Meet The Founder
About
Robert P. Potts – Store Decor Founder and Owner
Robert Potts began his career with a wholesale drug company, McKesson & Robbins of Dallas, TX in 1954. His position was that of a remodeling specialist to McKesson’s customers. He was to sell drug store owners, and others if he could, on the benefits of remodeling and/or creating new stores. He was paid on the basis of the amount of profit made in the sales of store fixtures to these customers.
During the latter 50’s and 60’s Potts developed his store decor expertise to aid him in selling store fixtures to new or remodeled stores. The store decor he designed and sold set Potts apart from his competitors. After establishing his own firm; many steady customers were developed through the use of good store decor in his customer’s retail stores. The Potts firm had something no other store fixture firm had; and the customers wanted more.
Hardware and Decor
The first hardware retailer in the U.S. to use Potts’ store decor was Elliott’s Hardware of Dallas, TX. Mr. Jerry Elliott allowed Potts to design and install the newest and most outstanding store decor ever seen in a self-service store of any type in the U.S. Elliott’s Hardware, being a member of the nationally know True Value Hardware cooperative; gained national and international attention for the outstanding store which was opened in 1971. The store was extremely successful because of Elliott’s expertise and good interior decor. It can be said that Elliott’s pioneered the use of greeters at the front door, self service displays on all hardware items and good interior decor. This set them apart from the normal hardware store in America.
Numerous other retailers, having visited the Elliott’s Hardware, became clients of the Potts firm. Such retailers as lumberyards, gift shops, book stores, pet stores, and even clothing stores became clients. The Foxworth-Galbraith Lumber Co. with 54 retail locations in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California asked Potts to assist them in the design, fixture installation, merchandising and decorating of their new “Building Materials Centers”. Foxworth-Galbraith also asked Potts to develop a Merchandising Training program for their employees and to conduct seminars for their employees. These seminars evolved into Potts further developed this program and provided it for numerous Retailers and Lumber /Hardware associations in many states. The importance of the use of good store decor within the retail establishment was stressed during such sessions.
Store Decor items such as plaques, symbols, letters, stripes, and etc. had to be manufactured by Potts himself. He would rent or borrow a ‘hot wire cutter’ from a florist and then cut out the letters from Styrofoam. Eventually the manufacturing phase of store decor had to be moved to its own building in Rowlett, TX. The Potts & Associates firm’s eight sales associates kept the young company busy constructing store decor for the stores they designed or remodeled. The invention of the computerized vinyl cutting machine in the early 80’s led Potts to purchase many of these machines for his Store Decor Co. Inc. – Retail Graphics firm. These machines opened up a new and exciting field for Potts; he could now supply hundreds of interior signs for his retail customers. Later, the newly developed, computerized router was purchased making it possible to cut letters, stripes, symbols, etc. from any kind of material. Previously, the firm’s employees had to cut the letters by hand. No more, the computers were loaded with hundreds of ‘letter fonts’, symbols, shapes, and designs.
Category Evolution
The firm received numerous awards and recognition for its fabulously designed stores in every market of the U.S. The use of its own store decor firm was the secret to the success of the Robert P. Potts & Associates firm. Then, along came a new type of retailer known as “the category killer”. This type of retailer picked on a category of consumer products and specialized in that item with increased buying, selling, merchandising, & advertising of that category. Firms such as BizMart, PetStuff, Petco, OfficeMax, Office Depot, Staples, PetsMart, Men’s Warehouse, The Container Store, PayLess Shoe Stores, Zainy Brainy, Lil Things, all opened hundreds of stores across the U.S. They concentrated on convincing their retail customers that they had the greatest selection of product at the lowest price. To accomplish this, these retailers relied on good store decor… they had to have loads of interior signs to create the right low price impression. They had to guide the customer through the store so the customers would increase their sales with ‘impulse purchases’. The proper colors, designs, and images improved the customers’ opinion of the store; the consolidation of their purchasing power from manufacturers increased their gross margins tremendously. Hundreds of ‘Joint Venture Financing Firms’ made these category killers work… then, they took their stock public for the grand reward.
The Store Decor Co. was one of the few U.S. firms specializing in assisting these stores to accomplish their goals. The firm’s competitors were exterior sign companies that did not have the expertise in working with retailers that the employees of Store Decor had developed through their store fixture experience with Robert P. Potts & Assocs. The firm worked with hundreds of these stores and was rewarded greatly with increased volume and profits.
One picture is worth a thousand words…
The influx of “English as a second language” individuals to the U.S. provided an opportunity for many retailers to enjoy tremendous sales to these new citizens. Many were unable to speak or read English but Potts calculated through the use of ‘visuals’ such as sculptures or cutouts of retailer’s products; he could get around the inability of the person to read English interior signs. Potts employed sculptors with experience in carving Styrofoam. Large items such as vegetables, fruits, etc. for grocery stores; hammers, saws, tools, etc. for hardware stores were carved, painted, and installed in stores all across the U.S.; such as Elliott’s’ Hardware; Sears Hardware, Sears/Orchard Supply Hardware, and numerous building materials centers. Prescription bottles and other drug items were made for use in drug stores and pharmacies.
Architectural firms soon discovered there was such a firm as Store Decor Co. to produce architectural sculptures. The architects wanted the sculptures for exterior use but could not pay for them to be done from stone. That presented a problem since Styrofoam deteriorated when exposed to the weather. Potts discovered a polyurethane chemical mixture used to coat the interior of pipelines to prevent them from leaking after years of use. After numerous attempts, the firm was successful in coating Styrofoam sculptures with this material, which made the foam impervious to weather. Numerous projects were completed and installed all over the U.S.; Store Decor has sculptures facing the Atlantic and the Pacific plus a large project in Saudi Arabia. Not to mention the face of the main building at the horse racetrack in Grand Prairie, TX. Many McDonald’s restaurants in Texas are other examples of the versatility of Store Decor Co. Carved cartoon animals provide a wonderful ‘gateway’ to the Dallas Zoo and have helped to make this new restaurant a whopping success. Another is located on Montfort @ I-635 with giant size hamburgers, French fries, and a larger than life Ronald McDonald.
Digital and Beyond…
3M Company of Minnesota was the first to make available to U.S. firms the use of a Wide Format Printer using electrostatic technology. Potts felt that since product merchandising was ‘visual’, what better way to show your product to buyers than with a large, colorful picture? January 1996 found Potts and his key employees at the 3M Plant in St. Paul, MN studying the use of such machines. The firm purchased its first Scotchprint machine for a whopping $360,000.00 in 1996 and its second one for $420,000.00 in 2000. An Inkjet Printer was later purchased which will print in full color on banner material 10ft high by 160ft in length; or as long as the material is in a roll. Robert Potts and the staff are constantly searching out other types of printers to aid in expanding their ‘visual graphics department’. The use of digital technology is a ‘God send’ to Store Decor Co. Examples of it are to be found in every store the firm designs and manufactures. Later additions to the firms list of digital printers include 3 Vutek 8 color machines and the changes keep appearing fast as Potts strives to provide a better service and product. Store Decor Co, with its 125 (plus or minus) employees, working in approximately 120,000 sq. ft., can provide all of these products from their plant at Rowlett, TX. Plus, its traveling teams of installers personally install all of the products in the client’s stores anywhere in the world.
It all began by the Grace of God and a desire to make things better.