Box store verses local stores
Box store verses local stores is happening all over the nation and in Michigan communities. Duane Weed, host of Buy Local Michigan produced this series with the expertise of Dr. David Hebert from Ferris State University. Dr. Hebert is an assistant professor of Economics at Ferris State.
In volume seven of the ‘What does buying local really mean‘ video series. Dr. David Hebert discusses this touchy subject of Box store verses local stores.
While researching the subject of Box stores verse local stores, I came across this article: Big Box Retailers Vs. Local Retailers: Survival Of The Most Creative on Forbes. The article was written by Marianne Bickle, a Contributing Editor.
In Marianne’s article she points out: 1) people extol the praises of Big Box retailers’ ability to provide employment to the community and a wide variety of merchandise for consumers. 2) some believe that local retailers are crushed by Big Box stores; local retailers are unable to offer deep discount prices and large product assortment. She goes on to say this topic is like apples and oranges.
Competition is healthy
A take away for me was, “competition among businesses is healthy!” Here are a couple tips suggested in the Forbes article:
- Follow market trends and adapt to the changing conditions.
- Possess an understanding of the target market; “everyone” is not the target market.
- Analyze and adapt to the company’s finances.
- Conduct a formal SWOT analysis of the company (strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats).
The source of this information can be found at http://www.forbes.com/sites/prospernow/2012/12/04/big-box-retailers-vs-local-retailers-survival-of-the-most-creative/#39464a52b97f Give credit where credit is due.
Buy Local Michigan is produced by DW Video and Multimedia…. where we are telling your story. Copyright 2016 For more from Dr. Hebert in this nine part series go to ‘The Meaning of Buying Local‘.
