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Are there enough consumers and contractors today concerned about the sustainability of products the so-called "green" Amovement to support a retail store whose entire focus is on offering such products?
TreeHouse, a new store in Austin, Texas' capital city, which opened in late October 2011, is pinning its future on the answer to that question. It is competing with more than a dozen giant conventional home centres operated by Home Depot and Lowe's, plus other independent hardware, lumber and home centre retailers in the city.
Austin should be a good market in which to conduct the test inasmuch as it is home base for Whole Foods, a major US supermarket chain whose whole emphasis is on natural and organic foods. It operates four units in Austin.
TreeHouse is a 25,000sqf store occupying a former Borders bookstore, located in a shopping centre in the southern part of the city. It is one-quarter the size of its two giant competitors and its 15,000 SKUs are also about one-fourth as many as those carried by the giants and less than an average hardware store stocks.
But there is no comparison with the two giants insofar as merchandising and marketing are concerned. TreeHouse's focus is entirely on educating the customer about products and projects. In the centre of the store is an interesting Idea Centre, and each department includes an Education Station to inform customers about the products surrounding it as well as how to use them in DIY projects.
It differs in many ways from most other hardline retailers. It does not have the plain warehouse look of Depot or Lowe's. It stresses the knowledge and expertise of its employees, perhaps even more than serviceoriented hardware stores. Some of its product presentations often parallel those of high-end speciality retailers. And everywhere one looks, there are educational efforts: kiosks, videos, literature.
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TreeHouse, a new kid on the home-centre retail block in Austin, Texas, USA, is looking to up the ante in green retailing, pitting itself against two giant home-centre chains. Retail Asia's US-based correspondent Bob Veeren reports.
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