Word: marte
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Traditional department stores, in particular, are beset by big discounters like K mart on one side and specialty retailers on the other. Such large chains as the Limited clothing boutiques, Radio Shack electronics stores and Toys 'R' Us have all stolen substantial sales from department stores. At the same time, quality catalog retailers, including Land's End, the Sharper Image and Eddie Bauer, have captured a growing share of retail sales by catering to two-income couples with more money than time to spare. Foreign retailers have also entered the fray in a big way. Since 1980, for example, Benetton...
...tumult in the industry is beginning to change the standings of the largest retailers. Sears has held the top spot for 24 years, but K mart is gaining ground fast. Between 1983 and 1987, K mart's annual sales jumped 37%, to $25.6 billion, while Sears' volume increased only 12%, to $28.1 billion. At this rate, K mart could overtake Sears' merchandise group within two years...
Executives at K mart's Troy, Mich., headquarters are not complacent either. Though its sales have risen rapidly through the opening of new stores, profit margins have been tight. Says Art Eden, manager of a K mart in Sterling Heights, Mich.: "Every corner has a shopping center, and it's all your competition. They are up the street and down the street. If you just take a nap, you've lost it. It's as tough as I've ever seen." The company is looking for ways to lure customers into the stores. Some K marts have installed branches...
...fastest growing of all the large retailers is Wal-Mart, the discount empire built by Billionaire Sam Walton from his Bentonville, Ark., home base. Between 1983 and 1987, its annual sales increased by a phenomenal 240%, to $16 billion. That surge lifted Wal-Mart to the No. 3 spot among retailers, ahead of J.C. Penney (1987 sales: $15.3 billion), Federated ($11.1 billion) and Dayton Hudson ($10.7 billion). In the past, Wal-Mart has concentrated on rural areas and not posed much of a threat to Sears, K mart or other established chains. But now Wal-Mart is expanding menacingly into...
While Wal-Mart was going big-time, Montgomery Ward was taking a tumble. Bought by Mobil for $1 billion in 1976, Ward saddled the oil company with losses that exceeded $100 million a year in the early 1980s. From 1983 to 1987 Ward fell from No. 6 to No. 12 in the retail rankings as its sales declined 30%, to $4.6 billion. But in 1985 Mobil brought in Bernard Brennan to turn things around. Brennan slimmed down the company, selling its catalog operation and a troubled discount division. He transformed many of the remaining stores, filling them with attractive specialty...