Masonry Magazine October 2001 Page. 15
Costco Wholesale Warehouse,
Issaquah, WA
Costco Wholesale Warehouse,
San Francisco, CA
The customer's issues are varied. For example, why wouldn't hotels and motels that construct their buildings out of non-combustible masonry be willing to promote the improved safety and security of staying in their lodgings? Their marketing firms quickly advised that they do not mention anything that would allude to fire or any other disaster or security issue. The hotel chain with the number one security system does not promote it, as it does not want to draw attention to the need for security.
With each type of account and each individual account, there are different issues that must be addressed. Step one to marketing to these key accounts is to understand their needs by developing a relationship through face-to-face contact. The needs are ever changing. The accounts are always looking to new systems and approaches to better serve their customers and to generate savings that can be passed along to their customers.
Changes can be significant as key accounts look to the future. Masonry has historically been an ideal candidate for the "big box" retail stores. Demographic projections indicate that in the next five years the population will support about three thousand "big box" home centers. About half of these stores already exist. The two largest home center store chains are constructing about two stores per week. The "big box" home centers are expected to saturate their market in five to six years. They will then need to look at a different approach to growth. What will it be? Will our industry be prepared to provide the necessary solutions for the next generation home center stores?
Other retail accounts are downsizing stores. Inventories are less at the smaller stores and the accounts are increasing the size and number of rural distribution centers. While a conventional store might have inventoried one hundred items, a new store might now only inventory ten items, knowing that additional items can be replaced in their inventory within a twenty-four hour period. The automation in the distribution industry has resulted in significant differences and economies in the way large retailers can provide products to their customers.
The buildings of retail clients such as Costco Wholesale have evolved from simple concrete tilt-up wall warehouse structures in industrial neighborhoods to higher profile facilities in retail and upper-income neighborhoods. This has placed new demands on the aesthetic mandate for the building envelope.
The distribution systems may have a significant impact on what materials are used to construct buildings. Automated moveable shelving and racks require higher clearance to comply with fire suppression system requirements. Walls that were economically and affordably constructed with masonry at twenty-four to twenty-eight foot wall heights now may need to be thirty-two feet tall or more. Does the masonry industry have the solutions for the new versions of buildings? Some rack systems have become very complex. One retail chain has prototype distribution centers using racks that are nearly seventy feet tall. Will masonry be the material of choice for enclosure of seventy-foot tall, single-story structures?
Who's out there discovering the needs of our customers? The masonry industry continues to be postured to react to changes rather than being involved with the issues influencing changes and becoming proactive. Often this is because we do not have a dialogue with our ultimate consumer, the building owners and operators. Our products are marketed to the customers' agents the architects and engineers.