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Archive for June, 2007

Alas and alack… they don’t love you back.

Posted in Shopkeeping talk on June 29, 2007| 12 Comments »

It’s kinda sad but true. You went into this business, retail storekeeping, resale division, at least in part because you like people. But shortly after getting into your shop, youOld radio, courtesy hearingvoices.com realized one thing:

The biggest thought on your clients’ minds is

WII*FM.

That’s right. They do not care one whit (one iota, one single mote, a nanobreath) about you. All they want to know is WIIFM. And no, that’s not a radio station.

But the fun thing about WIIFM ? It’s so easy to satisfy…if you know it exists.

So what, you may well ask, is WIIFM?

It’s the question that is in the top of everyone’s mind, 24/7; old, young, or in-between. Male, female, vegetable or mineral. It’s the, if I may wax metaphysical here for a moment, the very Engine of Existence.

It’s: What’s in it****** for ME?

And it’s the question you must answer in every single message you send to your customers. Every flier, ad, info piece, web site, business card, consignment agreement, store sign, even your business name. And most certainly, your tag line.

Tell the customer what’s in it for her. Tell him again and again. Never miss an opportunity to tell them why they should do business, every chance they get, with you. And that’s the ONLY time the concept of “you”, the shopkeeper, the owner, the slave, should appear anywhere near your business.

They don’t care about you. They care about them. And that is as it should be. After all, they are being asked, cajoled, tempted, persuaded to part with their hard-earned money for some else: a dress or a dresser, a crib or a collage. It should be about them, about their personal payoff, about their self-interest.

So the next time you want to motivate, to beguile, to part the public with their lucre, remember to always always answer the question: WIIFM.

Read More: Here and here. Obviously, a subject I care DEEPLY about.

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The debt we owe: Liz Claiborne

Posted in Shopkeeping talk on June 28, 2007|

With 1.5 million hits when you Google her name, you might say Liz Claiborne, who died Tuesday, is a household name. She certainly is in resale andfrom the Washington Post consignment circles, where the brands she invented are, in a sense, the very definition of many shops. “We carry Liz Claiborne and up” is the phrase many shops use to describe their merchandise.

But many resalers don’t fully appreciate the sway this one woman had over the complete fashion industry.

Claiborne founded Liz Claiborne Inc. in 1976 along with her husband, Art Ortenberg, and Leonard Boxer. Their goal was to create a collection of fashions aimed at the growing number of women entering the work force. “Collection” is the important (more…)

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Resale in the News: Things you might have missed

Posted in Used Stuff in the News on June 26, 2007|

Some interesting ideas and twists on the resale/ consignment/ thrift industry recently in the news:

A woman who doesn’t have a shop. Instead, she rents booth space for kidswear and equipment sellers at an outdoor, once-a-month flea market in Huntsville AL

And here’s another twist. This owner has a big location, so apparently she leases indoor booths and holds a seasonal sale as well in the basement. These “rent-a-booth” places used to be more common, especially during the white-goose-with-blue-ribbon-around-neck home crafts era for crafts booths. This entrepreneur is also in Alabama, by coincidence!

A thrift store, clearing out backlog, with a clever idea: Christmas in July. I have always felt sorry for donation-only thrifts, whose seasonal donations come 11 months BEFORE the next logical selling opportunity! I mean, when do well-meaning folks donate the Christmas decor they don’t want? Yup. December 26 or so. So why not perk up slow mid-summer sales and income with something fun, like Christmas in July? Or a “Tropical Gala” party or something specific to your marketplace?

How’d you like this consignor to be one of yours? (To be fair, she’s probably been dealing with shops who think they don’t “need” to give consignors itemized priced receipts for goods left…) Notice, in particular, the sneer quotes around the word “lose”…. this consumer doesn’t seem like she thinks her local shop’s terribly trustworthy.

And WHAT a great opportunity for this shop, who could build a buzz on the city newspaper’s blog:

“A new consignment shop has opened at 2710 Ingersoll Ave. in Des Moines. Consign & Design opened Monday in that spot… with a selection of furniture, home décor and a limited amount of clothing….having an open house…from 6 to 8 p.m. today, Friday. The number there is 288-3346. If you go, be sure to share comments about the store [here on this site].”

Sure hope this shop had a laptop up and connected to the Internet during their open house, so visitors could post their comments!

Lessons learned: Creativity counts! Have you done something out of the box recently? Tell, tell. Maybe you’ll get on Too Good to be Threw‘s web site!

Save

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Are you a frequent eater?

Posted in Slices of (my) life on June 19, 2007| 5 Comments »

TGtbT.com says restaurants are missing a great promo... is your resale shop, too?

It’s always puzzled me that restaurants don’t do more with email and email newsletters. Every time I decide to go out to dinner, it’s the old “Where do you wanna go?””I dunno, where do YOU wanna?”

Just imagine if I’d gotta an email reminder from a local restaurant…how likely it would be that we’d spend our bucks there?

Now I live in an area which is (more…)

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“So, what do you do for a living?”

Posted in Shopkeeping talk on June 16, 2007| 2 Comments »

elevator pixabayDo you get tongue-tied when someone asks you what you do for a living? Stutter & stumble, blush & belittle yourself?

Nonsense! You need to work on your elevator speech.

What, you may well ask, IS an elevator speech? It’s that 20 to 30 -second answer to that question, “What do you do?”

Here’s the cold hard facts about how to create your elevator speech. Here’s another look at the topic.

 

The one I came up with for me?

“My name is Kate Holmes and I show folks that resale is a modern way to shop. I tell shopkeepers how to make their shops more appealing, more fun, and more effective as well as more profitable. To thrive, learn HOW at TGtbT.com… and tell your customers WHY at HowToConsign.com.”

Excuse me, this is my floor.

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