RETAILERS URGED TO TAKE RISKS TO MEET DEMAND

ELLIOT ZWIEBACH

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Retailers must be willing to take calculated risks to deal with changes in consumer demand, Nancy Moon-Eilers, vice president of the nutrition center division of Fred Meyer Stores here, said.

"Dealing with changes in the marketplace means being able to look ahead and be a visionary. It's not about what customers are buying today, but what they will want tomorrow and then finding ways to meet those future needs in terms of product selection and in-store atmosphere.

"But that can mean you must be willing to make a change and take a calculated risk," she said.

Moon-Eilers made her remarks as part of a panel entitled "Riding the Wave of Market Changes" at Executive Forum 2004, the 10th annual conference sponsored by the Food Industry Leadership Center at Portland State University, also held here.

Innovation to deal with change requires a retailer to take a proactive stance, Moon-Eilers said, "because you're looking at what today's consumers will be looking for tomorrow."

Opting to make changes is often an unconscious decision, Moon-Eilers said, "that comes from asking yourself what you can do to cater to customers in a unique way that's different from the competition and to give them a reason to come into your store."

Pat Klinger, director of futures initiatives at The Holland, Vancouver, Wash., parent company of three restaurant chains -- Burgerville, noodlin' and Beaches -- said he often goes into supermarkets seeking new ideas. "You have to go into grocery stores because they are on the cutting edge and far ahead of the restaurant industry in terms of new ideas," he said.

It's also crucial for restaurants to identify what's important to any community where they plan to open, Klinger said. "You need to find out what the values are in a community and what's important to that neighborhood. That's why, when we opened our second noodlin' location, we added bicycle helmet racks and put out water bowls for dogs because that's what the community was looking for."

Michelle Peterman, vice president of marketing for Kettle Foods, said her company began producing natural potato chips long before many consumers were looking for such snacks. "When we started 26 years ago, the people shopping at natural food stores knew what to look for, but now our job is to know how consumers perceive natural foods, and educate and motivate them [to seek out natural snacks]," she said.

"People still seek to indulge themselves without compromise, so we see our chips as part of a better-for-you category."

Christopher Studach, design director for King Retail Solutions, Eugene, Ore., said his firm looks at each project as a consumer first, not as a retailer, when it designs a store. "Consumers want information on what they're purchasing so they can better understand each product. When we design systems, we do it from the customers' point of view to provide the kind of content they need to make decisions at the point of sale."