How Starbucks brought me back to Sears

I have not been in a Sears department store in years. No particular reason - they just don't attract me as a retailer and like many have indicated - they don't have anything that I can't pick up anywhere else, especially at Wal-Mart.

Earlier this week, I made it back to Sears after many years of absenteeism, yet it was not Sears that got me there. It was Starbucks. A friend of mine wanted to meet up for coffee and suggested that we meet-up at the Starbucks in the bottom level of the downtown Sears store.

To sum it up - Sears lost me along the way, but managed to get me back (if only for a moment) because they have partnered with a category leader like Starbucks. By the way - the Starbucks was packed and had much more concentrated traffic than Sears did - hopefully Sears is benefiting from this relationship beyond charging them monthly rent. While making my way around the store - I did see some interesting sales. I may head back this weekend and check em' out.

In a downturn economy - consumers will likely choose simple 'comfort' purchases like coffee or a burger over anything that stretches their wallet. It's important that everyone review their offering and see where they can adjust their product mix to ensure that they are still giving people what they want and if you can't do it on your own, then you can partner with someone else who is really good at what you want to offer.