THURSDAY May 15, 2003
Custom Merchandise No Longer Just for the Wealthy

Julie Thomas co-owner of Bath Junkie in the Brentwood Galleria in Missouri, mixes a tropical scented bath salt scrub. Bath Junkie allows patrons to create custom lotions, soaps and other bath products. (Dawn Majors/Knight Ridder News Service)

By Thomas Lee
Knight Ridder News Service

Angie French likes to think she runs a deli. Only she doesn't sell sandwiches.

Instead of meats, cheeses and breads, French's menu consists of masculine musk, ocean rain and lily of the valley -- not to mention any color of the rainbow.

French, along with partner Julie Thomas, owns and operates Bath Junkie, a franchise specialty shop at the St. Louis Galleria in Richmond Heights, Mo.

There, customers can create their own lotions, soaps and body washes by mixing and matching up to 160 different fragrances. They also can choose from colors and tones that best match their bathrooms.

The image of the deli is appropriate, though, French said. By offering shoppers what they want -- the way they want it -- retailers can curry favor with customers who are weary of what critics call a dull and homogenous retail industry.

"My husband and I have been to several malls, and everything was the same," French said. "In order for [retailers] to succeed, you have to get to know your customers and make them feel like they are going in for their own personal products."

Retailers increasingly are relying on customized products to win consumer loyalty and boost sales. From cosmetics and cars to apparel and shoes, consumers can buy merchandise that fits their specific needs and tastes.

Customization -- which requires painstaking, detailed labor -- used to be the privilege of the rich. But thanks to the Internet, shoppers can instantly purchase custom-made goods online, creating the necessary volume retailers need to justify the costs and make such products affordable to all consumers.

Several factors are driving this trend, experts say. With so many stores selling the same merchandise, consumers are finding it more difficult to stand out from the crowd, said Wendy Liebemann, president and founder of WSL Strategic Retail, a consulting firm in New York.

"It's the democratization of shopping," she said. "Many people can buy the same things. Consumers are increasingly looking for something different. We want to be seen as individuals. I want something that will make me feel special and unique."

Even buying expensive luxury items does not guarantee you will be noticed, because there are so many cheap knockoffs on the market, Liebemann said.

For retailers, customization can offer "pretty attractive economics," said Michael Collins, vice president of retail for Bain & Co., a consulting firm in Boston. Since retailers make custom goods from scratch, there is never any excess inventory to mark down or hold, which can significantly erode profit margins, he said.

Customization also "creates a strong bond between you and the customer," Collins said. Consumers have much more invested, financially and emotionally, in products they help create and design, he said.

Take Build-a-Bear Workshop LLC in Overland, Mo. The retail outlet with stores at The Gateway in Salt Lake City and Fashion Place Mall in Murray allows parents and children to create and design personalized teddy bears and other stuffed toys.

Customization is "empowering," said Maxine Clark, Build-a-Bear's founder and chief executive. "It takes on a life of its own. [The product] means more to the person who receives or gives it."

Several Web sites offer interactive tools that allow customers to instantly see and change what they create before buying it.

In 2000, Nike Inc., based in Beaverton, Ore., launched Nike iD (http://nikeid.nike.com), a Web site that allows people to design their own athletic shoes. Customers can pick from a dizzying 9 million options, something that would not be possible without the Internet, said Jay Wilkins, general manager of Nike iD.

"A retailer just can't carry 9 million options," he said.

Lands' End Inc., a specialty clothing company in Dodgeville, Wis., allows customers to create "virtual models" that resemble them at http://www.landsend .com. Customers can see how various pieces of clothing look on the model, then place customized orders. Options include colors, materials and different styles of sleeves and pockets.

The virtual model helps ease one of the biggest barriers to online apparel shopping: The inability to touch and feel the product, said Elizabeth Ragone, Lands' End's Internet merchandise manager.