DISCUSSION
Home Depot builds a store for Hollywood
Written by RetailWire Staff
Source: 11alive.com
Remodeling a basement is no simple construction project for DIY'ers, but building an alien landscape or a plausible spaceship control center is a project with its own, quite different, construction needs. That's a fact that Home Depot has recognized with its Fayetteville, GA location.
11Alive reports that, in light of a boom in TV and film industry projects in the area, Home Depot has opened a one-off concept store that caters to the needs of Hollywood. The Home Depot Studio Store, which opened last year, is within the gates of Pinewood Studios, where "Ant Man" and the most recent "Captain America" movie were filmed. Employees at the Home Depot, referred to as "the cast," have to sign non-disclosure agreements about the details of productions.
According to 11Alive, the store in Fayetteville is the only Home Depot that caters to a single industry.
Plenty of retailers have been introducing new concepts to appeal to changing customer needs and local requirements. Target, for instance, has rolled out small-format locations in recent years in big cities to appeal to the needs of urban shoppers.
In August 2015, it was reported that Starbucks was launching a dramatically-designed location in Las Vegas entirely unlike any of the chain's other 21,000 locations.
Both alternate store concepts and one-offs find companies balancing the desire to meet the needs of customers against the desire to maintain a consistent brand identity.
One wonders if competing chains are kicking themselves for not getting in the local opportunity in Fayetteville. Lowe's, for instance, has become well known for its futuristic innovations, like robot shopper assistants, virtual reality remodeling help and in-store touch screens.
"There are 40 some odd productions filming currently in and around Atlanta," said Dana Farmer, pro account representative at Home Depot, in an interview with 11Alive. "Most of them are great Home Depot customers."