Just a handful of possible broadcast email lines for my resale industry friends to use…
- Festively frugal
- More joy for your jingle
- Baubles & Bling & All Sorts of Things!
- or (for a childrenswear shop): Bubbles & Slings & All Manner of Things!
- Unwrap the savings
Auntie Kate The Resale Expert 
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I turned your ‘festively frugal’ into ‘frugal festivity’. Thanks for the inspiration.
Thanks Kate..I used Unwrap the Savings for a flyer to distribute to bar/restaurant/other shop employees this week for last minute x-mas shopping. Email getting ready to go out with using More Joy for Your Jingle and I also just posted on Blog, Facebook and Twitter with one from your Holiday In Resale Book, Get your Merry On…..I just want to say Thank You sooo much…you are ideas are great !! Now praying last 8 days before Christmas are fabulous!!
Wow, is this a timely thread! My partner and I were just discussing this very subject yesterday. Here’s the bottom line. Trouble is brewing!
Here’s what has developed in our neck of the woods. We have an upscale women’s consignment store in a town of about 80,000 population and in a metro area of about 1.2 million. We’ve been in business for 9 years and have been very successful. Although other women’s consignment stores have come and gone we survived.
However we now have new competition, BUT this new competition has been around longer than us! Who are they? They’re the local hospice and Goodwill store.
Yep, I’m not kidding. What has happened, and why this is relevant to this thread, is that the QUALITY of our consignments has fallen so much in the last year that these stores have the same quality items and can practically give it away!
You don’t have to be a retail guru to see that this problem is only going to get worst simply because the economy is not going to recover any time soon! Consider this. If tomorrow you woke up and the economy was once again booming it would still be months, if not over a year, before you would start seeing the quality improve.
So, the question is…how to survive in the consignment business, especially clothing?
Frankly, I don’t have the answer! And how do you attract those who have never shopped consignment when it’s harder and harder to distinguish yourself from the NEW competition, namely your local thrift store!
Thanks Kate for the email subject lines. Can’t wait to see your new product!
Have a question for you. I opened my shop 7 years ago and as you know, since then we’ve never seen an economy like this! One thing that concerns me, especially since I haven’t been in business long enough to experience a lousy economy like this, is how it will affect my business.
I think my biggest concern is the fact that retail clothing sales have really been hit hard as was announced yesterday and that this will impact my business because of the impact it has on consignments. I am already seeing a decline in the QUALITY of the consignments I’m getting. After all, if fewer are buying in the retail stores then I’ll get not only fewer consignments but less quality because name brand clothing is being especially hard hit!
Earlier this year my business was booming because people needed cash and they brought in their best stuff and lots of it. But now it has slowed down a lot, in spite of the additional promotion I’m doing. Oct. and Nov. have always been strong months for me but both consignments and sales are way down the last two months!
Perhaps you could do a poll of other shop owners and get their input?
Welcome your comments!
Joyce, two thoughts: first, see a blog post of mine from 15 months ago, pointing out the need for make plans for just such a scenario as you are now encountering.
It IS a real concern. But I also think it is addressable. I’m going to cut&paste your remarks over to our Sharing Discussion Board and we’ll see if others have strategies in place to cope with this. Check out http://www.tgtbt.com/w-agora/view.php?bn=tgtbt_receiving&key=1260567725 Let’s see what your peers have to add!