Michael Feuer is learning a thing or two about health and wellness retailing from his latest venture, Max-Wellness.
The co-founder and founding CEO of office supply superstore OfficeMax launched a chain of wellness products stores early this year. The stores stock a growing array of health products, from vitamins, blood pressure monitors and sleep aids to custom orthotics, high-end orthopedic braces and sexual well-being DVDs.
Now, Feuer’s got one store in Ohio (Westlake) with a second opening next month (Woodmere Village), and two in Florida (Naples and Sarasota) at which he employs about 110 people. He expects to add another four stores by the end of the year. And he’s raising “many millions of dollars” from venture investors to open more than a dozen stores next year.
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Feuer is a savvy retailer who thinks now is the right time for a retailer to cash in on the $100 billion-a-year wellness industry. Consumers are starting to spend gain after guarding their wallets for the better part of two years. But while national policy makers and healthcare professionals use wellness to solve the overwhelming cost of healthcare, it’s the individual who makes every wellness decision.
MedCity News asked Feuer for his insights about consumer wellness choices.
Q. So, what have you learned about wellness retailing from your new stores?
A. It’s pretty basic. First, you’ve got to listen to your customer. And then you have to translate what they’re saying. They don’t always say clearly what they mean.
Q. What have been the biggest surprises since January when you opened your first Max-Wellness store in Westlake?
A. One surprise has been who’s buying. We had thought we would have the greatest number of customers from the “sandwich generation” — people who are taking care of their children and their aging parents. While Baby Boomers are the largest segment of buyers, we’ve been very surprised at the number of shoppers under the age of 30 that we’re getting.
Q. Why do you think that’s happening?
A. They’re saying, “We’ve never seen anything like this, and it feels good to be here.” We’re getting young people in the store who are really into nutrition, body-building, exercise and staying well. We responded to that by broadening our mix of merchandise. Now there are more products for sports and sports injuries. We’ve expanded our assortment of some of the higher-end nutritional products.
Q. How has the healthcare community responded to the stores?
A. One thing we quickly realized was we had to get our story out not only to consumers but to wellness providers. That includes doctors, podiatrists, chiropractors, therapists of all types. Every day, a wellness director calls on these providers to introduce Max-Wellness as a partner for them and their patients. We’ve got a lot of feedback from practitioners about carrying certain products, like knee braces.
Q. How do you get your message to consumers?
A. This is not traditional retailing. Not that we’re making this up as we go along, but success is based on planning and listening to our constituents. We ask customers, “What don’t you like? What don’t we have that you want to buy?”
One of the outcomes of the questioning: the two Max-Wellness stores in Florida now stock a limited number of high-end pet products. It’s all part of healthy living. This fall, we’ll bring up our merchandise Web site where we’ll be licensed to sell health supplies like catheters.
We’ve also found a big demand for “soft services,” such as financial planning for seniors and counseling for people with an aging spouse who is showing signs of dementia. We’re in negotiations with third-party service providers to make services available at Max-Wellness. I hope to launch at the end of the year Max-Wellness At Home, which would provide consultation and resources to people who, for instance, want to make their homes safe for seniors.
Q. What has been a hot area in your stores?
A. Foot health. This month, we added a high-end orthotic sandle for women. Podiatrists are embracing our technology that gives customers a free assessment of their foot problems. Rather than making a plaster slipper cast of patients’ feet to diagnose their problems, podiatrists are sending patients to Max-Wellness for assessments, which they use to prescribe orthotics.
A hot product category has been detoxification or body cleansing. Another has been communication devices for seniors, such as Jitterbug cell phones.
Q. Any disappointments, so far?
A. “Disappointment” is too strong a word to use after only three months. But we have found that we don’t need such a deep assortment of incontinence products. People generally pick up these products at a local drug or grocery store. We will stock only products that serve a special need.
