Competition in the retail market has one goal: seduce, attract or bribe the consumer's loyalty and money. Until the mid 20th century, when shopping malls changed the retail landscape, small specialty shops located on main street in the centre of the village, town or city held a virtual monopoly on products and services. But they couldn't meet the challenge of the malls. Then the big-box stores smashed the status quo by taking control of the malls through their "anchor tenant" contracts.
There's nothing right or wrong about these changes - it's simply evolution. Sure there were winners and losers but the real victor was the consumer - better products, better prices, better service.
So, have we reached utopia? Are we at the optimum level yet, do we finally have stability? No. Competition demands change. Best Buy, the electronics giant, began as a big-box store that gobbled up its smaller rivals and moved quickly into international markets. This week, Best Buy Canada laid off 950 employees and closed 15 underperforming big-box locations. Why? Slipping sales in-store and consumer migration to online buying at niche discount sites forced serious revisions to their business plan. First, Best Buy grew their own online sales by 50% - customers bought or reserved products online and then picked them up at the store. Second, they began to replace the big-box model with smaller outlets. Third, electronics and computer companies, including Apple, Windows and Samsung, opened "boutiques" within Best Buy stores. Fourth, staff reductions allowed the company to consolidate sales departments and reduce multi-layers of management.
And now on to the next step in this evolution. Any guesses on what it will look like? I don't - that's the beauty of free-market competition. But what we do know is that creative thinking, innovation, hard work and energy will always target consumer satisfaction. If the consumer is happy, any company, big or small, can achieve success.
If this model could be transferred to government and union monopolies, what a different world it would be.
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