New OfficeMax Prototype Pumps Down the Volume

OfficeMax last month unveiled a new store prototype designed to improve the shopping experience while more clearly differentiating the chain from its office-supply competition.The design eschews the chain's "industry-standard warehouse format" in favor of "an engaging, colorful environment that highlights small- and home-office solutions," according to a company release.Development of the prototype, which debuted in late October in Macedonia, OH, "focused on the customer and the customer experience," not on costs or ease of implementation, according to Jim Dismukes, OfficeMax's vice president of visual merchandising. "We didn't want to cloud our judgment with those kinds of issues."Among the highlights are lower fixtures and better sightlines, a simplified signage program, a community area providing coffee and Internet access, and a central technology hub that serves as the store's focal point. (For more information on those components, see "OfficeMax Says Goodbye..." at right.)The move away from the warehouse format (also being undertaken by rival Office Depot) required that the chain "take as many warehouse-type elements out of the environment as we could," said Dismukes. To that end, fixtures have been reduced from 96 inches to 84 inches, and in future rollouts will be dropped to 72 inches and as low as 54 inches in some departments. Elsewhere, more than 80% of pegboard merchandising has been eliminated, and wood pallets have been banished in favor of fancier "millwork-trimmed platforms," said Dismukes. "We'll still do merchandising in a somewhat similar [manner], but in a much more finished fashion."Such moves suggest OfficeMax will be stricter about vendor-supplied displays and signs. "We haven't formally changed any policies," Dismukes said. "But one of the goals underlying the new format is to "manage our brand presence more effectively," he said. "We'll be more mindful of what we put in and how much we put in.""We'll still work closely with our vendor partners," continued Dismukes. "In the past, we may have been overzealous about an event. We've got to make sure the OfficeMax brand is primary" and not let it be overshadowed by vendor brands, he said.As for signage, the research conducted to inform the redesign found that "we were putting out a lot of information for customer use" that wasn't necessary, said Dismukes. "We found that the customer doesn't spend a lot of time looking at that information [because] a lot of times, they already have a sense of what they want. We found that the best thing we could do is not work quite so hard to present that information, to calm the messages down and make the signs easier to read."When customers do need additional product guidance, "the manufacturers are doing a good job presenting the information on packaging," he said.The redesign requires a slight reduction in total SKU count, but "nothing significant," said Dismukes. "It's more effective merchandising, more compact and easier to shop."What will be reduced is on-shelf volume, he said. While OfficeMax previously used feature and endcap displays "for holding capacity," the chain will now "make a concerted effort to ensure that these presentations are stories" about the product, the chain, and the customer, he said.The new format will be employed in all future store openings. The company has not yet announced if its 950 existing stores will be redesigned.