The Dallas Morning News reports that The Container Store has been testing an At Home service that brings its organizational and storage expertise into customers’ homes, and a Dallas test has gone so well that “ it plans to expand the service to all seven Dallas-area stores and later to other markets starting with the Northeast.”
According to the story, “The fee for the initial assessment is $100 and that amount is applied to product purchases on the design plan. The fee to sort, stage or style is $75 an hour. That extra time is billed and agreed to in advance. The specialist will develop a design, have products installed and place items back into the space. The service covers any part of the house, from closets and pantries to kids’ rooms and garages.”
At the same time, The Container Store seems to be planning to aggressively expand its footprint in the US. The News says that the company, which currently has 54 stores, “expects to eventually open 100 additional locations based on the reception its newest stores are getting in smaller markets such as Indianapolis; Nashville, Tenn.; and Charlotte and Raleigh, N.C.”
According to the story, “The fee for the initial assessment is $100 and that amount is applied to product purchases on the design plan. The fee to sort, stage or style is $75 an hour. That extra time is billed and agreed to in advance. The specialist will develop a design, have products installed and place items back into the space. The service covers any part of the house, from closets and pantries to kids’ rooms and garages.”
At the same time, The Container Store seems to be planning to aggressively expand its footprint in the US. The News says that the company, which currently has 54 stores, “expects to eventually open 100 additional locations based on the reception its newest stores are getting in smaller markets such as Indianapolis; Nashville, Tenn.; and Charlotte and Raleigh, N.C.”
- KC's View:
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This is right in line with a longtime argument made here on MNB - that retailers, to be effective in an increasingly competitive environment, need to become a resource for information as well as a source of product. This like Apple’s Genius Bar ... and it does a lot to connect the retailer with the shopper in fundamental, almost intimate ways.
