cool retail

Piramyd Retail eyes 'global' JVs to take on rivals


Stunned by a fierce competition, the Piramyd Retail, owned by the
Ashok Piramal group, is revamping its business operations, and has
initiated joint venture talks with foreign retailers to set up new
formats like speciality stores or hypermarkets.

Unlike in the past, its core brands, Piramyd and Trumart will now be
handled as separate business units (SBUs). The company is also
ramping up the number of stores under both outlets and has set up a
team to identify new business opportunities.

"We have realised that there is a lot of catching up to do and are
in a hurry to do that. We have tied up additional space in the last
one year. There is a complete change across functions in the way we
look at business and a lot of dynamism is being brought in. Our team
is in place and the growth focus is clear," said Nandan Piramal,
executive vice-chairman. While Bipin Gurnani will head Piramyd, ex-
Lever hand, Upamanyu Bhattacharya will head Trumart. The expansion
may be funded either through internal accruals or private equity.

Trumart is being positioned as an upscale kirana outlet with a focus
on local catchment areas. "Instead of setting up single stores
across cities, we are planning to progressively exhaust each city by
ramping up Trumart outlets in residential areas and building up
scale in each market. Grocery, home and personal care products are
high-volume-low-margin-business and it makes better business sense
to focus on scales to be competitive," said Mr Bhattacharya.

Currently, there are 7 Piramyd outlets and around 14 Trumart outlets
across the country. "We are also identifying differentiators for the
malls, from a first-mover advantage to the service aspect. We are
looking at personalising loyalty benefits targeting individual
consumer needs based on their previous buying patterns," said Bipin
Gurnani.


Piramyd Retail, which was listed on the bourses in '05 was one of
the first few retail outlets to open shop in the country. A few
years back it was seen as a strong competitor to players like
Shopper's Stop and Pantaloon.

However, lack of strong management focus and an unclear growth
vision saw the brand slipping at a time as competition picked up
steam in the last two years. Analysts say the company may seek
foreign equity partnership at a later point to keep pace with fierce
competition. "It is not something we are looking at immediately. For
now, our focus is to tone up the current core businesses, identify
new growth formats and ensure that support systems are in place to
gear up for the change in approach," Mr Piramal said.

The Piramal Group sold Crossroads to the Pantaloon Group and put all
future retail expansions under Crossroads on hold. Following the
merger of Piramal Holdings with Morarjee Realties, Crossroads had
been left out of the group's retail plans. All future retail forays
were to be done only through Piramyd, the retail arm of the Piramal
Group.
 
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VISHAL MEGA MART LAUNCHES FIRST HYPERMARKET IN UDAIPUR

Vishal Group launched their first hyper market Vishal Mega mart in Udaipur this month. Spread over 25,000 sq.ft, the store offers extensive range of men's, women's and kids' range of fashion clothing. Beside fashion attire, it will also have separate sections and counters for watches, sunglasses, fashion accessories, gifts and novelties, electrical appliances, digital diaries, perfumes, cosmetics and grocery items etc.

Currently, Vishal Mega Mart operates 29 fully integrated and self-owned stores spread over a total shopping area of 5,70,000 sq.ft in 21 cities across India
 
Why did Wal-Mart follows Carrefour, exit South Korea?
[This is an old report]

Wal-Mart Stores has followed French retailer Carrefour, in withdrawing from South Korea on May 30, becoming the latest global brand to fail in an economy characteristed by highly localised tastes and strong loyalty to regional brands. Wal-Mart announced that it had agreed to sell all 16 of its South Korean outlets to Shinsegae , a local retailer, for US$882 million.

Shinsegae , a leading department store and hypermarket chain in South Korea , will operate the Wal-Mart stores under its E- Mart brand. E-Mart is the biggest discount store chain in South Korea , with 79 outlets.
Carrefour sold its 32 South Korean stores to the local fashion retailer E-Land last month for $1.85 billion.
Prior to the Wal-Mart sale, the E-Mart chain of Shinsegae accounted for 30 per cent of the local market, followed by Homeplus , which is owned by the British retailer Tesco , with 17 per cent; and Lotte Mart, owned by Lotte Shopping of South Korea, with 12 per cent.
Wal-Mart and Carrefour, which entered the country in 1996, are believed to have failed due to flawed merchandising mixes – preference for western food items and retailing methods – that allowed chains like E-Mart to race ahead with localised product baskets and more interactive retailing tools to connect with consumers.
Over the years, South Korea has been an impossible terrain for some of the most competitive global brands – Nokia, Nestle and Google – who have found it hard to break the stranglehold regional giants such as Samsung and LG have over the South Korean consumers.
 
RPG & LANDMARK MAKING MORE NEWS
BOOKS AND BEYOND FROM RPG SOON

RPG Retail is planning to foray into books retail, with the launch its own bookstores "Books and Beyond" by October this year. "Books and Beyond" will follow the Music World strategy for its expansion. The first standalone outlet will be launched in Kolkata before moving ahead with pan-India expansion. "The outlets are to occupy spaces between 15,000-18,000 sq.ft and will also include the concept of a Music World and a café," Sumantra Banerjee, president and CEO, RPG Retail Group told reporters.

Meanwhile, RPG is also planning to expand its retail brand Music World to the Middle East market. The format would primarily target areas with a substantial chunk of Indian population. "For the Middle East market, we are looking at the master franchisee option," added Banerjee.

Landmark launches in Mumbai

Books and music retailer `Landmark' launched its first store in western India at Infiniti Mall, Andheri, Mumbai on April 26. Spread across 18,000 sq. ft Landmark is housed on the 2 nd floor of the mall , with lavish interiors. This is the sixth Landmark store in the country. Landmark so far had five stores – three in Chennai, one each in Kolkata and Bangalore .

Speaking on the launch of Landmark's first store in Mumbai, Hemu Ramaiah , CEO Landmark told IMAGES Retail , "With over 1 ,00,000 plus book titles, 70,000-plus movies, a wide range of stationery, toys, accessories, perfumes, diamond jewellery and an inviting, comfortable environment, Landmark is a category killer in all focus categories. Later this year Landmark plans to open stores in Delhi, Baroda, Pune and one more in Mumbai ."

Talking about their distribution agency ` Westland ', she said, "It is a different business model. It is our supply chain to Landmark; we are also distributors to 350 retailers across the country. Our purpose is to augment the market; we don't think competitors eat into our share."
 
PROZONE-OMAXE IN RETAIL JV

As part of Prozone's plan to develop India 's largest shopping mall network, Prozone Enterprises, the wholly owned subsidiary of Provogue , signed a JV with Omaxe Group, one of the largest real estate developers in North India , to develop shopping malls in townships owned by the latter.

In the first phase, a SPV promoted by the joint venture will invest Rs.1 ,500 crore to develop 10 malls across north India and in the second phase invest Rs.5,000 crore to develop 30 properties owned by Omaxe .

Omaxe is building 30 townships and 14 malls, has projects worth Rs.12 ,000 crore under implementation and another Rs.10,000 crore under-pipeline projects. At present, Omaxe is developing 4.1 million sq.ft of commercial development, mainly malls. Prozone is developing over 12 million sq.ft . of modern retail space and plans to develop 50 retail malls across the country focused on tier two cities which will come up in two years.

Prozone is putting together a team of world leaders in retail operation, management and design to develop the best planned, designed, managed and maintained shopping environments and will take the lead in providing retail training for all their tenants. Top executives have been headhunted – Kapel Vahi has moved from Trammell Crow Meghraj to head Tenant Relations and Ritesh Munshi , formerly with Inorbit Malls and Kshitij will head Mall Management.

International design expert Stefan Zachary from the UK has signed an exclusive agreement with Prozone and will take charge of all architecture and interior design aspects to launch a new branded mall concept unique to Prozone for the Indian environment. Prozone has also engaged Paul Merrifield from Dubai , CEO, Hot Brands International, to head a dedicated entertainment division.

"The tie-up with Omaxe and the appointments of Stefan Zachary, Kapel Vahi and Ritesh Munshi means that we are right on track with our strategy to be one of India's leading retail infrastructure development houses," Nikhil Chaturvedi , Managing Director, Provogue (India) Ltd. told press.
 
Middle East retail giant LULU to set up first mega mall in Cochin
[This is an old report]

EMKE group, the biggest retail chain based in the UAE with operations spread across the Middle East is all set to enter the Indian retail sector with mega shopping malls and hypermarkets. The group which has the flagship "LULU" Hypermarkets and department stores chain with 48 branches in all major cities of Gulf, controls 34 per cent market share of the middle east retail sector.

The proposed shopping mall is coming up in Cochin , the commercial capital of Kerala . Apart from this one million sq. ft shopping mall, the project also consists of a 250 room five star hotel and an International standard convention centre which will be set up in the second phase.

Ideally located on the main highway with easy access for the shoppers, the mall will have parking facility for more than 2,500 cars. The anchor store of Lulu Shopping Mall will be Lulu hypermarket -the biggest in India with 180,000 sq. ft. of shopping space. The hypermarket will also have a host of ready to cook as well
as ready to eat items from around the world in the most scientifically and hygienically designed environment.

Other features of the mall include more than 160 outlets of the leading fashion and lifestyle brands from all over the world, jewellery centres, 40,000 sq. ft furniture & home decor store, 30,000 sq. ft. sarees , churidars and ethnic wear souk , 12 screen multiplex, a food court with more than 18 outlets, coffee shops,
restaurants and 40,000 sq. ft. hi-tech indoor amusement centre; all set in a breathtaking architecture and ambience.

Commenting on his maiden retail project in India , Yusuffali MA, managing director of EMKE Group told IMAGES Retail: "We were looking at spreading our operations to India and now is the right time to enter this market with its booming economy and positive government policies. Apart from Cochin we are also starting similar projects in other major cities of South India like Chennai, Bangalore ,
Hyderabad , etc."

"With majority of our present customers in the Gulf also being Indians, we already know a great about the Indian consumer's mind set and have done extensive research to provide them with a world class shopping and entertainment facility coupled with international standard services at affordable prices. We will be starting our full fledged leasing process very soon," added Yusuffali .

Dubai based design firm W J ATKINS is executing the project through their Bangalore office. The group plans to complete the project by the third quarter of 2007.
 
"Made in America", by Sam Walton. The following are the excerpts from the
first few pages:

Hello, friends, I'm Sam Walton, founder and Chairman of Wal-Mart Stores. By now I hope you've shopped in one of our stores or may be bought some stock in our company. If you have, you probably already know how proud I am of what is simply the miracle that all these Wal-Mart associates of mine have accomplished in the thirty years since we opened our first Wal-Mart here in northwest Arkansas, which Wal-Mart and I still call home. As hard as it is to believe sometimes, we've grown from that one little store into what is now the largest
retailing outfit in the world. And we've really had a heck of a time along the way.

I realize we have been through something amazing here at Wal-Mart, something special that we ought to share more of with all the folks who have been so loyal to our stores and to our company. That's one thing we never did much of while we were building Wal-Mart, talk about ourselves or do a whole lot of bragging outside the Wal-Mart family - except when we had to convince some banker or some Wall Street financier that we intended to amount to something someday,
that we were worth taking a chance on. When folks have asked me, "How did Wal-Mart do it?" I've usually been flip about answering them. "Friend, we just got after it and stayed after it, " I'd say.

The Wal-Mart story is unique: Nothing quite like it has been done before. So may be by telling it the way it really happened, we can help some other folks down the line take these same principles and apply them to their dreams and make them come true.

Life has been great to me, probably better than any man has a right to expect. At home I've been blessed with a wife and a family who've stuck together and loved each other and indulged my lifelong obsession with minding the store. At work my business life has been spent in lock step with an incredible group of Wal-Mart associates who have put up with all my aggravation and bullheadedness and pulled together to make what once appeared truly impossible now seem expected and routine.

So first I want to dedicate this book to Helen Robson Walton and the four fine kids she raised - with some help along the way from the old man - our sons Rob, John, and Jim and our daughter Alice. Then I want to dedicate it to all my partners - and I wish I could recognize everyone of you individually, but we've talked over the years and you know how I feel about you - and to all 400, 000 of my associates-partners who've made this wild, wild Wal-Mart ride so much fun and so special. Much of this book is really your story.

I reflected, "In stead of saying such things at the fag end of my business career, why not I say it today; when it matters most." I have decided that when the office opens after the week end, people would see a sign out side: "This company is great because Virendra starts the day for us much before 8 am. This company is great because Sanjay does those small little things that we can use our office
without a hitch through out the year. "
 
WHY MOM & POP STORES WOULD SURVIVE???

Convneince of location, and close proximity to home is the real advantage of this MAP (MOM AND POP) stores. Home delivery is done only in the proximity of 3-5 kms, by the organized retailers. Prices of many items - specially loose staples, food grains and at times even the personal and home care products are less than that at available with organized retailers.
Credit cards might not be accepted, but they do provide 1 month credit even to their smallest clients, provided the necessary rapport has been established.

HOW THEY WOULD SURVIVE???
The advantage of organized retail is that of large variety, attractive display, variety in mode of payments, discounts and schemes. I see a time in future where a group of local retailers would soon realize that they need to come together to survive and grow, against the advent of huge organized retailers. This would be a movement across the nation and not just a local concept. They would form an association, which would hire services of professionals Visual Merchandizers, Architects, IT Professionals, and Trainers. They would not buy as an individual store, but as a group of retailers from that particular area or association. And yes, the advantage of location, and an age old loyal customer base would always be on their side. I foresee, Organized retail would get another genre of retail stores somewhere in the near future.
 
Sam Walton's Rules

In July 1962, Walton - an economics graduate from the University of Missouri, established the first Wal-Mart Discount city in Rogers, a small town in the state of Arkansas, USA. He laid down three principles that later became an integral part of Wal-Mart's culture. The principles were - respect for the individual, striving for
excellence, and service to customers.

On the importance of providing customers value for their money, Walton said,
"We believe in the value of the dollar. We exist to provide value to our customer, which means that in addition to the quality and service, we have to save them money. Every time Wal-Mart spends one dollar foolishly, it comes right off our customers' pockets. Every time we save them a dollar, that puts us one more step ahead of the competition - which is where we always plan to be."

Wal-Mart's employees, also known as associates, were given a place of importance in Walton's scheme. Walton believed that if employees were respected and treated well, they would in treat the customers with respect, and satisfied customers would continue their relationship with Wal-Mart. Associates were encourages to come up with innovative ideas to solve their day-to-day problems, set new performance goals, make their work enjoyable and strive for excellence.

They conducted meetings, known as "grassroots", where they discussed ways and means to improve their performance. Walton emphasized the importance of keeping overall operating expenses low, so that benefits could be reaped by both the company, through enhanced profitability, and by the customers, through reduced prices.

Customers were the focus of all activities at Wal-Mart. To highlight the significance of customers, Walton had laid down rules for employees, which read as follows:

Rule # 1: The customer is always right.

Rule # 2: If the customer happens to be wrong, refer to Rule # 1.
 
Commit to your business.

Believe in it more than any body else. I think I overcame every single one of my personal shortcomings by the sheer passion I brought to my work. I don't know if you're born with this kind of passion, or if you can learn it. But I do know you need it. If you love your work, you'll be out there every day trying to do it the best you possibly can, and pretty soon everybody around will catch the passion from you - like a fever.
 
Rule 2: Share your profits with all your Associates, and treat them as
partners.

In turn, they will treat you as partner, and together you will all perform beyond your wildest expectations. Remain a corporation and retain control if you like, but behave as a servant leader in a partnership. Encourage your Associates to hold a stake in the company. Offer discounted stock, and grant them stock for their retirement. It's the single best thing we ever did.
 
The 3rd Images Retail Awards 2006

Titan Industries is the `Retail Company of the Year' ~
Kishore Biyani the `Retail Face of the Year' ~
Big Bazaar wins the `Retail Destination of the Year' ~
Mumbai, September 10, 2006: It was a night that shined with the leading stars of India's retail industry, apart from some of the leading retail captains from over the globe. The Oscars of the retailing world, the 3rd Annual `Images Retail Awards 2006' (IRA), constituted by the Images Group, celebrated and felicitated
excellence in Indian retailing. The event had all the makings of a premier Bollywood awards function. The glitter, the glamour, the guessing… it all happened on one memorable night.

The winners were the usual suspects, the people and the companies that have made Indian retailing what it is today. But there were a few surprises as well. Like Titan Industries Ltd., which was awarded the `Retail Company of the Year' trophy. It was a testimony of a home-grown brand that still manages to set new benchmarks in quality and style amidst a plethora of international brands. The nominees for this category were Pantaloons, Lifestyle, Trent and Shoppers' Stop.

The man who gave us Big Bazaar and Pantaloons, Mr. Kishore Biyani, won the `Retail Face of the Year' award. It was Mr. Biyani's third podium finish in a row at the IRA. Some big names, like Mr. Andrew Levermore, Mr. B S Nagesh, Bikram Bakshi and R Subramanian, were vying for this award. Chairman of Images Group, Mr. Amitabh Taneja, presented the award to Mr. Biyani.

There was some very tough competition in the `Retail Destination of the Year' category with nominees like Shoppers' Stop, Inorbit Mall, Big Bazaar, High Street Phoenix and The Forum, Bangalore, in the fray. But finally, it was Big Bazaar that pipped the others to the post.

The fact that the IRA is a multifaceted and recognises every aspect of retailing was evident from the variety of categories, in all 16 – `Retail Concept of the Year', `Value Retailer of the Year', `Catering Services Retailer of the Year' and many more. (For the entire list, see below)

Following global benchmarks, the basis for IRA Awards was industry nominations and performance details. The distinguished panel of jury members comprised of leading industry lights, such as Mr. N V Sivakumar, ED, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Mr. Raman Mangalorkar, Principal, AT Kearney, Mr. Alok Shanker, MD, Synovate, Mr. Suhel Seth, MD, Counselage, Mr. Anuj Puri, MD, Trammell Crow Meghraj amd
Ms. Pia Singh, Director, DLF Universal and MD, DLF Retail.

The glam quotient was represented by renowned Bollywood actor, Mr. Anupam Kher and the vivacious Perizad Zorabian who anchored the event. Mr. Kher was in his elements as he cracked witty one-liners one after the other, while Perizad gave him good company. The event saw performances by the multi-talented singer and actress, Vasundhara Das, who belted out sonorous numbers in English, besides Hindi hits, like `It's the time to disco' and the more recent, `Where's the party tonight?'. Reputed stand-up comedians, Raju Srivastava and Sunil Pal were seriously funny, and had the audience rolling in the aisles. The
doyen of Indian classical ballet, Astad Deboo, mesmerised the audiences with his highly imaginative dance performance.

The Images Retail Awards was the culmination of the India Retail Forum 2006 (IRF), Asia's premier retailing award, organised by Images Multimedia that sees an august gathering of retail captains, who deliberate on ideas that will propel Indian retail to greater heights. The IRF was held on September 8th and 9th, 2006 at Renaissance Hotel, Powai. The last day of the IRF saw a unique panel
discussion, The CEO Meet - `How Big is Big', moderated by Mr. B S Nagesh. 45 top CEOs of Indian retail put their heads together to chalk out the future of Indian retailing thinking about challenges in all aspects of retail – technology, logistics, suppliers, human resource… practically everything one can think of.
The two-day event, inaugurated by the Governor of Maharashtra, HE Shri S M Krishna, witnessed leading authorities on retailing present their thoughts and ideas before more than 5,000 delegates. Some of the key speakers were, Mr. Kevin Moss, SVP, General Growth Properties, Mr. Robert Spector, author of the best seller, `The Nordstrom Way', Mr. Vaidyanathan of ICICI's Retail Banking division, acclaimed motivational speaker, Shiv Khera. Mr. Anuj Puri, MD,
Trammell Crow Meghraj, Mr. Suresh Singaravelu, President, Reliance Retail, Mr. Simon Woodroffe of Yo! Sushi, besides Mr. B S Nagesh and Mr. Kishore Biyani.
IRF was also the ground for the 3rd International Council of Shopping Centre Design (ICSC) conference in India. Titled "Empowering Indian Retail with Global Best practices the conference discussed and debated how India can learn the best practices from the West. In a short span of time, the IRF and IRA, organised by the Images Group, have become the most eagerly awaited events of the retailing calendar in Asia.

The list of awards

Fashion & Lifestyle Retailer of the Year – Titan Industries
Nominees
Titan Industries
Madura Garments
ITC – LRBD
Benetton India
Pantaloon Retail India Ltd

Catering Services Retailer of the Year – McDonald's
Nominees
McDonald's
Barista
Café Coffee Day
Pizza Corner
Blue Foods

Food & Grocery Retailer of the Year – Food Bazaar
Nominees
Food Bazaar
Spencer's
Nilgiris
Subhiksha
Trinethra

Beauty & Wellness Retailer of the Year – VLCC
Nominees
VLCC
Lakme Salons
Kaya
Shahnaaz

Leisure Retailer of the Year – Planet M
Nominees
Crossword
Planet M
Archies
Odyssey
Landmark

Entertainment Retailer of the Year – PVR
Nominees
Fun Republic
Shringar Cinemas
PVR
Adlabs
Inox

Consumer Durables Retailer of the Year – Nokia
Nominees
LG
Nokia
Samsung
Viveks
Next

Forecourt Retailing Company of the Year – Hindustan Petroleum
Nominees
Hindustan Petroleum
Bharat Petroleum
Indian Oil
Reliance Industries

Value Retailer of the Year – Big Bazaar
Nominees
The Loot
Big Bazaar
Spencer's Hyper
Vishal Megamart
My Dollarstore

Department Store of the Year – Shoppers' Stop
Nominees
Shoppers' Stop
Westside
Globus
Piramyd
Pantaloons
Lifestyle

Retail Company of the Year – Titan Industries Ltd.
Nominees
Pantaloons
Lifestyle
Trent
Shoppers' Stop
Titan Industries Ltd.

Retail Face of the Year – Mr. Kishore Biyani
Nominees
Mr. Kishore Biyani
Mr. Andrew Levermore
Mr. B S Nagesh
Mr. Bikram Bakshi
Mr. R Subramanian

Retail Concept of the Year – All 5 were winners
Nominees
Twenty Four Seven
Trust Diabetic World
Street Junction
Naturals Ice Cream
Cookie Man

Pharmaceutical Retailer of the Year – Apollo Health & Lifestyle
Nominees
Trust Chemists & Druggists
98.4 Degree
Apollo Clinics
Lifeken
Guardian

Retail Destination of the Year – Big Bazaar
Nominees
Shoppers' Stop
Inorbit Mall
Big Bazaar
High Street Phoenix
The Forum – Bangalore

Shopping Centre of the Year – Inorbit Mall
Nominee
Inorbit Mall
High Street Phoenix
The Forum – Bangalore
Pacific Mall
Nirmal Lifestyles
 
Mall Marketing: By Sanjay Sachdeva

Most mall developers are still hiring new senior management or promoting their existing management to higher ranks to ensure good marketing of the mall. Well, marketing of the mall until now only meant selling or leasing space. But the real challenge, where most of the mall developers are not paying attention to, is the fact that marketing has to start after the mall opens. Celebrations, festivals,
shopping meals, exhibitions, fashion events, seminars, occasion celebrations and many more areas are constant needs of today. To be able to position the mall via proper communication and marketing is what will actually distinguish the mall from the rest and will make the consumer come back hungry for more . This is actually a very important aspect why malls are not generating enough footfalls today.

10 Secrets To Successful Mall Operations

My limited Experience in retail industry indicates that . It is challenging to get customers and it is so very easy to lose them, and after so much energy having been spent to attract the customers it is a pity that malls don't do well because attention is not paid to small details – clearly a situation that needs to be
avoided, Development and Operation, both processes take place throughout life
of project."
The major factors affecting the success graph of malls, the doctrines that work to keep the money flowing, are listed as follows:

1. Planning: Understanding the mission, converting it to objectives that are met through tactical decisions, and working with the given limitations;

2. Branding: The brand conveys the value proposition, which is the differentiating factor, occupying a distinct position in the mind of the client/ consumer;

3. Marketing: Facilitates generating footfalls and increasing the conversion rate;

4. Promotion: Concentrates on increasing footfalls or conversion rates, often a short term response to tenant requirement;

5. Leasing & Lease Renewals: Location being the most important aspect of any Mall, this factor requires a lot of careful understanding;

6. Maintenance: The main stress was laid on the following trivial looking aspects like: - Baby Changing Station - Level Sidewalk - Garbage Removal - Clean Walls etc;

7. Security: "A Sense of Well Being", No Hassles (Little Risk, Great Place to take your family), - Not to scare away those who pay your salary;

8. Hospitality: A frame of mind of the management and a guiding principle behind Maintenance and Security that add value to customers, like - Concierge Service, - Valet parking, - Courtesy Shopping Bags (Means of Good Advertising), - Informative Directory (can generate revenue), etc;

9. Records Keeping: the records straight is effective both in terms of store operation and customer service; and

10. Do it again and again: but better.
 
Walton's Treasure Chest Rule 3: Motivate your partners.

Money and ownership alone aren't enough. Constantly, day-by-day, think of new and more interesting ways to motivate and challenge your partners. Set high goals, encourage competition, and then keep score.

Make bets with outrageous payoffs. If things get stale, cross-pollinate; have managers switch jobs with one another to stay challenged. Keep everybody guessing as to what your next trick is going to be. Don't become too predictable
 
The UK IPOD generation: insecure, pressured, over-taxed, debt-ridden
By Graeme Wilson, Political Correspondent

Young people are facing a bleak financial future in which the state will take almost 50p in every £1 they earn, a report claims today.
Millions of taxpayers under the age of 35 have been hit by a debilitating ombination of rising debts, extra costs and low earnings growth, says the study by Reform, the centre-Right think-tank.
Making ends meet: the average student is expected to leave university owing nearly £15,000 It warns that those under 35 are fast becoming the IPOD generation – Insecure, Pressured, Over-taxed and Debt-ridden. The financial
pressures on them have become so acute, the report claims, that the average 20- to 35-year-old graduate will face an effective tax burden of around 48 per cent.
Once deductions have been made for tax, pension contributions and student loan repayments, they will take home only 52 per cent of their gross incomes.
Andrew Haldenby, the director of Reform, said: "Young people are in danger of drowning under a sea of rising taxes and new compulsory payments. They are in desperate need of a lifebelt, in the form of a long-term commitment to public spending, discipline and tax reductions."
The report, The Class of 2006: a lifebelt for the IPOD generation, says young people are facing financial difficulties on almost every front. Average earnings for people aged 22 to 29 have risen by less than 23 per cent over the last eight years, the smallest increase of any age group.
The young are also the most likely to be in debt, with the average student expected to leave university owing nearly £15,000. Between 2001-05, there was a 62 per cent rise in personal bankruptcies, but for those under the age of 30 there was a 288 per cent rise.
At the same time, sharp house price rises have made it impossible for many to get a foot on the property ladder.
The report warns that the pressures on young people were bad news for the country as a whole. "This will impose a considerable hindrance on enterprise and wealth creation for young people and the whole economy," it says.
It stresses that young people are in a "unique position" because few have benefited from Labour's flagship tax credits scheme.
Parents, pensioners and those out of work have all seen their tax bills reduced as a result of the policy, but young workers without children are largely excluded from the scheme.
The report estimates that the net income of a two-income couple with no children has decreased by 3.4 per cent since 1997. By contrast, the income of a non-working couple with children has grown by 15 per cent.
In addition, young people do not enjoy the housing or equity wealth that many older workers have accumulated. "They have no wealth but are taxed as if they did," the report warns.
While many young people have relatively low incomes, the under- 30s spend more on housing and utilities than any other age group. They also spend substantial amounts on transport, intensifying pressure on their budgets.
The report says their situation has been made worse by the Government's proposals to reform the pension system, including a more generous basic state pension and later pension age.
"Older people will gain enormously from a rising state pension linked to earnings. But they will face little of the costs of financing it. Nor will they have to work longer – people over 47 today will still be able to retire at 65," the report says.
Young people will have to fund the increase in the basic state pension through their taxes, as well as having to work until they are 68.
The report was released as figures revealed that last month's rise in interest rates had put off many would-be first-time buyers.
Propertyfinder, the internet property site, said first-time buyers now made up 30 per cent of householders, against a high of 38 per cent in February.
The Alliance & Leicester said that first-time buyers were twice as likely as other buyers to have put their buying plans on hold following the rise.
"The decision of a first-time buyer to take the plunge is much more sensitive to the level of interest rates than the decision of a home owner to move up the ladder," said Chris Rhodes, the managing director of retail banking at Alliance & Leicester.According to Rightmove, the estate agents, the average asking price
for a home is now £214,566, a 9.8 per cent rise in a year.
 
Rule 4: Communicate everything you possibly can to your partners.

The more they know, the more they'll understand. The more they understand, the more they'll care. Once they care, there's no stopping them. If you don't trust your Associates to know what's going on, they'll know you don't really consider them partners.

Information is power, and the gain you get from empowering your Associates more than offsets the risk of informing your competitors.
 
Rules [5] from Walton's Treasure Chest Appreciate everything your Associates do for the business.

A paycheck and stock option will buy you one kind of loyalty. But all of us like to be told how much somebody appreciates what we do for them. We like to hear it often, and especially when we have done something we're really proud of. Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise. They're absolutely free - and worth a fortune.
 
Rules [6] from Walton's Treasure Chest : Celebrate your success.

Find some humour in your failures. Don't take yourself so seriously. Loosen up, and everybody around you will loosen up. Have fun. Show enthusiasm - always. When all else fails, put on a costume and sing a silly song. Then make everybody else sing with you. Don't do hula on Wall Street. Think up your own stunt. All of this is more important, and more fun, than you think, and it really fools the competition. "Why should we take those cornballs at Wal-Mart seriously?"
 
Rules [7] from Walton's Treasure Chest : Listen to everyone in your company.

And figure out ways to get them talking. The folks on the front lines - the ones who actually talks to the customer - are the only ones who really know what's going on out there. You'd better find out what they know. This really is what total quality is all about. To push responsibility down in your organization down in your organization, and to force good ideas to bubble up with in it, you must listen to what your Associates are trying to tell you.
 
Rule 8: Exceed your customers' expectations.

If you do, they'll come back over and over. Give them what they want - and a little more. Let them know you appreciate them. Make good on all your mistakes, and don't make excuses - apologize. Stand behind every thing you do. The two most important words I ever wrote were on that first Wal-Mart sign, "Satisfaction Guaranteed." They're still up there, and they have made all the difference.
 
Rule 9: swim upstream.

Go the other way. Ignore the conventional wisdom. If everybody else is doing it one way, there's a good chance you can find your niche by going in exactly opposite direction. But be prepared for a lot of folks to wave you down and tell you you're headed the wrong way. I guess in all my years, what I heard more often than anything was: a town of less than 50000 population can not support a discount store for a very long.
 
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