This week we’re taking a look at a unique retail company where organization is at the heart of its organization.
Founded in 1978 The Container Store is an American retail company based in Texas that provides storage and organization products. It is listed as one of the Firms of Endearment, companies that outperform the S&P 500 companies by 14 times through a relentless focus on a higher purpose.
What The Container Store Stands For
Purpose
To help our customers accomplish projects, maximize their space, and make the most of their home.
Vision
To be a beloved brand and the first choice for customized organization solutions and services.
Foundation Principles
- 1 Great Person = 3 Good People
- Communication IS Leadership
- Fill the other guy’s basket to the brim. Making money then becomes an easy proposition.
- The Best Selection, Service & Price.
- Intuition does not come to an unprepared mind. You need to train before it happens.
- Man in the Desert Selling
- Air of Excitement!
Strategy
According to the letter from the current CEO, Melissa Reiff, she explains they have four pillars - their strongest differentiators - that support their vision and purpose. Here they are:
Pillar #1:
To Own Custom Closets - We are working to improve the customer experience, with enhanced in-store and online merchandising, digital tool improvements, and product innovation.
Pillar #2:
Deliver on “Accomplishing Projects” across all customer touchpoints.
For our existing customers and new customers, we are updating our marketing efforts to better communicate our brand purpose of Accomplishing Projects and Maximizing Space.
We are updating our visual merchandising to make it easier and clearer to our customers exactly how to accomplish their projects.
Pillar #3:
Leverage digital and data insights to enable omni-channel growth.
We are developing digital content and tools to support our brand position online and in-store, driving more traffic to our website, and optimizing for conversion.
Pillar #4:
To close the gap on value for the money.
We carry an unparalleled assortment of high-quality products and solutions with competitive pricing. We are working on our price and value perception gap with new pricing, signage, promotion and offer strategies.
Further Reading
Start with Uncontainable: How Passion, Commitment, and Conscious Capitlism Built a Business Where Everyone Thrives, a book by their former CEO, to learn more about their values-based approach to business management.
Also do check out Conscious Capitalism, which The Container Store is a strong advocate of. In fact, former CEO of The Container Store was a college roommate of one of the authors of Conscious Capitalism, John Mackey, who also happens to be Whole Foods Market’s founder.
You can also find an interview over at Inc. with the former CEO about how they grew and benefits of conscious capitalism. For fun, you can also take a look his colorful workspace.
The purposeful ads of Super Bowl
In case you missed it, here are some of the purposeful ads aired at Super Bowl this year.