One of the things that really struck me at our annual consignment/ resale/ thrift Conference, and that has been shuffling around in my brain since late June, is the variety of changes in business over 2008.
Most shops that I spoke to reported increases of 20+% year-to-date compared to 2008. The NARTS polls show something very similar. And yet, there were enough shopkeepers, and shopkeepers whose ability and experience I respect, who were reporting DEcreases of significant amounts to make me ponder.
What’s the difference? Why, with the “average” shop up, are some significantly down?
Certainly these “interesting economic times” are having an effect on all retail. People in general are watching what they buy, when, and where. Shopping as a “sport” is significantly down…walk into any department store from Macy’s to Saks if you doubt this…yet people still need and even simply want stuff.
Thus the comments that so many resale shopkeepers hear recently: You must be doing really well right now! Guess people are really shopping here now, huh? You must be doing GREAT because of the recession!
And you know what? These casual, non-retail-savvy customers are absolutely completely totally right.
The general opinion I come up with, talking to hundreds of shopkeepers 
over the past months? Those shops who continue to rely upon “the old way” of doing things, and their established and loyal customer base… are those who are looking decreases in the face. The shopkeepers who are flexible, who are willing to think about what they might do differently, are the shops whose figures are significantly up.
Some inflexible shopkeepers are those who simply haven’t observed that their actions can increase or decrease the dollars in their tills daily. Or who believe they are powerless to affect their personal economies. Others think “we’ve always done it this way and that’s the way it should be done going forward.” The only thing these people have in common is the inability to look at what’s happening now, and to adapt the way that worked well in the past.
The shopkeepers who are flexible are, indeed, reaping the benefits of this interesting economic twist. Perhaps they are adding (or subtracting) categories of merchandise carried, or the way they obtain their inventory. Different hours, different ways of doing business, differing ways to get their names out into the community. They are not standing pat, in other words, while the sands of change shift beneath their businesses.
So, as much as I admire the past job a successful resaler has done…if she’s not willing to adapt to this current twist in the economy, her figures may well be in the negative right now.
Which resaler are you, and what will you do next?
Auntie Kate The Resale Expert 
So true, Jane! So often, businesspeople get scared of a faltering economy and cut the first thing that comes to mind: marketing! But when others are cutting, where does that leave your outreach efforts, whether ads, emails, postcards or public relations? In a nice big “empty” field. That’s why I wrote There’s Nothing on my Fridge.
It’s difficult to make generalizations regardless of the economic environment. The biggest factors are “local”. In other words, one shop may do well in a city where the economy is really poor while another may stay flat or down in an area that has not been hit as hard.
The fact is that those shops that understand marketing and implement their marketing plans are the ones likely to survive. That means actually “budgeting” for marketing and taking the time to map out a plan and then doing it!
The absolute worst thing a retailer can do in an economy like this is to cut back on their marketing plans. In fact, it’s actually the best time to expand their plans.
BTW, my shop sales were flat last year but up about 10% YTD. My local economy is terrible with retailers closing everywhere. Unemployment rate here is 12%.