Hastings spruces up its stores

Chain sees opportunity following demise of Musicland

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 7/21/2006

JULY 21 | Hastings Entertainment has made over about 15% of its stores with an eye toward increasing its appeal as a shopping destination.

This year, Hastings has altered the merchandising layout, product mix and signage schemes for 25 of its 155 stores, while chainwide it has changed its branding slogan from “Your Entertainment Superstore” to “Discover Your Entertainment.”

The revamp was prompted after Hastings in 2005 conducted focus groups across the country with active, lapsed and non-customers. Overall, Hastings found that shoppers were having problems navigating its stores.

“Our customers were confused between our large selection of videos for sale and our large selection of videos for rent,” Hastings chairman and CEO John Marmaduke said. “They’d bring up a title to rent, only to find out at the cash register they needed to purchase it. We clarified this with reverse colors within signage and fixtures.”

The chain rearranged its used DVD department by moving its title buyback station to the front of stores. It also is expanding the variety of its DVD selection, ordering bigger quantities of evergreen catalog, budget and mid-line titles.

Hastings sees an opportunity to increase its market share with fewer competitors, following the acquisition of Musicland by Trans World Entertainment.

“We just think that the superiority of our concept still resonates with our customer,” Marmaduke said. “As specialty retailers close or consolidate, the entertainment superstore has even more appeal.”

Hastings is one of the few major retailers left that offers wide selections of music, books, rental and sell-through DVDs and videogames under one roof. It also sells coffee in 40 of its outlets.

“What we’ve gotten from exit interviews is that customers think the [revamped] stores look larger, are brighter and are easier to understand,” Marmaduke said.

Hastings hopes that the new “Discover Your Entertainment” tagline, to be featured on everything from advertising to executives’ business cards, more accurately reflects its identity.

“Our customers don’t come in saying they are buying a DVD or CD or renting a movie; they say they are going to Hastings,” Marmaduke said.

One supplier has already seen a difference.

First Look Home Entertainment has noticed an uptick on its title sales at Hastings over the last three months.

“It seems to be a cleaner and more thought-out environment,” First Look president Bill Bromiley said. “I just think it’s healthy for our business to see a major chain like this give itself a new look,” he said. “It encourages customers to spend more, ultimately.”