Love this display window. What a fun way to scream sale, while avoiding those less-than-elegant red and yellow banners.
All you need’s foamcore board and a utility knife, some felt-tip markers, fishing line and a feel for what YOUR customers would say about YOUR clearance sale.
This was a teens-twenties clothing shop in the mall on Sunday, but imagine what your display could be. If you sell home decor, perhaps a dresser saying the deals are open & shut, a clothestree with the speech bubble Hang onto your hat, prices are slashed! and a stacked set of china with A banquet of bargains above it.
If you sell kidswear, you’re on your own as to appropriate slang. I even had to look up Woot! Woot! from this photo.*
* Woot/Woop1. v. Term used as a response or in celebration to exciting news. “A yo Daniel, I (Michael) was drafted by the NBA last night, WOOP!” (thanks to The Slang Dictionary for the lesson…and now fo’shizzle I know what fo’sheezy means too!
Auntie Kate The Resale Expert 
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Cindy – if it’s any consolation, our shop (women’s clothing) is way down this year too. I think we hear so much in the press about how consignment stores are booming that we get depressed when we’re not doing as well.
We had our best year ever LAST YEAR (in line with NARTS surveys), BUT this year is another story. We’ve been in business 11 years, have a loyal following, stellar reputation and now we also have LOTS OF COMPETITION, including the local upscale malls where 70-80% OFF sales are common!
I think if NARTS did a survey asking about YTD sales they would be shocked!
Okay, enough complaining so here are some suggestions…
1. Send out a survey to your email list (I like ConstantContact.com) to get timely and “real world” feedback. Be sure the survey is anonymous to help ensure honest feedback. The results will likely give you some ideas to get customers through your door!
2. Send out a press release. Yes, you can think of something that’s newsworthy! Use the free press release sites on the Internet and fax to all of your local papers.
3. Ask your customers to do a video testimonial. Put them on your website and blast them out on the Internet for free using Tubemogul.com. Be sure to include links to your website and your stores tel. no. and addr.
4. Put a DAILY ad in Craigslist.com and Backpage.com. Use a graphic ad and make it “clickable” so it links it to a page on your website that has a testimonial video, email sign-up form AND a coupon (you website guy can do this for you).
5. Hire some bored teenagers and put flyers in nearby neighborhoods. Include a coupon, your website info, etc.
6. Claim you Local Google Map (now called “Google Places”) and optimize it with your store info, pictures, videos, coupons, etc. (you can do this yourself in about an hour).
7. Set up a Facebook page and put the same info on it as above. I don’t mess with Twitter as I have found it to be a real “time bandit” with very poor ROI. On the other hand, Facebook can bring you customers!
Hope these help and keep the faith!
Hi Jan,
I’ve moved your question over to Sharing, where it will be better seen than here on a old blog message… pop over to your specific entry on our Resalers’ discussion board:
http://www.tgtbt.com/w-agora/view.php?bn=tgtbt_selling&key=1279649117
Cindy – I don’t think you are doing anything wrong! We too have been in business over 20 years and the difference in the level of traffic from even 2 years ago to this year is astonishing. We started shifting gears like mad just before the economy tanked (you could ‘smell’) it coming (and we were heavily into furniture and decor) to make changes to our stores, the mix and began reducing overhead and building cash to weather the coming economic storm.
I think the kid business has LOTS of competition now. Even the big discounters are selling stuff cheap as dirt to get people in the door. Then too you have the huge surge in the popularity of consignment sales.
My advice would be to go shopping outside your normal shopping haunts. Pay attention to where people are, where they are shopping, what they are looking at. Try and notice trends. Then go back, look at your shop with fresh eyes (Kate wrote a post not long ago about that very subject) and then don’t be afraid to make lots of changes in everything you do. If you’re the biggest and the best toot your horn – read about how to ensure you make your place a destination business. HTH
My shop is too new to be helpful to Cindy. In the black from day one, which I consider good, but def some days (and weeks) are better than others. Feb slowest of all so far, and July has turned out a recent super-week but last wk was slow.
I have a question about end of season sales. I thought I could maybe save some work from individual marking down, by using ‘All previously reduced items, (which are clearly marked) buy one – get one at half’. That seems to be frustrating to many. Even though I feel nearly everything in the store (minus brand new arrivals) has a markdown on it – as I ready for fall incoming – shoppers struggle with finding something of equal or lower value to pair with it. I had one person on Saturday who brought 3 items to the checkout but when I told her if she selected one more, it would be 1/2 (even if she chose a $2.00 earring set). Well, she became frustrated to find something else she wanted to purchase, then put the 3rd item back!
Something similar happened yesterday and I am considering making this offer go away and going back to my % off that I did from winter to spring.
What do other people do – especially these end of season clearances? It seems as though people won’t even look at the regular priced items right now.
Could anyone tell me how there resale shops are doing in this economy. I own one of the largest resale stores in the tri state area. We have over 8500 square feet of childrens items. We specialize in all of our items being clean, (we disassemble every piece of baby equipment and clean and sterilize it, all toys are washed before being put out) in style, and not recalled. Our toy selection is second to none. Our baby equipment selection is massive. Yet our buiness is so slow compared to normal. I have been in business 25 years this month and things are not anywhere near what they used to be. Maybe I am doing something wrong. If anyone has any tips or comments I sure would appreciate any input that you might have. Thank you
Hi Cindy, Thanks for your comment, and I am glad you’ve found Auntie Kate the Blog.
I invite you to join your business peers over on our discussion board, Sharing, at http://tgtbt.com . I am sure that you will find willing and giving shopkeepers there who can help you build your business back up again!
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