After a plague of rats in the outside shed, I set about establishing the most humane way of dealing with the infestation. The old mousetrap I had used before and awoken to agonising sounds from a guillotined but far from dead rat. I therefore ruled that out.

I then investigated the various poisons, including homemade versions. All the commercial ones cause a horrible death and the homemade ones include using bicarbonate of soda or plaster of paris. The bicarb reacts with acids in the stomach, causing gas – rats cannot pass wind, so they basically explode. Plaster of paris causes irreversible constipation. So other than maybe catching the rats one by one and drowning them, there seemed to be no humane method.

In the wake of the death of Laura Ashley and Dick Smith, I pondered on their demise and the death of so many other retailers over the years. All were agonisingly slow deaths, and reminiscent of the rats’ fate.

Years before the demise of Dick Smith, a colleague of mine, Steve Kulmar, predicted their fate. Steve is something of a visionary and saw it coming. He said they had lost relevance.

I mentioned this to a few people over the years and, especially for the short period when Dick Smith was doing reasonably well, they all rejected the notion. But Steve was right and may Dick Smith, the company, RIP.

With regard to Laura Ashley, I could never really see the connection between ladies clothing and furnishings. I quietly predicted that they wouldn’t last, not only for this reason, but because they were milking a bygone era. They were resting on their past reputation and regrettably, customers eventually die.

So, how does one prevent a painful and slow death? In the case of the rats it is really very simple – don’t come into my shed and defecate at will. In the case of retailers – reinvent yourself.

This does not mean refurbishing the stores with a lick of paint and a few new fixtures; it means a total overhaul. Sure, the decor will come under review, but any reinvention worth doing needs to delve far deeper into the business. Marketing, customer service, merchandise and mix, various channels, processes, disciplines, closing and opening stores, to name but a few, need to be examined. A total rebranding exercise.

This is exactly what Harvey Norman requires right now to avoid a repetition of the Dick Smith saga.

So why don’t retailers reinvent? One reason is arrogance. Another reason is cost. Another is apathy. Paul Weston, a British writer who focuses on the damage done to Western Civilisation, spoke at CPAC (The Conservative Political Action Conference) on March 3 of this year. He commented on tomorrow being pretty much the same as today. And next week being the same as this week. And next year being the same as this year.

But that is where he stopped. Europe in 2025 will be very different to the Europe of 2015. And the Europe of 2035 will be very different to the Europe of 2025. Where will your retail business be in 10 years time?

Stuart Bennie is a retail consultant at Impact Retailing and can be contacted at stuart@impactretailing.com.au or 0414 631 702.

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