The last time large out-of-state retailers invaded the Salt Lake market a competitive blood bath ensued, leaving Auerbach's, Castleton's and other old-line retailers as unsuspecting casualties.
Next month, a successful, aggressive national department store chain, Dillard's, will make its debut in Salt Lake City. But retailers and analysts don't expect more devastation to follow this time."There will be an adjustment, but not the adjustment of 10 years ago," said Al Belt, retail property specialist with Wallace and Associates.
Locally based retailers who survived the 1980s shakeout now know what to expect from national competitors. And national chains with outlets in Utah also have had exposure to Dillard's.
But Dillard's said its entrance won't go unnoticed.
"We will have the largest selections that Salt Lake has ever seen," boasted southwest division president Bernard Goldstein, in a phone interview from Phoenix. "We have enormous inventories. We think Salt Lake shoppers will be rather awed by the selection."
Remodeling of a 197,000-square-foot, four-level store at Fashion Place Mall in Murray is under way. It will employ 250 "associates," as the company prefers to call its workers.
Ironically, it is the same space occupied by Weinstock's, which stormed into Utah in 1980 but limped away last year, crippled by the bankruptcy of its owners. But no one agrees Weinstock's rise and fall is an indicator of Dillard's future.
"There is a big enough consumer base here to handle two department stores," said ZCMI president Richard Madsen. "I am pleased a department store is coming in to fill the void. With so many retail formats now, we would just as soon have another in the industry."
Madsen said Dillard's is not a stranger to ZCMI. The two department stores belong to the same international buying group in New York, and ZCMI has two outlet stores in Phoenix. "We are familiar with their operation and principles," Madsen said. "We know them well."
Dillard's has been touted in the national press as a model in retailing, a survivor during the national shakeout, which began in the late 1980s and is still continuing.
The stories describe a retailer based in Little Rock, Ark., that is fast becoming a powerhouse in the industry by focusing on its traditional mission of service and quality, while managing stringent cost controls on a huge inventory through a sophisticated computer system.
From opening day - sometime before Thanksgiving - at the Utah store, company executives tap into the system linked to every cash register to see what is selling. Goldstein said the company will stock its first Utah store with men's, women's and children's clothes, accessories, housewares, a wedding registry - "everything but furniture and appliances,"
Vendors can also log on to see when and where they should resupply, ensuring a steady flow of inventory.
"The computer system is a major asset. It's the reason why we are successful," Goldstein said.
Another key component to Dillard's success is shrewd acquisitions, patiently waiting for the right moment to pounce on a choice piece of real estate. Goldstein said Dillard's had had designs on Utah for several years but didn't take action until the opening at Fashion Place - one of the busiest shopping centers in the valley - came up.
Local manager Mark Cosby is overseeing the complete gutting and remodeling of the four-level Fashion Place store, which is costing Dillard's "multiple tens of millions of dollars," Goldstein said.
In the past 10 years, Dillard's has opened 61 new stores and has remodeled or expanded 40 others. This year, the company is expected to open 10 new stores - including the Fashion Place store in Murray - and expand or remodel two more. At the end of the year, Dillard's will be operating 228 stores in 20 states.
Sales and profits have accompanied the expansion, setting new records each year. From 1983 through 1992, sales have soared 456 percent and profits have grown 596 percent.
Although company policy prohibits him from disclosing other possible locations in Utah, Goldstein said the Fashion Place store will be the "first of many."
"We see the whole Utah area as a natural expansion for us," he said. "We don't go into cities then leave. We have track record of entering markets and building."