Yesterday, I talked about Home Depot going after more female shoppers. Today, Cabela’s opened a new store in East Hartford, CT. Here are a couple of comments from the Courant:
"First time at Cabela’s and first time I ever stood in line to get into a store," said 66-year-old Joe Michaud of Newington. He arrived at the store around 7:30 a.m., as did many others.
Arnold Smith chuckled as he talked about his love for the store.
Smith, of Windsor, said he arrived around 6:45 a.m. to see about 150 people on line before him. He was waiting for the store to open ever since the company announced its plans to come to East Hartford.
"It’s more or less, like a woman goes to shop. This is where a dude goes to shop," the 60-year-old said. "Everything that you say you’re not going to get, you get. It’s good. It offers a lot."
What Michaud and Smith don’t mention, is that Cabela’s also has A LOT of good finds for their female shoppers, from footwear to casual clothing. They do a terrible job of marketing to women. They seem to assume that it’s just important to have some merchandise "for the ladies" who are accompanying their husbands.
Meanwhile, their husbands are squealing like schoolgirls and waiting in line for these stores to open!
I suppose you can’t be everything to everyone – nor should you, if you want to avoid dissolving your brand.
Sometimes men just want to shop somewhere without the women around – sort of like a “guys hangout”. This model worked well for the barbershops.
Anytime a place is meant to be a MANLY place, you’ll actually find men preferring women to be absent.
I think you are absolutely right. Retailers should definitely choose who to lose.
So, why carry women’s clothing or footwear in the first place?