Category killer
A category killer is a retailer, often a big-box store, that specializes in and carries a large product assortment of a given category.[1]: 109–111 Through their wide merchandise selections, low pricing, deep supply, large buying power and market penetration, they have a comparative advantage over other, smaller retailers, and can greatly reduce the sales of rival retailers within that category, in the area[2] and beyond it.[1]
In essence, they are a price- or discount-based specialist mass-retailer.[1]: 13 [2] Chains such as OfficeMax, Best Buy, Barnes & Noble and Hobby Lobby have been considered category killers.[3]
Once typically found in power centers, increasingly they are found in or adjacent to (as an outbuilding of) repurposed traditional malls.
Large category killer stores are mostly in mid- and large-sized cities, because a large population is required to be feasible.[1]: 33
Impact
Local merchants in cities with category killers "may suffer a substantial reduction in sales," and stores in a wider radius can be affected by the draw.[1]: 109–111 Between 1983 and 1993, Iowans spent 31% less in hardware stores, translating to a loss of 37% in the same time to those stores as a result of category killer stores.[1]: 67–68, 89
United States retailers
Sporting goods stores that are category killers range in footprint from 10,000 to 40,000 square feet (930 to 3,720 m2).[1]: 37 Home Depot carries 30,000 items in 100,000-square-foot (9,300 m2) stores.[4]: 148
| Retailer | Category | Defunct? |
|---|---|---|
| The Home Depot | Home and construction | |
| Lowe's | ||
| Builders Square | 1999 (stores) 2009 (brand) | |
| Home Quarters | 1999 | |
| Circuit City | Electronics | 2009 (stores) 2012 (brand) |
| Best Buy | ||
| Toys "R" Us | Toys | 2018 (US stores) |
| Barnes & Noble | Books | |
| Borders | 2011 | |
| OfficeMax | Office supplies | |
| Office Depot | ||
| Staples | ||
| Petco | Pet supplies | |
| PetSmart | ||
| Party City | Party supplies | |
| The Gap[4]: 122 | Clothing | |
| Old Navy |
See also
References
- Stone, Kenneth E. (1995). Competing With the Retail Giants: How to Survive in the New Retail Landscape. New York: Wiley. ISBN 0-471-05440-2. OCLC 31901604.
- Kraft, Manfred; Mantrala, Murali K. (2010). Retailing in the 21st Century: Current and Future Trends (2nd ed.). Berlin: Springer-Verlag. pp. 127, 133. ISBN 978-3-540-72003-4. OCLC 567361303.
- Lal, Rajiv; Alvarez, Jose B (10 October 2011). "Retailing Revolution: Category Killers on the Brink". Working Knowledge. Harvard Business School. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
- Michman, Ronald D.; Greco, Alan James (1995). Retailing Triumphs and Blunders: Victims of Competition in the New Age of Marketing Management. Alan James Greco. Westport, Conn.: Quorum Books. ISBN 978-1-4294-7347-7. OCLC 232160862.
