One of the great advantages of running a retail resale, consignment, or thrift shop is that you get to nose around in other shops disguised as a customer. We don’t often appreciate this. I mean, rocket scientists can’t through other rocket-scientist-labs and widget makers are usually banned from other widget workshops.
But we, lucky little entrepreneurial spirits that we are, can sashay into any darn shop we like and flex our thumbs up or down. Looking at other shops, be they Kohl’s or Tiffany’s, can be enlightening. But it’s especially helpful to stick our noses into shops that carry what we carry, in about the same size and situation.
Which is why I want you to come shopping with me.
We’re looking at a women’s clothing shop which carries clothes more interesting than the mall, but still popularly priced. The shop also carries a lot of jewelry and other accessories. Let’s see what we can learn.
- Thumbs-up #1: Husband chairs (or companion seating, if you wish to be PC). They got ’em.
- Up #2: Stuff outside that makes the people down the sidewalk wander over (down the sidewalk, lucky them, is a restaurant that ALWAYS has a waiting line for breakfast and lunch.)
- Which leads me to Up #3: the shop is OPEN EARLY, to catch those breakfasters. Oh, on the sidewalk? Several smallish racks of sale items and several dress forms clothed in bright and wafty garments so the wind animates them. But flags, flowers, a bistro table and chairs would work as well.
- Up #4: This one is my absolute favorite: Mini hanger markers indicating petites and plus sizes. Now, this is a new- stuff store that merchandises “collections” on 4-ways and rounders, so the hanger markers are a godsend…but even in your shop, where most of your goods are sized, they still help immensely. And the customers (that is, ME) love ’em.
Okay, now for some “learning experiences”, as the kindergarten teachers call mistakes.
- Thumbs down #1: Costume jewelry left in its original white cardboard/ plastic envelope wrapping. Yuck. Why remind me that it’s cheap? And the jewelry is laid, four-square, on flat tables. Not the fashion statement of the year. The stuff looked just like what it was: cheap jewelry.
- Down #2: Taped to the sales counter, a permanent sign (been there for years) We need ones. Fer criminie’s sake, haven’t they learned yet to get enough singles at the bank?
- Down #3: Same counter. Too much stuff. Stapler, left-over seasonal decor, and, horror of horrors, an ink pen which marked the eggshell silk jacket I wanted to buy.
On the other hand, some more pluses:
- Thumbs-up #5: Black, beige, and red mules at the dressing rooms to make try-ons look better (ever tried to buy a sister-of-the-bride dress while wearing tennies?)
- Up #6: Right between the colorful jackets and the dressing rooms, a stock of simple neutral shells/ tank tops…. so the appliqued, patchwork, print jackets this store is known for look great on.
- Up #7: Custom-made earring cards with the shop name on them. That’s usually the only way I remember the shop’s name, because
- Down #4: No mailing list sign-up sheet. No bag stuffers. No “Preferred Customer” card or FBC or even an attractive business card. Nothing, and I mean nothing, to remember them by. So I tend to forget this small, locally-owned shop that’s not really in a shopping district.
So that’s pretty good, don’t you think? 7 Thumbs up, 4 down. Try this on the shops in your market area. And how would your shop rank?
Auntie Kate The Resale Expert 
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If I do say so myself, thumbs UP!
Ribbons. Satin, sheer, sparkle, polka dots in bright colors that match my store. Hobby Lobby is a great place to get thin ribbon that easily feeds through a tag. I use them for everything that is not attached with a tagging gun. Scarves (feed it through the care tag), all purses, shoes, jewelry – even readers and sunglasses. Have you ever been poked by a sunglass tag. #%^&.
At first, I purchased a thousand of those little plastic loop fasteners, but man were they u-g-l-y. Ditched them, and spend a tad more on ribbon – but what a difference! And purse stuffing. Went in a store last week with none and although the purses may have been decent, they looked unappealing. I would not pay $85 for a used designer handbag that looked as if it had been smushed at the bottom of the closet for two years.
I found tissue paper at the end of season Christmas sales in every color under the sun. Watch the paper with glitter. It sure looks nice, but the glitter makes a mess. I always ask the customer if they’d like the paper. If not – I tell them I’ll be happy to recycle and Re-Stuff and they seem happy to ‘help’ the effort. When it’s ratty – toss it then.
Thanks Jan! I second, wholeheartedly, ribbons and tissue paper. (Ribbons, yarn, silk cording, esp. attached to folded “suggestive use tags” on furniture, will increase sales a humongous amount!)
I even suggest that a sheet of tissue, folded neatly into the size of a dollar bill, be inserted in wallets for sale (and that shiny penny glue-sticked to a business card, too, tucked into wallets and purses. A charming old-fashioned good-luck token that leads to word of mouth for, literally, one cent 😉 )
I agree with Jenni about the music. I always have music playing in my shop and I frequently hear shoppers humming or singing along. I think it sets the mood and I don’t care for the “creepy quiet” either.
Good ideas are never out of date. Thanks for pointing my attention to this article that you must have published before my time (we’ve been open only a year and going strong!)
We drag FURNITURE in and out of our front door every morning and evening – we’re on a fast road and it really makes people stop in to visit us. Sometimes they even pull in next door and walk back when something cute caught their eye.
I think another “thumbs up” is deserved for shops that play music quietly in the background. I like a little noise while I’m shopping – not loud but just so the shop isn’t creepy quiet.
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I’ve been ordering Kate’s PDQ’s for several years and this information is invaluable! Just ordered the Frequent Shopper cards and working on the e-mailing list now and waiting on the lettering to be placed over the cash register (Name of our shop). Next week we are putting a “Coffee/Tea Shop” area inside the shop as the only closeby restaurant has closed. Each week is so exciting and almost every night I am online reading something written by Kate Holmes – She is the smartest women in the consignment world!! I would not be where I am today without her!!
Aw shucks. Anyone can TELL others what to do. It takes a special kind of shopkeeper, however, to seek out suggestions and then to LISTEN and ADAPT what they read. Thanks, Doris!