Spencer Gifts
Specialty Shops with Universal Appeal
"D-Fuzz-It" lint remover, "Add-A-Matic" hand held counter for tallying grocery purchases... Sound like a flashback to the 50's, or a really bad infommercial? Perhaps, but it’s the stuff that grew into America’s premier retail specialty gift chain Spencer Gifts.
In Easton, Pennsylvania, in 1947, with less than $500 and unlimited determination to open a successful mail order business, Max Adler founded Spencer Gifts. In 1948 the business moved to Atlantic City, New Jersey and the company began to steadily grow in sales and profits. The company grew quickly, and in 1958 the home of Spencer Gifts was moved to a newly constructed 64,000-square-foot building in Atlantic City. Annual sales volume reached $3 million during that year. The company was becoming an industry leader in the mail order business.
In 1963, a retail store was opened in Cherry Hill Mall in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. MCA Inc. acquired Spencer Gifts in 1968. As an MCA Company, Spencer Gifts Inc. became a division of one of the world’s largest entertainment families, joining Universal Studios Hollywood and Florida, Universal Pictures, Universal Television and Universal Records. Since becoming part of MCA, Spencer’s sales have grown from $20 million to more than $300 million annually. In 1995, MCA was acquired by The Seagram Company Ltd. and operates under the name Universal Studios. All stores are company owned and operated from Spencer Gifts Corporate Headquarters. During the 1980's the mail order business began to decline and was finally closed in 1990. Today, Spencer Gifts, Inc. operates more than 600 retail stores under the names of Spencer Gifts, DAPY, GLOW!, and Spencer Gifts America’s Halloween Headquarters.
Deja Vu All Over Again
From the gadgets and gizmos found in the original mail order stock, the history of products offered by Spencer Gifts is one that will touch and bring back memories to most if not all Baby Boomers. In the 60's and 70's, the product line included drip candles, posters, peace signs, incense, bottles, sand art, costume jewelry, beaded curtains, black lights, lava lites, and fiber optic lamps.
Says one E.S.P. researcher: "Some of this is like a really bad flashback my mother telling me I had strange taste in things, and now seeing my 14-year-old as I was in the 60's and 70's. Yes, Mom, you were right. It does look strange."
The product line during the 70's (platforms and disco again the 14-year-old thinks they started in the 90's) and 80's grew to include Harley- Davidson merchandise, banks, novelty and gag items and puzzles. The 80' and 90's brought fine jewelry, very unusual neon phones and clocks, Budweiser merchandise, Over-the Hill products, Coke and Star Trek merchandise. Licensed merchandise is a very important addition to Spencer Gifts, which of course supports Universal Studios’ programs.
Innovative Technology in Retail
Spencer Gifts’ key to success and profit is innovation and determining product assortment. SIRIS (Spencer Integrated Retail Information System) gives the company the ability to tailor merchandise assortments, expand on top-selling products, and condense or eliminate those not selling. Spencer Gifts has a 300,000-square-foot distribution center in Charlotte, North Carolina that serves the entire chain. This center is also responsible for the Quality Control Program, unique in the industry, which conducts more than 100 in-house tests on electronics, plush, jewelry, and giftware items.
Spencer Gifts has proven itself an innovative retailer and producer of traffic for its co-tenants. Company plans call for adding 125 new units over the next three years. Criteria include malls with GLA of over 750,000 square feet, producing sales in excess of $250 per square foot, three traditional full-line department stores, and no less than a 10-year lease term. The stores occupy 1,650 to 1,800 square feet.
To satisfy the need to explore new technologies, formats, and retailing trends, Spencer Gifts has developed an interactive kiosk that will allow customers to learn more about merchandise, new items, gift ideas, and the like. Customers can also order items by credit card and have them delivered to their home, almost like the old mail order business.
The Ultimate Specialty Halloween
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Spencer Gifts is a retail store that is in itself a fun, sometimes hilarious oasis from mall shock, a place to be nostalgic, have a few laughs, find a trendy gift that will delight or a gag gift that is sure to bring a smile. Walking into these store moves you in a realm of sight, sounds, and smells that leave you awe-struck and feeling happy. Spencer’s also is an innovator in new concepts. For example, for years, Spencer’s was known as a "headquarters" for trick-or-treaters of all ages. Based on this success, 66 temporary Halloween stores were opened (in-line and kiosks) in major malls in 1995. Locations grew to 100 temp sites during 1996 and 1997. |
DAPY In 1993, the
company acquired eight DAPY stores. DAPY’S concept is simple: Cutting edge,
high-quality gifts located in upscale malls and top street locations. Over the next three years, Spencer Gifts, Inc. plans to open 25 DAPY stores in selected areas. Requirements are 1,500 to 1,800 square feet with frontage of no less than 25 feet. |
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GLOW!
In mid-summer 1996, the fantasy and dazzle of entertainment at Universal Studios’ City Walk in Universal City, California grew brighter with the unveiling of GLOW!, the latest retail invention of Spencer Gifts, Inc. GLOW!, a premier entertainment shopping experience for both residents and tourists, features a number of state-of the-art interactive elements with a vast selection of glow-in-the-dark products for adults and children alike. These unique products are exhibited in the 1,300-square-foot store, the way they were intended to be enjoyed, in the dark. GLOW! combines a dramatic enviroment designed to excite the senses with a diverse assortment of luminous merchandise. A darkened enviroment will allow the products to glow, reflect, and illuminate with all the romance and wonder they were designed to inspire.
One-of-a-kind locations are being identified as possible additions to the success that GLOW! enjoys at City Walk. Currently five locations are operating in Universal City, California; The Block at Orange, California (E.S.P. October 1998); the Great Lakes Mall in Auburn Mills, Michigan (E.S.P. October 1998); The Pointe in Orlando, Florida; and West Edmonton Mall, Canada. Current plans call for at least eight sites nationwide. Requirements are similar to those for Spencer Gifts, and typical space occupied is 1,300 to 1,400 square feet.
For more information and site submittals (mail only) contact Ken Garagiola, Spencer Gifts Inc, 6826 Black Horse Pike, Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, 08234, 609-645-5303, fax 609-645-5448.