home
in, too”
– In 1961, Bloomingdale’s
created the first designer
shopping bags. Many
since then have become
collector’s items.
• Bloomie’s History (cont.)
– By the 1970’s everyone was shopping at
Bloomingdale’s in New York.
– Ralph Lauren, Perry Ellis, and Norma Kamali all
got their first opportunities at Bloomingdale’s.
– Bloomingdale’s quickly became a sightseeing
spot for the public to see celebrities. Queen
Elisabeth even visited the New York
Bloomingdale’s.
• Bloomingdales: Inviting the
Bloom into the Store
– Bloomingdales developed a new
Customer-Friendly Design philosophy
– Asked focus groups to find customer
related problems with the current store
design.
• Focus Group’s found that the most
common complaint focused on the lack of
adequate lighting.
– They suggested the use of natural light along
with the artificial fluorescent lights.
– They based their decision of the fact that
clothing colors tend to look different colors in
different types of lighting.
• Design Committee
– Designed a new store
for the Adventura Mall
in Miami.
– The design was a 220
ft. façade made
entirely of glass.
• To fit in with Miami’s
building codes the
façade was covered by
a metal screen.
• The metal screen was
designed to let light in
through very small
perforations.
• It also was designed to
prevent glare, fading of
clothing colors, and sun
damage.
• Because of the metal
screen artificial lighting
was also necessary.
• Both light sources
together doubled the
lighting in any other
Bloomingdale’s.
• Was Bloomingdale’s correct in making
changes based solely on the findings of
focus groups? If not, what type of
research design should have been
adopted?
• Bloomingdale’s decision to use the focus group
was both wise and unwise.
– The focus groups allowed them to develop more in
depth ideas and gain a better understanding of the
individual concerns than other survey methods.
– On the other hand, Bloomingdale’s should have used
more than one survey method, such as secondary
data and surveys.
– Bloomingdale’s should have also surveyed a similar
area, such as Los Angeles, to get the opinions of a
comparable market.
• Would a store in Miami want more light coming in through
windows?
• What type of information available from
syndicated firms would be useful for
understanding consumer preferences for
department stores?
• A plethora of information is available for retail
organizations.
– There are numerous firms who specialize in retail design, such
as Org-Marg.com which offers the following:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Benefit segmentation and positioning research
Brand health check
Concept testing
Communication development
Consumer profiling
Customer satisfaction and commitment studies
Diagnostic studies for enhancing customer loyalty
Effectiveness of communication and promotions
Efficacy of loyalty programmes
Loyalty programme development
Market mapping and consumer profiling
Mystery shopping exercise
Potential estimation
Store location studies
– There are also many published information sources which can
be found in library databases.
• Discuss the role of projective techniques in
understanding consumer preferences for
department stores.
• Projective techniques are used to prompt
an answer through indirect questioning.
– Testing for an environment is difficult to do
when the subject is consciously thinking about
their surroundings.
– A good way to test would be to run a study
where the independent variable is the lighting
in the room, but question them about the
brilliance of the colors of the clothing.
• The design was so
successful that
Bloomingdale’s has
used it in their new
stores in King of
Prussia, PA and
Garden City, NY.
• The store in NY City
is currently making
plans to improve the
lighting there.