Competition Eats Into Tidyman’s Sales

A beaten but not whipped Tidyman’s Warehouse Foods held its annual meeting Monday, outlining an aggressive campaign to regain control of business lost to intense competition.

For the past three years, Tidyman’s sales have declined, said John Maxwell, chief executive officer of the Greenacres-based company.

Sales peaked in 1993 at $217 million, but slid to $197 million in 1995.

That’s mostly due to the fierce competition that has grown up around Tidyman’s almost everywhere the company operates.

For example, at Tidyman’s Coeur d’Alene store, Maxwell said, sales have declined 17 to 20 percent since a new Safeway store opened across the street.

Other competition includes:

In the Spokane Valley, a Safeway opened just east of Tidyman’s, and an Albertson’s is planned at 27th and Pines. Wal-Mart and Costco plan to open stores at Sullivan and Mission in the spring of 1997, said Jerry Streeter, Tidyman’s vice president of property and facilities.

In Coeur d’Alene, Streeter said, a 105,000-square-foot Fred Meyer store is expected to open less than a mile from Tidyman’s next spring. A new Albertson’s will open three miles north around the same time.

In Post Falls, Super 1 Foods opened a store near Tidyman’s and Albertson’s plans to open a market in the summer of 1997.

The combined square footage of all the new stores will equal Tidyman’s total space, Streeter said.

“That’s equal to a Tidyman’s size company opening up within the next 12 months,” he said. “Conclusion: You gotta love a little competition.”

One problem, said Maxwell, is that Tidyman’s was experimenting with new formats, such as its food court, while competition was entering the market.

“We became less competitive in a market that was becoming more competitive,” said Maxwell, who became CEO in September after the April resignation of Jack Heuston.

The company’s troubles peaked in April 1996 when an over-extended Tidyman’s laid off 83 employees. Heuston resigned shortly before, and retired Seafirst Bank executive Ric Odegard took over during the interim.

But the company has no plans to play dead.

Tidyman’s is embarking on an aggressive advertising and marketing campaign and plans to open new stores.

The company opened a store at Argonne and Interstate 90 this year and plans to open another next May at Latah Creek Plaza, south of Spokane on U.S. Highway 195. The company is looking at two other sites in Spokane but would not reveal the locations.

Tidyman’s also increased its newspaper advertising and plans to buy full-color ads.

A new Thanksgiving promotion has sales leaping over last year. People who spend $175 within five weeks receive a free turkey. About 60,000 households are on target to win a turkey, said Mike Davis, chief operating officer.

A new partnership with Farmers and Merchants Bank is proving lucrative as well, Streeter said. The Latah Creek store will be the first to house a Farmers and Merchants Bank branch. Two other Tidyman’s stores, at Argonne and at Lyons, also are targeted for Farmers and Merchants Bank branches.

Several Tidyman’s stores house Global Federal Credit Union branches.

, DataTimes