Store closing strategy for A Boy is personal

A going out of business strategy isn't something a marketing company such as ours likes to create for a valued client. But, this recession is ruthless, and really doesn't care about the human side of the story. And, this one is a little personal for me, not because they are a great client, but because I really, really like their stores.

In this case, we are about to launch a store closing campaign for four of the six A Boy Plumbing and Electrical Supply stores in the Portland / Vancouver area. The unfortunate part is that the stores were doing fine, given the bad economy. It was the parent company that relied entirely upon contractor building activity that was really hit hard. And, as much as A Boy provided revenue, it couldn't provide enough to fill the huge, growing vacuum created by the much larger parent company.

With only about five weeks to close, we were given the task to unload more than $1 million worth of inventory. Our plan involves three phases. The first phase announces the existence of the sale and will last for about two weeks. The second phase will call out inventory categories that need more attention and apply deep discounts to the message. The third phase will begin a countdown to closing in order to create urgency. The final phase will also feature drastically discounted examples.

The media will go for tonnage. This is a fairly simple message that people will understand quickly. So, we're buying :15 and :10 second radio and TV spots, supplemented with 4 - 5 second TV, and getting as many messages as possible out there.

The good news is that this isn't one of those phony sale schemes where prices are raised so they can be lowered, and the net result is no savings. This is the real deal. There's no time or interest in playing those unethical games. So, you might say that this is a guy's dream come true: a store filled with all kinds of tools, hardware, fixtures and other man toys on sale.

On the other hand, I'm going to miss my favorite store. The A Boy on Foster. It's the closest thing to an old fashioned hardware store I know, where the guys there really know their stuff and there's none of that "big operation" slickness that stocks only those things that deliver the highest annual turns.

More good news! Two of the stores: Hollywood and Barbur Blvd. are being purchased by the original owner and will remain open under his exclusive ownership.

I think this little gem of a chain will once again grow into various Portland area neighborhoods to serve as a great alternative to the big, impersonal box stores.