Target vs. The Village Shop

"It's like going to a restaurant vs. having dinner at a friend's house.  The restaurant is Target and the friend's house is The Village Shop."

John and I were having a conversation the other day about how much we love The Village Shop.  In addition to the Friday afternoon sweet stop for Anna, I'm always running over there to buy just one birthday card or one strip of tissue paper or a glue stick.  In the mornings, we often pop in to get a newspaper and milk.  They have the best coconut cake (our friend Tim would agree).

Recently, I went in to buy some large mailing envelopes and packaging tape.   I found the envelopes right away, but couldn't find the packaging tape.  I asked the lady at the counter and she rummaged around on the shelf and found them behind some index cards and glitter glue.  She joked, "You mean you couldn't find them?"  I just love the slight chaos of inventory.  I then asked the shopkeeper if they sell liquid hand soap.  She replied that they could be in the "chemists' section" (chemist=drug store) of the store, and then walked over to a small corner on a shelf above the greeting cards.  There were random items like shaving foam and a bottle or two of shampoo but no soap.  I didn't mind; it was like a treasure hunt.

When the shopkeeper rang me up, I noticed that I didn't have enough cash (and they don't take cards).  The shopkeeper said, "I see you here all the time, you just pay me when you next come in."

This got me thinking about how I love shopping at the Village Shop here at Target in the US but they seem like night and day.  Target is big, bright, clean, laid out logically and with lots of inventory clearly marked and constantly replenished.  It is a fast, fun, fresh and fashionable shopping experience--the classic example of successful integrated marketing that I often haul out in my marketing classes.  Everything, literally, is strategic and carefully done by design.  Shoppers are made to feel like "guests" and the employees are "team members".  You never see palates of inventory in the aisles; the shelves are completely wiped down replaced every time new inventory comes in.  Shoppers are well served and never wait in a long line.  Products are value priced but fashionable.  It is like a restaurant--polished, refined, there to provide a well-catered experience.

Can you buy coffee in the Village Shop?
Who knows?

The Village Shop is small, cozy, and a little cluttered.  It feels very traditional and old-fashioned.  It is like walking into a house.  It looks like a house.  A little bell jingles when you enter; the person at the counter may say a cheery hello.  The newspapers and magazines are about as trendy as one gets; they don't even take credit or debit cards.  A lot of the inventory seems to move slowly; it may get shoved behind other items and there may be only one or two (or 20) of what you're looking for.  Some of the layout is methodical and some of it isn't.  Signs are simple, some are written by hand.  You might be offered a sample of food, not necessarily to push specific inventory but as a friendly gesture.  There might be a queue but you are welcome to leave money in a box or wait.

Like Target, the Village Shop is a fun place to shop.  Shopping is a treasure hunt.  You never know what you'll find.  Target is a treasure hunt, but a methodically laid out one.  Someone has planned the treasure hunt for you. You can love them both and thoroughly enjoy them both, but you get a different experience.  When I taught intro MBA marketing, we talked about how companies can be good at operational efficiency (e.g., Target), customer intimacy (e.g., The Village Shop) and product innovation (e.g., Apple) and that one isn't necessarily better than the other, but you should focus on one without ignoring the others.  These seem like prototypical examples, all creating customer loyalty and satisfaction, but also delight.