Just 4 Kids
Bill Travis owns two Just 4 Kids stores in Florence, South Carolina. He believes that the stores have been successful and he wants to open a new store in Sumter about 30 miles west of Florence. Bill has been in the retail line for over 20 years, and he worked at his uncle’s hobby shop while in high school and college before starting his own store at the age of 25.
Two big secrets to a successful toy store operation are good location and product selection. Bill’s first store is located in downtown Florence. Since Bill had been born and raised in Florence, he attracted a good customer base that remained loyal to his store after some of the giant chain related toy stores began to move into the area. About 10 years ago, Bill saw the change in customer shopping habits and purchased a second store near an interchange to Interstate 95 in a rapidly growing retail area. Lots of new families had moved into the area, and Bill could not totally rely on the “good old boy” market alone to sustain his market share. This second store catered to the younger more mobile generation that shopped at or near malls.
Bill now was looking into other markets. Sumter was not located on the interstate, but the area was growing because of its proximity to the state capital of Columbia, which was just 30 miles to its west. Bill believed that the people of Sumter who commuted to work in Columbia would prefer to limit their driving for shopping activities to the immediate Sumter area. Also, since Bill was a respected citizen of Florence, his reputation as an honest businessman had spread to Sumter. He believed he could quickly build up a new customer base in that location. The big chain type stores also did not seem as interested in the Sumter area, preferring instead to locate in the larger metropolitan areas of Columbia and Florence.
The appropriate toy items to feature in his stores were very important. Bill felt that his area of influence was strictly regional,…