"A coupon comes in the mail for 10 percent to 12 percent off any purchase, including TVs $499 and up, just for being a member of big box store chain's free rewards program. I've been eyeing a TV, an expensive one, and 12 percent off would save almost $400. Without the coupon, they sell the TV at the same price as that charged by a locally owned store in downtown Lexington. I've dealt with the downtown store before; I've been more than happy with my service there and dealt with the same salesman who has helped me decide which TV I want.
Now the question is, should a consumer spend a little more than $2,800 at the big box store or $3,200 downtown for the exact same TV? That's when a conversation from earlier in the week with Steve Gall, owner of Phillip Gall's, the outdoor, snow and ski outfitter at Woodhill Center began to resonate.
"Low price is not a mission statementit is the easiest thing to create," Gall said.
For the most part, according to Gall, when it comes to the national chain box stores, like his competitors Dick's Sporting Goods, Target and Burlington Coat Factory, often a consumer will see the same brand names, but at a lesser quality.
In the outerwear market, companies like The North Face and Columbia have multiple levels of products ranging from consumer level, for people who just want to sport the "cool" label, all the way up to high-end products for the skiers and other outdoor-types who need real insulation. It's the high-end product users that the companies started with and earned their reputations on.
"The price tag only tells you what it costs to take home. It doesn't tell you if it is a good deal, if it is any good or if it is worth it," Gall said.
At least at Phillip Gall's, he said, he or one of his salespeople could ask a customer what they want a jacket or coat for and then point them in the right direction if they feel that better, albeit more expensive, alternatives are needed.
"A specialty retailer can't afford to lie," he said. "I've got the best product, never the lowest price."
Much is the same when it comes to buying home theater equipment, according to Barney Miller, owner of the downtown electronics store bearing his name, where I've been planning to buy my future TV. The set I want, a 46-inch Sharp LCD with a 1080p display, is one of the higher-end TVs that crossover and are carried by stores like a Best Buy, H.H. Gregg, Circuit City and Barney Miller's. So what exactly will buying from the local, specialty store get me?
"We offer a level of service way above and beyond what they have," Miller said. "They're pretty good at handing you a box and that's about as far as they go, especially a Wal-Mart." While the Best Buy, H.H. Gregg and Circuit City stores of the world offer installation and hook-up on these types of products, Miller said the installation and support you can get from his store far exceeds that from a national box chain.
"You can call and talk to a person," he said, and the person often will know who you are, remember what kind of system you have, and maybe even be the person who came to your home to install it.
But most of the time it isn't comparing apples to apples, with the only difference being a savings of nearly $400. Miller cited the recent series of Wal-Mart commercials where customers question the price of TVs at an exaggerated boutique electronics store. At the end of the commercial "the same brand names as other stores" at better prices are promised, but that could mean a major difference in what model is being sold, he said.
"You may be able to get a low-end Sharp made in China at Wal-Mart that we wouldn't carry here; we have top-of-the-line Sharps made in Japan," Miller said.
"If you're going to have a TV probably on average for 10 years, wouldn't you want to look at a good picture? Wouldn't you want to make sure it's hooked up right? Wouldn't you want to have a system that's easy to work?" Miller said. "We want to make sure you have one remote on your coffee table, not four. We've got many solutions to get you down to one remote control; we do the programming for the customer and make stuff really easy to work. The best money that anybody spends from us is in on our remote control programming service."
While a spokesman from Best Buy wasn't able to comment on the store's ability to have prices often below competitors, Brian Lucas, of Best Buy's Minnesota corporate office, did say the company has made an effort in the last half decade at allowing the stores to mold to their local environment.
"We hope that price isn't the only reason that people shop at Best Buy," Lucas said. With the onslaught of new TV technology and high-end purchases becoming the norm, Lucas said the company has taken a more service-oriented approach with customers. "Buying a television isn't like it used to be; you don't just grab it off the shelf, go home and plug it in," he said.
To further offer similar services as specialized stores like Barney Miller's around the country, Lucas said Best Buy bought Magnolia Home Theater, a smaller Pacific Northwest chain, about three years ago. Within the last year, they added the "store within a store" of Magnolia in the Lexington Best Buy and have also started premium installation with in-house employees, Lucas said.
Calls to Dick's and Wal-Mart were not returned as of presstime.
In an effort to compete with the purchasing power of a store like Best Buy, Barney Miller's is in an association of nearly 60 other similar businesses around the country that buys directly from manufacturers.
While Miller tries to stay out of the big boxes, save a trip to buy a DVD or two, he said the introduction of those types of stores to Lexington has in ways helped his third generation, 84-year-old business.
"It has made us more efficient, more competitive and better at what we do," he said.