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Category killer

Retailer with a large product range From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Category killer
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A category killer is a retailer, often a big-box store, that specializes in and carries a large product assortment of a given category.[1]:109–111 Through their wide merchandise selections, low pricing, deep supply, large buying power, and market penetration, they have a comparative advantage over other, smaller retailers, and can greatly reduce the sales of rival retailers within that category, in the area[2] and beyond it.[1]

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Product shelves in an outlet of Bed Bath & Beyond

In essence, they are a price- or discount-based specialist mass-retailer.[1]:13[2] Chains such as OfficeMax, Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, and Hobby Lobby have been considered category killers.[3]

Once typically found in power centers, increasingly they are found in or adjacent to (as an outbuilding of) repurposed traditional malls.

Large category killer stores are mostly in mid- and large-sized cities, because a large population is required to be feasible.[1]:33

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Impact

Local merchants in cities with category killers "may suffer a substantial reduction in sales," and stores in a wider radius can be affected by the draw.[1]:109–111 Between 1983 and 1993, Iowans spent 31% less in hardware stores, translating to a loss of 37% in the same time to those stores as a result of category killer stores.[1]:67–68,89

United States retailers

Sporting goods stores that are category killers range in footprint from 10,000 to 40,000 square feet (930 to 3,720 m2).[1]:37Home Depot carries 30,000 items in 100,000-square-foot (9,300 m2) stores.[4]:148

More information Retailer, Defunct ...
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References

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