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Retailer Profile RETAILER PROFILE 8 across the country as suburban shopping malls replaced downtown merchants, and The Wire Whisk followed the trend by moving into the Fox River Mall. Then, eight years ago, The Wire Whisk followed the next retailing trend and moved out of the mall. The 4,000-square foot brick and mortar store is now tucked into a strip mall shopping center across the street from the Fox River Mall, the second-largest shopping mall in Wisconsin, where the entire commercial neighborhood is a destination for the surrounding Fox River Valley, which is the second-largest marketing area in the state. Appleton and its surrounding counties had a combined population of around 367,000 people as of the 2010 census. Appleton itself accounts for about 73,000 of those. The city has a median household income of around $52,600. The store's customers live as far as 100 miles away, and they include rural Wisconsin residents who come into Appleton two or three times a year to do a weekend's worth of shopping. When those families come into town for a shopping trip, the family typically splits up to visit the mall across the street, The Wire Whisk, the Guitar Center and the pet store that are The Wire Whisk's neighbors. "We're a destination. If they need something in the kitchen, they'll generally think of us," says Pat. "The other thing is that we have knowledge of the products that they don't generally find in the big box stores." Customers are also drawn to The Wire Whisk because they've heard Pat and Mary talk about interesting gadgets on a local radio program on which they're regular guests. Once a month or so, they'll visit "The Good Neighbor Show" hosted by Kathy Keene on WHBY News Talk radio from 10 a.m. to noon every Monday through Friday. "We usually discuss the gadgets. We'll bring a basket of stuff, and she'll pick something, and we'll talk about it. And then we usually sell out of it," Mary says. "We try to take things in that are very popular or very new," Pat says. "It's radio, so you have to be a little more descriptive." They recently took in a potato chip maker along with some samples of the chips made at home with the potato chip maker, and the station employees came into the studio to try the chips during the show. "You can make 24 chips in two minutes," Pat observes. "All natural, no preservatives," Mary adds. "We sold out of them before we got back to the store. We had 12 of them, and since then, the phone's been ringing off the hook with people wanting to know if the new order's in yet." The store's inventory underwent some adjustment after The Wire Whisk moved out of the mall, and the store no longer offers tabletop items. Now, it's cookware, bakeware and home textiles – about 11,000 SKUs, some of which are seasonal items. Mary buys the cookware, while Pat buys the gadgets, the textiles and most of the items for which design drives the buying decision. "We need color so much," says Pat. "We do buy from a lot of sources. It shows our personality, who we buy from. I buy what I like. I buy what works." For tools and gadgets, The Wire Whisk generally follows a "good, better, best" merchandising strategy. For small appliances, The Wire Whisk may offer two different models in a category. "We can't go to the lengths that you would in a department store. And sometimes it's really hard to pick," Mary says. They favor products made in the USA, in response to customer requests. "Customers really respond to that," Mary says. "More and more people are Kitchenware Retailing (Cont. from Page 1) asking where is it made. It's become a very important factor in our customers' purchasing decision." "The economy is driving it. You have to pay more, but you're getting better quality, and the money is staying in the country," adds Pat. "They're making work for the people who live here." The next stage in The Wire Whisk's evolution is the addition of a demonstration kitchen, with about 150 square feet of dedicated space at the back of the sales floor. The kitchen's new appliances include an Electrolux hybrid cooktop that's half induction and half radiant glass top and a GE convection oven. Cabinetry came from the local home improvement store, and the island dividing the demonstration area from the sales floor is outfitted with extra outlets for small electrics demonstrations. "This isn't designed as a home kitchen. This is designed specifically for demonstrations and classes," Pat says. "It was designed to sell the products we're using." Pat and Mary expect to be able to accommodate a maximum of 12 to 16 people at a class in seats around the island countertop and a couple of round cocktail tables. While the class content is still in development, the owners' intention is that the classes will be casual and fun, starting with a lunchtime series called "Lunch and Learn," in which participants will be invited to bring their friends for a lunch in the store and to see a demonstration of how the food they're eating was prepared. Then in the fall, The Wire Whisk will offer more traditional evening classes inspired by customer surveys that have been taking place over the past few months. Behind the store's 3,500 square feet of display space and the new demonstration kitchen, Mary handles the store's online business, together with the store's marketing manager, Gail Kennedy, who helps supervise the inventory processing for as many as 400 orders a day in the packing room that occupies the 400 square feet at the back of the store. That business comes through Amazon, eBay and other online merchants that operate their business portals for a percentage of each sale. "At one time, we were fourth or fifth in the country for Vitamix sales, but that was when nobody could get them,"says Mary. "What does well online changes seasonally." "They're literally an advertising medium because it opens us up to the whole country," Pat adds. KITCHENWARE NEWS & HOUSEWARES REVIEW ■ JULY 2014 ■ www.kitchenwarenews.com

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