Competitive Disadvantage

Kevin Coupe on the merging of Sears and Kmart:

Somebody tell us what Ksears stands for? That is, besides lousy customer service, surly and/or depressed employees, ample out-of-stocks, mediocre prices, lack of strategic vision, and a chairman who seems more interested in the company’s real estate potential than in actually marketing and merchandising anything.

This latter point became clear when Fast Eddie put himself in charge of marketing and merchandising functions…an interesting move since, as we said at the time, he knows more about how to sell hedge funds than hedge clippers. Hard to imagine that this will end well for anyone.

Except, of course, for Fast Eddie. Guys like that always have an exit strategy, a Plan B, that will allow them to recoup any losses.

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This article, "Independent retailers say personal touch gives them advantage over malls," from one of the Business Journals makes the point that we "Main Streeters" always make. But how many times do you get s***** service in stores in urban commercial districts? The only competitive "advantage" is that many people have no other alternatives. That's not much of an advantage...and it's why people with higher incomes aren't changing their shopping behavior to shop closer to home, because it's only seemingly more convenient. The reality is that the service-value equation is still negative.

Litter on the Street is not a competitive advantage. 721-727 H Street NE, Washington, DC. Photo by Elise Bernard.