DDi - July 2011 - (Page 32)

32 | Fixture Super Section of the Fixture Industry Roundtable Fixture manufacturers adapt with cautious optimism to help retailers grab hold of the economic recovery W hile the retail industry paces on in what we are beginning to call “Recovery Mode,” the ﬁxture industry has done everything it can to adapt its business model, provide value-added solutions and become true partners in the retail game. And the approach has paid off—the industry ﬁnally saw some sales gains in 2010, a welcome respite from steady declines in the years prior. “[Fixture] industry revenues actually grew 9.4 percent in 2010,” says Klein Merriman, executive director of the Association for Retail Environments (A.R.E.), citing its “2011 Industry Performance Report.” “That’s good news after the declines in both 2008 and 2009. And sales are projected to grow an additional 15 percent in 2011, according to the ‘Revenue Trends Survey’ we conducted in March.” But, while it is clear that a recovery is underway in the retail environments industry, it is also clear that we have not yet returned to full health, Merriman adds. “By most measures, our industry is not yet back to 2008 levels, and we expect that our industry will not reach 2007’s high-water marks until 2012 or later. For example, metrics such as sales per sq. ft., pretax proﬁt margins, and return on net worth are all up in 2010 over 2009. But they are not yet back to 2008 levels—and are well short of 2007.” Read on for a Q&A with some of the ﬁxture industry’s leading players to learn how they have adapted their businesses to aid the great retail recovery, and why cautious optimism still resides for 2012 and beyond. have seen sales revenues return to ’07 and ’08 levels. We’re excited to see the acceleration in the retail industry. Peter Strommen, president, PD Instore: Business has never looked better for us. Our investments in PD’s specialized service divisions have strengthened relationships with our customer base and lead to exciting new customer relationships. David Mueller, president and COO, Hamilton Fixture: The ﬁrst half was just okay, but our efforts to develop new accounts in 2010 has our second half shaping up quite nicely, which will position for a really good 2012. How is business looking right now? What have you changed in the last year to adapt your business to the new economic climate? Mueller: Like most businesses I suspect, we scaled our overhead structure to adapt to the economic downturn in early 2009, which is where we experienced a decline in sales. In 2010, our business was stable; however, we put our focus on how to help our clients and prospective clients Mark Pritchard, executive vice president, idX Corp.: 2011 has been good for idX. We | July 2011 Number 27 at www.ddionline.com/readerservice Joel A. Katterhagen, executive vice president of business development, Leggett & Platt Store Fixtures Group: While some retail channels are recovering slowly, we’re seeing strength in the vast majority of our market segments. In fact, in some key areas, we’re seeing real and sustained growth in our clients’ businesses—which translates into growth in our business. The great challenge, of course, is to see growth across all retail channels. Until that happens, we need to remain vigilant in recognizing where there is growth in the marketplace and be ready to seize those opportunities. http://www.ddionline.com/readerservice

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of DDi - July 2011

DDi - July 2011
Contents
From the Editor
From the Show Director
Newsworthy
Shopper Insights
Greentailing
Editor’s Choice
Design Snapshot
Channel Focus: Big Box
Carlo Pazolini
2011 Fixture Super Section
State of the Fixture Industry Roundtable
2011 Fixture Leaders Listing
2011 Fixture Leaders Company Index
Fixture Products
Right Light
Product Spotlight
Calendar
Advertisers
Classifieds
Think Tank

DDi - July 2011