Up Against the Wal-Marts: How Your Business Can Prosper in the Shadow of the Retail Giants

I have no relationship with anyone connected with this book - it just sounds like I do. We stumbled across this book- and have now bought more than 12 copies for our key staff over three years. IT IS the BEST TRAINING BOOK for RETAIL MANAGERS I HAVE EVER SEEN. Whoops - sorry I get excited - but you get my point.It is NOT about Wal-Mart - it is about being smart in operating your own business - and when you are smart - you have a much better chance of success.Every chapter is solid with good info -- no fluff.Try it

The Wal-Mart behemoth-beast's unchecked onslaught on our landscapes and local economies continues, but now there is more help to at least momentarily stymie the beast. With small victories here and there (the meatcutters' union win, for one, and that decision rendered right there in ARKANSAS, no less), this is one of the books that shows how we can be as good a friend to Wal-Mart as that it is to us, and we can learn from that very intelligent, mutating virus. This book helps a person think about retailing in the shadow of Wal-Mart the way an FBI profiler thinks about a criminal. It's not fighting fire with fire, but learning the weapons of the opponent and then thinking beyond them, to a more advanced level. It's an escalating fight. But it's a fight the little guy will win because Wal-Mart is now TOO big. The little guy is far more agile. Learned about this book at sprawl-busters.com, a very helpful site (Al Norman's book is great as well!).

Don Taylor and Jeanne Smalling Archer explain how to prosper "in the shadow of the retail giants." This is quite literally a "how to" manual, filled with hundreds of specific examples, suggestions, strategies, and cautions which can be of substantial benefit to literally any small-to-midsize retail operation which is currently struggling to survive and then succeed. Of course, the David and Goliath metaphor is invoked. The co-authors stress the importance of courage, ten survival strategies, and "about 500 stones." (David needed only one well-placed stone. Today, he would need more "ammunition" because there are so many different "giants" to conquer. It is worth noting that David did not wrestle Goliath.) Interestingly, the "Big Three" (Wal-Mart, Kmart, and Target) all opened their first stores in 1962. They were not the first discounters but they had learned a great deal from pioneers such as Ann and Hope, Korvettes, Zayres, Arlands, and Gibson's. Once "Davids" themselves, they eventually became "Goliaths", demonstrating (in process) the importance of the ten strategies which are examined in Up Against the Wal-Marts. The authors organize the material according to three overriding themes: change, improve, and succeed. In the 1990s, change has been the only constant. Improvement is not an option; it is an imperative. With regard to success, the co-authors leave their reader with this final statement: "Many small businesses are going to be successful competing with the giants, and we can't think of any reason why yours shouldn't be one of them."

This book is recommended extra credit reading for students in my college course titled Retailing. I began using it in the classroom after reading countless articles about how Wal-Mart's arrival meant the death of the small retailer. Many years ago we preached that IBM was the evil empire that no one dared attack. But eventually companies found ways to strategically do battle with the giant. Now it's Wal-Mart, and there are ways to survive in this giant's shadow too. Personally I'm glad Wal-Mart is available in my neighborhood, yet I still support the smaller retailer when given a good reason. If you are a small retailer, you must read this book!

Taylor and Archer have written a basic primer for small business start-ups as well as for existing small businesses who are looking to compete and even thrive in the wake of the appearance of Wal-Mart or any other giant retail competitor in their local market. There are no silver bullets, no magic secrets here. Instead you will find sound managerial advice plus examples of businesses who stayed the course in their local markets and managed to live in shadow of the giant retail chains. The authors' basic premise is that too often Main Street small retail businesses have grown fat and lazy. They have not had to compete for customers and so they are run on auto-pilot, with indifference to their customers. Then, when faced with a competitor who has better prices, better location and big marketing budgets, they cry foul and fold up. But the fact is you can compete against the super retailers and win. In a nutshell, you do it by changing the way you do business, by being smarter, working harder, and by focusing on the customer. You cut waste, you position your business smartly, and you do a better job marketing and selling to your customers. Finally, you have to recognize you are in a fight for survival of your business and be willing to go at it. All in all, Archer and Taylor provide an excellent battle plan for saving Main Street America from the threat presented by the retail giants. If you are faced with that prospect, then pick up a copy of Up Against the Wal-Marts. It just might help you keep your business.