Retail innovators and entrepreneurs admit that coming up with a new idea is the easy part: mustering the moxie, money and muscle to see it through to fruition is the real challenge. And achieving financial success and industry acclaim along the way is a distinction reserved for a select few. The six retail companies and brands profiled here are setting new standards for game-changing innovation. Inside of a decade, each has managed to win over today’s demanding shoppers.

Apple Stores set a new standard with the Genius bar and its concierges; Bloom breaks the supermarket mold, and Grand Lux creates a new niche in casual dining that is decidedly upscale. Hollister’s laid-back California attitude belies a fierce competitor in the teen space; Netflix takes the Oscar in video rentals, and Zappos leaves no sole unturned in the quest for greatness.

“Passion and vision are hallmarks of a good entrepreneur,” says David Overton, founder and CEO of the Cheesecake Factory and Grand Lux Cafe. “Give someone with those qualities access to money to fund their dream and you have a formula for starting and growing a business.”

Gordon Segal, founder and chairman of Crate & Barrel, believes that moving an idea from concept to thriving business unit is harder than ever in today’s economic climate. “The costs are huge, the competition is fierce and the demands are enormous,” he says. “Overcoming those hurdles and others to establish a winning concept is something to be truly celebrated.”

Ruminating about how difficult it is to develop a successful retail concept in today’s overstored and ultra-competitive market, STORES editors began researching retail businesses founded since 1998. We compiled a list of several dozen companies across the various retail channels, then pared the list down to 15 finalists.

We considered financial success and the use of technology. We awarded high marks for innovation and the ability to connect with shoppers in a new way. And finally, when the dust settled, we delivered our list to a panel of judges — a small-yet-illustrious group of former NRF chairmen — that ultimately chose the winners.
 

Apple Stores You don’t find a store that features a Genius Bar in every neighborhood, and that’s fine with Apple Stores, the retail outposts of Apple Inc. These are the folks who brought the world Macs, iPods and iPhones, so it’s no surprise that their stores feature concierges and geniuses to assist customers. Launched in 2001, Apple’s chain of retail stores now numbers more than 200, including 27 in the U.K., Japan, Canada and Italy. Though they opened to much skepticism —

industry watchers wondered why a manufacturer wanted to get into retailing — the stores raked in $1.25 billion in revenues in the most recently-completed fiscal quarter, up 42 percent from the same period the previous year.

The stores utilize hand-held scanners that allow concierges to ring up sales on the spot. Customers can go online to book in-store appointments with a Mac “Genius” to help solve problems, or with a personal shopper to help with buying decisions. “Where other stores end with a transaction, that’s really where we like to begin,” says Ron Johnson, senior vice president of Apple’s retail operations.

A 46-ft. Genius Bar, where as many as a hundred customers an hour can be served, is part of the newest Apple Store on West 14th Street, a fashion-trendy area that once was home to New York City’s wholesale meatpacking industry. The location — the company’s third in Manhattan — includes specially designed areas for workshops and personal training. There is also an area for Pro Labs, where consumers receive free, in-depth training on Apple’s professional applications. The store has 50 percent more space for tech support and education than any other Apple store.
 

	Bloom Bloom is not your mother’s supermarket — unless mom has stopped thinking in linear concepts and prefers intuitive adjacencies while food shopping. It would also help if she were familiar with interactive kiosks as information resources in
the store, hand-held scanning technology and self-bagging on-the-go to save time at checkout.

Bloom was launched in Charlotte, N.C., four years ago by Delhaize USA’s Food Lion division, following two years of research and analyses of customers’ habits and preferences, as well as tracking retail trends. The result is a store that focuses on convenience and service through an easy-to-shop layout that features a broad range of fresh products and home meal replacements.

At Bloom, non-food items are organized on one side of the store; food items on the other. Table Top, which offers quick home meal solutions, is integrated with the service deli and conveniently situated adjacent to the bakery and wine sections. The set-up allows guests to quickly put together everything they need for a quality meal at home.

Offerings are upscale, with more than 25 varieties of artisan and whole grain breads and more than 100 types of cheese. There are broad selections of produce, fresh meat and fresh seafood. In the bakery, there are also 2-ounce gourmet cookies and the “Bloomberry” muffin tops which have become iconic. In the grocery aisles, Bloom stocks more than a thousand specialty products.

The entire store is at shoppers’ fingertips via Bloom’s proprietary Breeze technology. Interactive kiosks contain more than 2,500 recipes and guests can either shop online or use the website to create their shopping list, then print it out at an in-store kiosk.

Bloom stores offer approximately 6,000 more SKUs in 50 percent more space than a typical Food Lion unit. Each Bloom is staffed with approximately 90 associates to assist consumers with what Bloom officials refer to as “high-touch” customer service. There are now more than 60 Bloom stores stretching from the Carolinas to metropolitan Washington, D.C.

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