Magazine Article

Magazine Article
Hanaka's career had been derailed the year before,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], when he was arrested for allegedly assaulting a 23-year-old female underling with whom he was involved. Soon after, he resigned from Staples, where he was president and chief operating officer. Hanaka's reputation seemed forever sullied,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], even though the charges were later tossed out by a judge. The Fort Lauderdale-based company,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], which sells just about any hobby-related item, from Rollerblades to rifles, was perilously close to bankruptcy. Rapid-fire growth had boosted the number of stores to 228 in 1998 from just 8 in 1990, but the expansion was neither well planned, nor well funded. Many stores were opened without a senior executive looking at new locations or studying the markets. The company's debt ballooned to $275 million as it borrowed money to pay for new store development. Although the new stores helped push sales to $1.6 billion in 1998,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], the company posted a $64 million loss. That same year a proposed purchase by a potential savior,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Foot Locker parent Venator Group, fell through. "We had a broken company,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]," says Hanaka, 53.
Fixing its stores was one of his top priorities. For years management assumed that most of its customers were men--stores and ads were designed to appeal to them--but Hanaka found that women shoppers actually drive most of its business. "Mom is pivotal,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]," Hanaka says.
The merchandise mix, meanwhile,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], is being tailored to local interests in store markets. As part of Hanaka's study of stores and consumers, he learned that one store in Illinois offered 100 different firearms in an area where only 18 people held gun permits. Now,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], factors such as the number of gun licenses, swimming pools and Little League diamonds in a town determine a store's product mix. But in Arizona, where lacrosse isn't popular, the equipment isn't offered. Among them: Salomon,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Diamondback and K-Swiss. An aggressive direct mail campaign targets women, promoting yoga gear and sneakers. In new stores there's an in-store TV "network," called WTSA,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], that features a blend of sports news,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], celebrity features and ads for products in the stores in two-hour programming loops. Hanaka has also managed to ink deals with manufacturers like Nike for the Nike Driver, the golf club Tiger Woods used in the Masters Tournament, which it promotes on the network. The programming and the ads hit consumers when they are shopping for such items. 2. That's a 6% increase over 2001 and the first uptick in four years. Net income is expected to jump 46% to $22 million in the chain's third straight year of profitability,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], thanks in part to the closing of two dozen moneylosing stores. Debt,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], meanwhile,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], has been reduced to $156 million. Smith, one of the company's largest shareholders.
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