After the retail rush.

• Author: Hill, Robin Mackey
• Position: Alaska's retail industry - Industry Overview

"Big box" retailers have stampeded into Alaska, bringing bargains to shoppers and forcing local vendors to find their special market niche.

When small-business owner June Jean opened her specialty toy store in south Anchorage three years ago, she knew who her competition would be. Several "big box" national retailers, including Kmart, Wal-Mart and Toys "R" Us, had indicated a desire to enter the game, setting off a fast-break retail scrimmage the likes of which had never been played in Anchorage. Additional warehouse clubs and a new, expanded Fred Meyer also were joining the lineup.

Jean was unfazed.

"I was born at night, but I wasn't born last night," says the owner of the Hippety Hop Toy Shoppe.

With 11 years of retail toy training behind her, Jean decided her shop would carry higher-priced specialty brands, including Brio and Playmobile, arts and craft supplies and educational items. Customer service would be a priority.

"You can't roll over and play dead," says Jean of the added competition. "You have to do what you do best. The only way to make it in the '90s is to specialize."

GUERRILLA MARKETING

Advertising executives, business consultants and retail watchers agree. And so to remain competitive, small businesses from Juneau to Fairbanks -- and perhaps more importantly, mid-size retailers such as Carr Gottstein Foods Co., Longs Drugs and Pay Less Drug Stores -- are having to review their game plan, fine-tune their focus and capitalize on the other guys' weaknesses.

"It's survival of the fittest," says Jack Frost, owner of an Anchorage advertising firm that counts several small and specialty businesses among its clients. "In retail, if you're going to survive against the discounters, you must market aggressively." Frost calls the approach "guerrilla marketing" and says it's something his small retail clients have done all along.

For years, Carr Gottstein has been the state's largest retailer, a position that allowed for a certain amount of comfort. In the last year, however, the company has paid more attention to strategy and has faced the added competition by expanding existing stores, by moving into communities where it had not previously ventured, and by entering the grocery wholesale business in Russia. Carrs is also looking at expanding into the Lower 48.

After its stock prices continued to perform poorly on Wall Street, Carrs' executive John Cairns told investors earlier this year he's confident the company will make money and...