Monday, December 26, 2011

Random Retail Thought -- Can You Think of Many Retail Outlets That Sell Just One Brand?

Car dealerships: although even that has changed over the years, with many dealers selling two brands (often one American; one foreign)

Fast food restaurants -- e.g., McDonald's sells only its products, except for the branded drinks 

Service (gasoline) stations ...

... and then it starts to get difficult .... even Firestone sells non-Firestone tires ... Sears appliance stores? I don't know; I haven't been in a Sears appliance store in years ...

Apple -- one brand .... (yes, Apple stores do have some non-Apple brand accessories, but very, very limited in scope; much like branded drinks in fast food restaurants)

Ikea -- selected non-Ikea brand accessories, again

Telecom -- one branded spectrum (ATT, Verizon, Sprint), but multiple cell phone brands

Obviously I am not including the outlet stores seen in a few locations around the US.

I started thinking about that in view of John C Dvorak's recent column and while reading the bio of Steve Jobs, a Christmas gift from my wife.  How far could Apple expand its product line?

7 comments:

  1. HEB

    Thousands of brands, but thousands of unbranded or house branded items. The big money is in their own stuff. They are smart so it is good quality. Look at how they use Meal Deals to get you to sample their brands. Look at the store layout and displays. It is all there, but their own stuff stands out.

    anon 1

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  2. It's "funny" you should mention HEB, my favorite grocery store, and the only grocery store I frequent when in San Antonio. HEB is very, very interesting. I do believe they have the largest store-branded selection of any grocery store I am aware of (Trader Joes would be in that group, I suppose, and they are probably the leaders).

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  3. By the way, the "Meal Deals" are incredible. I honestly don't know how they do it. I love the "Meal Deals."

    For those who don't know what we are talking about, HEB offers an HEB entree (maybe $6 to $12) and then one gets six items absolutely free (total value of the six free items often exceeds the cost of the entree. The entree is often a multiple meal item, such as 12 deluxe hamburgers, or a brisket). The promotion changes from week to week.

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  4. OT

    The Sand Man.

    http://www.ohio.com/news/ohio-sand-turns-to-gold-as-drilling-boom-comes-to-buckeye-state-1.252220

    anon 1

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  5. Huge story. Thank you. I've put it up at a stand-alone post:

    http://milliondollarway.blogspot.com/2011/12/ohio-has-perfect-fracking-sand.html

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  6. embraceyourinnerhillbillyDecember 27, 2011 at 12:29 AM

    BOSE, a horrible affront to audiophiles...there's a reason why they have to sell them in BOSE only stores, you can hear the frequencies you're missing when compared side by side.

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  7. You are correct; I had forgotten about Bose.

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