Be Careful if They Call You Brilliant

Greg Steinhafel was forced to resign. Who’d-a thought?

In the last 20 years, nobody did retail consistently better than Target. Artfully separating itself from the other mass merchandisers, Target created its niche for high-end-looking Crate & Barrel-level merchandise in Williams-Sonoma-level stores at Walmart-level prices.

Brilliant!

Steinhafel’s resignation last week as chairman, president and ceo caps off a nightmarish few months for the once-so-surefooted retailer.

And last autumn had seemed so promising. The big incursion into Canada was beginning. The holidays were looming.

Then, on December 13, a blogger named Brian Krebs reported on his site, KrebsonSecurity, “Target Investigating Data Breach.”

Merry Christmas.

Consumers who see a cyber-terrorist behind every email now thought twice about shopping at Target. And, while it doesn’t seem possible, it got worse. Turns out, Target had apparently ignored internal signs that this hacking was happening.

And then, even worse. Another headline.

On February 14 came the banner news that “Target Push into Canada Stumbles.” If that wasn’t bad enough, a Target executive called it “an epic failure.”

Happy Valentine’s Day.

But here’s the thing. Target is not the first charmed retailer suddenly to misplace its magic amulet. We encourage retailers to take risks. But risk, it turns out, is dangerous:

● In the 1990s, The Gap risked it all on an ad campaign around dancing. Brilliant! So Gap built new stores everywhere, and we couldn’t get enough of them. Until we’d had too much.

● Barnes & Noble risked it all by reimagining its huge bookstores as salons. It turned book retailing into the lifestyle environment of “the third place.” Brilliant! And then came Amazon.

● Abercrombie & Fitch risked it all by being daring, provocative, sexy. Brilliant! Then famously closed-mouth ceo Mike Jeffries opened his mouth, calling most teens unfit to shop at A&F. Now A&F threatens to turn into A&P.

● Kohl’s risked it all by moving its cashwraps. Such a tiny change redirected the store’s entire traffic flow and its shoppers loved it. Brilliant! Then other retailers began putting their cashwraps at the doors and Kohl’s went back to being a second-tier department store.

● Lululemon risked it all by going after one very narrow niche market. Yoga enthusiasts. Brilliant! Then someone saw through a pair of see-through yoga pants and Lululemon is finding out how far downward the dog can really face.

At various times, we applauded all these retailers for being daring, taking chances, thinking creatively. As we once also applauded Banana Republic. Best Buy. Disney. Benetton. Toys “R” Us. All took risks, all explored new frontiers.

Whom are we applauding now? H&M. Costco. Warby Parker. Chipotle. Trader Joe’s. Urban Outfitters. Joe Fresh.

Yes, all of them. These innovative chance-takers have figured it out. For now, anyway.

Brilliant!

As a journalist, writer, editor and commentator, Steve Kaufman has been watching the store design industry for 20 years. He has seen the business cycle through retailtainment, minimalism, category killers, big boxes, pop-ups, custom stores, global roll-outs, international sourcing, interactive kiosks, the emergence of China, the various definitions of “branding” and Amazon.com. He has reported on the rise of brand concept shops, the demise of brand concept shops and the resurgence of brand concept shops. He has been an eyewitness to the reality that nothing stays the same, except the retailer-shopper relationship.