Blog Number Cinco

PG's Store & Deli is my retailer of choice. They are a convenience store and gas station, complete with a deli. The deli serves plate lunches along with hot dogs and hamburgers. The store is located on Highway 87 in Ridgeway, Virginia. The local address is 2540 Morehead Avenue. This store has an absolutely amazing location! This is probably why it has been in business longer than any convenience store in the area.
There are some serious advantages as far as location is concerned. First off, if driving on 87 from Eden, North Carolina towards Virginia PG's is the first gas station that you approach from the border. This is a huge competitive advantage from any convenience store in North Carolina, due to the fact that Virginia has much cheaper gas than NC. With Eden being approximately 7 miles from the store, many of the Edenites will travel to the store with cheap gas in mind. Not only for the cheap gas, but the Virginia Lottery tickets. The Mega Million lottery game in Virginia draws thousands of North Carolinians across the border for a chance to win big! The store is also located at a huge intersection within the Ridgeway community. Hundreds of cars pass through the intersection daily, making PG's one of the main stores to stop and pick up a drink and get some gas! The store is also located right beside an "under the table" gambling place. How convenient that people may be able to stop and gamble, and maybe take a little gamble at the Virginia Lottery as well?
There are some disadvantages to the location, however. If you do not travel Highway 87, you would not know of the location of this store. That seems to be a huge drawback to the location. Also, there is a large parking lot, but because the gas pumps are so close to the door, there always seems to be congestion around the entrance way. Also, the road has a speed limit of 55 mph, which could make stopping once seeing the store difficult as well as making it difficult for customers to merge into traffic. Due to the high speeds of 87, there is also little pedestrian traffic on the road itself.
All in all, I feel that the store has an amazing location. Being the first convenience store in Virginia has huge business advantages. In the next ten years, Virginia has also picked up an interstate project which will bring the interstate right by 87. The first exit off the interstate will be onto 87 and then right to the convenience store as well. It is projected to triple the property value. Location is definitely key for this little country store, and has huge profitability potential.

Recession, recession, recession. The word looms over the United States like a dark, rainy cloud. How is it that with the horrible economy that so many business are staying open? In the past year, thousands of businesses have closed their doors permanently, while others are revamping their sales strategies to improve profitability. The Sharper Image is one retailer that has been stomped out during this recession period.
In February of 2008, The Sharper Image, a high-tech gadget store filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and publicly stated that they were to close half of the 186 retail stores. However, due to steadily decreasing sales and eventually the sale of the company to the Hilco/Gordon partnership, the remaining 86 stores will now be closing their doors as well. With over $50 million in inventory to liquidate, the losses will be huge. The new owners have opted to revamp the image of the brand and still sell via the internet, direct to retail and catalog.
Many of the company's problems originated in 2003 when Consumer Reports reported that the expensive Ionic Breeze Air Cleaners didn't clean air. They also reported that some of the models were releasing potentially unhealthy levels of ozone. There was a huge consumer backlash against the brand and sales began to steadily decline shortly thereafter. From 2004 to 2008 the company had only reported net losses. Fortunately, the company was bought last May for $49 million. They will continue their multichannel retailing efforts, just without the physical retail store.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9956802-7.html
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/06/sharper_image.html

Millions and millions of consumers. Billions of their dollars that they could spend in YOUR place of business. The question is, who are these consumers? Where do they shop? What do they eat? What is it that they want, exactly? That's where market research comes in. Figuring out who they are and what they want is one of the first steps in defining your target audience. The target audience is the targeted group that marketers aim to sell their products. Who is the ideal customer for your place of business?
A well-defined, clear target audience is absolutely imperative in today's business world. Target audience marketing provides you with a way to connect with your customers. If you know who they are, where they shop and how they live you can better cater to their needs. It's much easier to hit your target if you know exactly what it is. You need to know everything about them! Having an idea of an "ideal customer" is a way to identify what market you are catering to. If you understand who the ideal customer is, and what it is they like to do, you can find better ways to market to this segment, or how you can help them to appreciate your store more.
The VALS survey is a way to put consumers into a specific market segment. You can cater to these certain segments better if you know all that they fundamentally stand on. When I took the quiz I was labeled as an experiencer and an innovator. An experiencer is someone motivated by self-expression. Image is very important because it is an expression of their tastes and personality. Innovators are successful sophisticated and take chage people. I completely agree with the results of the survey. These two labels described me very well, and helped me to better understand myself!

Who, What, Where, When, and Why about the Piedmont Triad Farmer's Market

Established in 1995, The Piedmont Triad Farmers Market has been serving our area for almost 15 years! The establishment is conveniently located on Sandy Ridge Road, just off of Interstate 40. It is positioned in the center of the greater triad area, enabling residents from Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point to frequent the business. It is owned and operated by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture. The property sits on approximately 5 acres of land and calls itself home to a variety of businesses. A.B. Seed & Co (the garden center) is located here and sells items such as lawn care(fertilizers), mulch, yard ornaments, fountains, and other nursery items.
The Moose Cafe is a little restaurant on the property that offers a menu of country cooking and fresh vegetables.The marketing team utilized the location because there are farmers on site selling their home-grown vegetables, and the restaurant cooks and serves them! It has also been featured in Southern Living magazine and have a solid reputation for their commitment to quality. They also sell baked goods and cater for events as well.
The 21.000 square foot retail shelter is where the heart of the market lies. Local growers come in mass numbers to set up shop, and sell their goods. Fresh fruits and vegetables that are sold much cheaper than local grocery stores, are why most people come! Not just farmers set up here, however. Vendors set up shop selling items such as soaps, pottery, candles, cooking oils, cheeses, exotic meats and eggs, and even bonsai trees! Across the parking lot from the long retail shelter, is an overflow shelter which often fills up before the other!
There is an enclosed retail space that is open year round and has six separate vendors set up within, along with an ice cream shop. It is heated in the winter and open throughout the summer. These vendors offer items that may not be in season locally, however costs are often much cheaper than grocery stores, still. One vendor specializes in only organic products and sells a variety of dry grocery items that are organic as well.
The market offers many promotional events throughout the year, including Watermelon Day, Pumpkin Day, Easter Egg hunts and craft fairs. For these events, bands and local food vendors will also come in along with radio stations doing remotes. Theses events draw large crowds, generating more business for these local growers! Along with a great shopping experience, the market plays into the green lifestyle that has become so mainstream today. With more people looking to become more eco-friendly, I believe that there are only good things in the future for this business!

fresh air and fruit! what a combo!

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There is nothing more exciting to do on a Saturday morning, other than take a trip to the Piedmont Triad Farmer's Market. It is my absolute favorite place to do my grocery shopping. Of all the retailers in the world, why in the world would i choose the farmer's market?! Well there are several reasons why, but the number one reason being is it's outside! Being an "outdoorsy" girl has always been my niche. Going and spending a morning outdoors, in the fresh air is exhilarating!
The atmosphere in the market is very laid-back and casual. You see everyone in their comfortable clothing and hair in hats. It is not a place that you go to impress anyone else! The vendors at the individual stands are also very friendly, because the market is a competition, of course. There are so many vendors set up, and they are all selling the same things! It allows you to walk around and see who has the best looking produce, and the best price! Saving money has always been very important to me, and I save an average of $15 a week by shopping there. It's also all locally grown, so you are supporting local farmers. It is also a "green" way to shop, for you are not paying to have the fruit transported across the country. There are also organic produce stands in the market as well, so you have more options to be green.
Another benefit, through the spring and summer months, there are nursery stands set up everywhere! The beautiful colors and smells permeating the air are calming and wonderful! Through December, there are also Christmas trees and wreaths sold in the open-air market. Searching for the perfect tree while sipping hot cocoa is a tradition many families follow at the market as well. It is the perfect place to take a family on Saturday mornings, and it is also a way to teach your children to pick and choose healthy foods for themselves, while supporting the local economy! Could a retailer get any better?