J&R Computer World isn't exactly the typical independent consumer electronics store. After all, ranking as the nation's largest stand-alone computer retailer doesn't jibe with the disdain many independents feel for carrying computers, which yield only the thinnest of margins. No sector more than independents has to keep an eye on the slightest ripples in the market, many say. This year J&R seems to be capitalizing on just about every market trend passing its lower Manhattan doorways. Reflecting the industry's quick-moving dynamics in 1997, multiple changes are in store for J&R as the retailer passes its 25th year in business. J&R is actually several adjacent outlets segmented by computer, music and electronics categories. It is planning yet another expansion of its property on the block it occupies across from New York's City Hall. The new space will house J&R's first home theater vignettes, an increasingly popular format among small and independent dealers. In the meantime, J&R will provide more space for its interns and regular employees to pitch computers. Readying an upgrade to its computer store in time for the crucial Q4 selling season, J&R will add 50,000 square feet to merchandise the coming year's product trends accordingly. Its home theater vignettes will showcase DVD offerings. J&R's segmented format hasn't made the challenge of merchandising convergent computer/TV products difficult to overcome. The retailer has simply placed WebTV, for instance, in both its computer outlet and audio/video store. It is a lesson adapted from its music merchandising. Tailoring the Web site for J&R's customers isn't easy, Friedman acknowledged. "You want to have all the bells and whistles so it attracts your computer customers. And you want to be really showy for the music customer, but then you realize most people only have 28.8 or 14.4 modems and they can't handle all that terrific stuff you could put out there." The electronic commerce effort is tethered directly to J&R's mail order business. "It's just attracting the customer in a different way, but what's going to make a successful Internet retailer is really his ability to be a good fulfillment house and we've been in the mail-order business for 22 years."
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