Store renovations often cost as much as $1 million for each store, he noted, and the savings this year only average about $275,000 a store.
Toys R Us Inc.c. said yesterday that it would post a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss as store renovations begin paying off and Internet unit losses shrink.
The chief executive, Robert L. Nardelli, said in a conference call with investors that the company's results in the face of pumping millions of dollars into store renovations and retraining employees were "proof positive that our strategy is working".
Other children in the business are Louis, vice president in charge of human resources and merchandise manager of housewares and watches; Ruth and Esther, merchandise managers of jewelry; and Andrea, a Pratt-trained architect who oversees new construction and store renovations.
Not having a final design and not knowing what mix of clothing, shoes and hard goods will be stocked is complicating project planning, said Mr. Andrew, whose company has supervised store renovations for brands like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Burberry and Yves St. Laurent.
Instead of enticing customers with sleeker merchandise, plush store renovations and catchy ad campaigns, Lampert focused on cost-cutting measures that boosted the company's margins but did little to divert shoppers from competitors Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Kohl's.
As well as the sluggish economy, the company said its store-renovation efforts had put off customers.In its latest Economic Outlook, the OECD forecasts that growth in the rich industrial economies will remain muted into early 2003, but pick up in the second half of the year.
The 20,000-square-foot store, a renovation and expansion of a previous Club Monaco location, is part of a larger strategy to expand the brand.
