Brand Autopsy: Master Retailers … No Matter the Era

One of the more interesting chapters in Category Killers is on retail pioneers who brought forth the big box retailing landscape we live in today. Spector profiles master retailers such as Jesse and Percy Straus (Macy’s), Charles Lazarus (Toys “R” Us), Eugene Ferkauf (E.J. Korvette [discount retailer]), Martin Chase (Ann & Hope [discount retailer]), Sol Price (Price Club), and Sam Walton (Wal-Mart).

Since Spector has thoroughly studied these retailing pioneers, I was interested to know which master retailer he thought could best compete in today’s hyper-competitive and increasingly global marketplace. He choose two: Sam Walton and Charles Lazarus.

Spector on why he chose Sam Walton …
(Sam) built an organization that has gotten bigger, more dominant and more efficient since he handed over the reins to David Glass, who then handed them over to Lee Scott. Wal-Mart always runs scared and continually finds ways to improve. Love 'em or hate 'em, you can't deny the impact of Wal-Mart.

Spector on why he selected Charles Lazarus …
Lazarus virtually invented the Category Killer concept with Toys 'R' Us. Lazarus said that when he was expanding Toys ‘R’ Us in the 1970s and 1980s, the most difficult thing he had to do was to "look at the people who have helped me build this company, get to a half a billion, then a billion and so on, and recognize that at some point along the way, they ran out of steam." Lazarus believed that recognizing that those same people "did not have the capacity to take me from a billion to $5 billion, from $5 billion to $10 billion" was his greatest challenge and would be their greatest challenge as well.

In the early 1990s Lazarus advised Home Depot founders Bernard Marcus and Arthur Blank on how to reach their ambitious goals for expansion. Marcus and Blank concluded that an expansion-minded company can’t "outgrow the ability of people to take you to the next level."

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In Category Killers, Robert Spector explores how big box retailers have come to overpower department stores, regional chains, and mom-and-pop stores. He also discusses the societal and economic impact category killers have had on reshaping the retail industry.