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Looks like Stupid Prices is not so stupid at all: Stupid Prices sells clothes, food, electronics and more at 50 to 70 percent - or higher - off...(News Tribune, The (Tacoma, WA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Nov. 27--For many retailers, a down economy stunts growth. It forces consumers to count their dollars and mind their budgets. But for Stupid Prices, a retailer in Woodinville, this economy is great. The company sells what other retailers don't. Stupid Prices buys the last T-shirt or set of cooking utensils left at big department stores and discount retailers. The privately held company sells those items for 50 to 70 percent off -- sometimes more. The selection isn't great -- the jeans may be available in sizes 8 and 12 but not 10 or 14 -- but keep looking. The racks are jammed with options. The stores' inventory includes clothing, food, tools, sheets, electronics and appliances. And there's some assurance that whatever you buy will work. The company offers guarantees on many of its products, including appliances and TVs. (Though the company won't name many of the retailers it works with, shoppers might recognize the brands or the price tags. Costco's store brand, Kirkland, appears on some household items and clothing.) Stupid Prices started in 1990 with one store in Kent. The idea came by chance from a friend who wanted to liquidate the contents of a warehouse. Co-founder Shane Baisch, now the company's vice president, had a neighbor who was looking for someone to sell off a building full of items. Baisch saw the opportunity to start a company and, along with friend Bruce Martin, began forming a plan for Stupid Prices. Martin admits that the two didn't know what they were doing, but that didn't stop them. The plan paid off. Stupid Prices is in two states, has 18 stores -- with more on the way -- and 340 employees. "Our business is on fire right now," company President Martin said this week. He spoke with The News Tribune about his growing company and the economy. How does your business work? We deal with 15 of the top retail chains in the county and buy their close-outs and their last one (of an item). We have about 800 vendors from importers to distributors. Everyone has something that needs a home after the packaging gets old or there's a new model. All of this stuff -- if we didn't deal with it, it would go to a landfill. When we deal with a company like Sears or Sam's Club, they have their own label. So we have a way to sanitize this for them. Cut the tags or put a black mark so consumers can't return them to the original store. That's called double-dipping. What goes into picking your items? We only buy one out of 25 items that's presented to us. We've had a very good relationship with a local box store for 18 years. We regularly sell their stuff. We do a very good job for our vendors. We are famous for our name-brand products. We can bring in a well-known food company without advertising and just from our traffic that product will be gone before anyone could complain about the price. How is the economy affecting your business? Our stores have gone through an extreme change in the last 90 days. We are in the process of remodeling all of our stores. We have made them very shopable. We have been working very hard on customer service. In this economy, we call it the Beamer/Mercedes class. Normally they wouldn't shop our stores. But because of the economy, today it's very sexy to say "I saved money." They are coming into our stores and are shocked by the shopability. They would never expect to see the top brands of TVs. Our business is doing very well in this economy. When did you see your business increase because of the economy? I would say about 90 days ago. We are in the process of changing the name as well. I picked the name, and I am still proud of it. But for some it's offensive. In the back of their minds, they are thinking the building is stupid, the people are stupid but they don't think about the prices. The name debuts Dec. 4 in Edmonds. It's now called Smart Buys at Stupid Prices. Will you change the name in the South Sound? Yes, but it will take about a year because of the price. Each of the signs is about $20,000. Tell me about what's popular with customers right now. We've had to change our products for the economy. I have always carried the exact same furniture as some of the big retailers but a lot less. The bedroom set that retails for $3,500 sells for about $1,200 at my store. But because of the economy with people being so financially traumatized, people will use their own bedroom set and their own TV much longer. Even with our great prices, we have to get twice as many customers into the stores as we did last year to make the same sales. So we expanded our clothing, food and general merchandise. Our sales have actually been up. Do you sell anything unexpected? It's kind of a treasure hunt. We get frozen food three times a week. It's chicken and steak. It's all grain-fed, natural, organic. Very expensive. We have freezers in three of our stores and you are getting meat at 50 percent off. I even put a guarantee on it. I am telling you this stuff is fantastic. Are consumers buying it? Oh, they love it. You would never expect to find that in a store like ours. I haven't refunded one person. Spanaway will be getting their freezer in two to three weeks, and Kent has a freezer. Anything else that people wouldn't expect to find? Our clothing. We have contracts with big retailers. We get their onesies and twosies. It's top name-brand stuff. Our clothing is our single most-popular item in all our stores. Of every 10 customers, six or seven walk out with a garment. What are your expansion plans? We will expand in California. We will have five more stores in Washington in the next 20 to 28 months. The next two stores will be in Stockton, Calif., and Fresno, Calif. We are looking at Bellingham and Lacey. Are you profitable? Yes. Our revenues will grow 50 percent in 2009 from 2008. Marcelene Edwards: 253-597-8638 Stupid Prices President: Bruce Martin Headquarters: Woodinville South Sound stores: Spanaway, Federal Way, Kent Stores: 18 Employees: 340 To see more of The News Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.TheNewsTribune.com. Copyright (c) 2008, The News Tribune, Tacoma, Wash. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |