“We’ve been real aggressive on our real estate strategy now that we’ve got a new store model that we like, with a different look and feel,” he says. has opened new Bealls Outlet and Burke’s Outlet locations, as well as relocated and expanded others, Alves says. “We have recently introduced a very successful college recruitment and intern program, to develop our future leaders.” An Aggressive Strategy “We’re looking for a lot more career-minded people,” he describes. “That’s really how we start to build our bench strength.”īealls/Burkes Outlet also wants to elevate its field-level team, Alves adds. “We have to put learning and development programs in place to maximize that talent,” he continues. To do that, we have to invest in our people. “We believe one of our competitive advantages over our peers is we deliver outstanding customer service. “We’ve really put forward a concerted effort,” Alves asserts. “We put a lot of effort behind the ‘employer of choice’ program for our field operations team, and hired a learning and development individual to look at opportunities for training,” he says. The changes in the Bealls Outlet and Burkes Outlet stores required changes to its employee-training program, Alves says. “It’s been really positive all around.” Building Up Strength “Equally, we’re seeing, as we hoped, a lot more new customers with those families coming with their kids,” he declares. “Our relationships with our long-term customers have gotten even stronger,” he says. The changes have been met with positive responses from the stores’ customers, Alves adds. Instead, “The team embraced all of it,” he reports. “The merchants were able to add 300 new vendors last year and 400 new vendors this year.”īealls/Burkes Outlet did not meet any reluctance from its employees during the process. “We had to elevate the level of fashion and brands that we were offering the customers at unbelievable values,” Alves says. “With that extra space, we were able to re-merchandise them with more features for an easier shopping experience as well as introduce new and expanded products. “We also were able to take a significant amount of inventory out of the stores,” he continues. This included adding new fixtures and lighting that would “present product in more delightful and inviting ways,” he says. “We reposition the organizations and focus them around a broader audience.”īealls/Burkes Outlets wanted to capture a customer base of working families with the stores, which required them to look and feel very different, Alves says. However, “It wasn’t that we were trying to exclude our very loyal and long-term customers,” he asserts. Previously, the stores were geared to a more mature market, including retired and snowbird customers.īoth outlet businesses had been very successful. recently refocused the Bealls Outlet and Burkes Outlet concepts, Alves says. “Our premise is that we are the shopping solution for the family offering brands and fashion at big savings,” Alves says. has more than 535 locations, which include more than 450 Bealls Outlet and Burkes Outlet stores. In 1992, the company opened a Bealls Outlet location in Arizona, which was the first location outside its home state of Florida. He opened more locations in Bradenton and Venice, Fla., which drove the company’s sales past the million-dollar mark.īeall also created the Bealls Outlet chain in 1987, which was a response to the outlet-retailing boom in the Carolinas. In the 1950s, the younger Beall saw potential in shopping centers that served middle-income retirees who came to Florida. More members of the Beall family joined the company, including Beall’s son, E.R. When he saw growth, Beall built a larger store, which eventually became Beall’s Department Store. In the inflationary years that followed World War I, the company raised its prices, which resulted in it changing the store name to the V (five) Dollar Limit.
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