Increased Competition Drives Retailers to Greater Lengths

Margaret Ritter rolls her rack of clothes down the hall of the medical center and heads straight for the doctor’s office.

Physicians in white lab coats step out from behind their desks to watch in wonderment as Ritter passes by with her load of women’s career wear.

“Anything for me?” jokes one.

For her part, Ritter acts as if selling clothes among the potted plants and framed diplomas of a doctor’s office is an everyday occurrence.

As manager of the new Episode store in South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, Ritter has the job of making sure customers receive top-notch personal service. So when Dr. Norene Norris-Walsh of the Saddleback Women’s Medical Group wanted to go shopping but was too busy to drive to the mall, Ritter brought the store to her Laguna Hills office.

That’s how far some retailers will go to keep their customers satisfied.

With increased competition for dollars, many merchants are going out of their way to perform little niceties for their customers. These days, they’re the ones making the house calls.

Nordstrom largely led the way by offering the kind of intimate customer relations typical of small boutiques, not large department stores.

“We strive to offer one-on-one attention,” says Linda Luna-Franks, public relations manager for Nordstrom in Orange County.

Can’t find a particular garment in your size? Your sales associate will call the other Nordstrom stores to find one that fits you. When the clothes arrive, the employee can arrange to have them sent to your home. By the transaction’s end, you and the employee are typically on a first-name basis.

Nordstrom employs personal shoppers to cater to customers’ every need, from steering someone through the store to pick out a scarf to revamping a customer’s entire wardrobe.

“Sometimes it takes going into their closets,” Luna-Franks says.

In addition, every Nordstrom in Orange County has its own concierge, who acts just as a hotel concierge. If a customer walks in and needs dinner reservations, a taxi, or a room reservation at a hotel, the concierge can provide them, Luna-Franks says.

Some merchants claim they’ll stop at nothing to keep customers happy.

“We’ll do whatever we have to do,” says Cristy Scheuer, co-owner of Red Haute Couture in Fashion Island, Newport Beach. “If a customer wants to buy a suit that has brass nautical buttons, but she wants to wear it for evening, we’ll go out and get her pearl buttons.”

Should the customer desire, store employees will search until they find a matching blouse or accessory--even if it means buying it from another store, Scheuer says. Red Haute Couture also ships merchandise to out-of-town customers on approval.

“They can try it on and if they don’t like it, they can return it,” Scheuer says.

If a customer calls to say, “I need some new clothes and I don’t have time to shop,” the store will bring an assortment of merchandise to their door.

“Whatever makes their life easier,” Scheuer says.

Serena D’Italia, an upscale shoe store in Fashion Island, will deliver shoes to a customer’s home or office. Store personnel recently visited one woman’s home to “review all of her shoes,” says Bhau Bhatia, president of Serena D’Italia.

“We looked in her closet and made sure her outfits coordinated with her shoes.”

Episode has instigated a host of complimentary services to accommodate customers. Shoppers can call ahead if they’re pressed for time and have a sales associate round up clothes in their size and colors. When they reach the store, the merchandise will be waiting.

Those too busy to shop during regular store hours can arrange to have an associate serve them before or after hours.

And, when they can’t go to the store, the store will come to them.

“I just never have time to go shopping,” Norris-Walsh says. “I do a lot of shopping out of catalogues. When I called Episode, they said they could come up for lunch and I thought that would be perfect.”

Ritter has spent an hour putting together outfits for the doctor, knowing only that her customer wears a Size 8, has blonde hair and blue eyes and needs a professional wardrobe.

“She told me what she was looking for and what colors she liked,” Ritter says. “I just picked what I would wear. I started with the basics in black, navy and gray and went on to novelty.”

She has pulled mostly jackets and skirts in fall’s muted colors and coordinated them with silk blouses, purses, jewelry and scarves.

Soon after her arrival at the medical center, Ritter transforms the doctor’s office into a dressing room. Norris-Walsh quickly changes into each outfit, then dashes down the hall to peer in the mirror and ask her colleagues how they like each new look.

Ritter is in luck. The doctor used to moonlight as a model in medical school, and she’s a true Size 8. Most of the clothes look great and fit perfectly.

Norris-Walsh selects two favorites--the teal and gray suits--but decides to wait before making a purchase.

“I do have to live with my husband,” she says.

In the end, Ritter has spent three hours providing the service, not knowing whether she has made a sale. Still, she insists her time has been well spent.

“It is worthwhile,” Ritter says. “It’s going to bring her back again. I feel she’ll be a repeat customer. Even if she doesn’t purchase anything, the other girls in the office were very interested. Through word of mouth, it will get around.”