Okay. Your next step, when tackling a big project like turning a shop around, after cleaning it up, is to
Spruce it up
Physically: We mentioned fixtures in passing in Step 1. But now’s the time to take a good hard look at the fixtures you’re using. I do believe that every resale shopkeeper is, at heart, a scrounger. Racks for $5 apiece? We’re all over it. Free shoe rack from a consignor? Sure, we can find a use for it. Some slat wall here, some peg board there…and pretty soon, we’re looking like (dare I say it?) the public’s image of a thrift shop.
Mismatched, less-than-optimal fixtures are a necessity and natural when a business is just starting up with a careful budget, or in a shop which just sort of evolved, without a true plan. Hey, my first shelving units were boards and cinder blocks.
But if you want to get spruced up, some planninjg, negotiating, comparison-shopping and, yes, some NO-saying are part of your sprucing up plan. Figure out what you need, source it, and replace less-than-optimal fixturing as the budget will allow.
More spruce-ups: Hangers that match. Clean, motivational signage with your shop logo on it. All 6 walls: the four surrounding you, the one above, the one below. Colors that show off your merchandise in a way that increases perceived value. Textures and surfaces that play second-fiddle to what you’re selling. Lighting that enhances.
Policies and procedures
Take a look, a good hard look, at what guidelines you have in place and how they affect your business. Are you losing sales because of an All Sales Final policy? Would a return option increase how much you sell…even if you have to swallow some deceptive customers taking advantage? And what’s with the minimum or maximum limits on incoming? Does that enhance the merchandise that comes in or dissuade suppliers? Are your hours, your advertising plans, your staffing scheduling in need of a good clear look?
Much of what I do as a resale consultant is really common sense. I point out to retailers that closing at 4 pm means that working folks can’t easily become shoppers or suppliers; that having a constant sale (all jeans 20% off this week, all dresses 30% off next week) simply tells shoppers to hold off, there’s a better price coming and you don’t want to be a fool and buy today; that stuffing racks or leaving them empty both affect how a browser feels about your goods. So, if you want to truly spruce up your shop, you need to be prepared to take some deep breaths and put your ego aside and ask yourself
“Is this still working, given where my business is at now?”
Which leads into operational issues. When you were a new business and asking consignors to supply a self-addressed envelope if they wanted to have you mail them a check was workable, great. But now? With 300-400 checks due every month? Is it still feasible to keep, sort, and stuff a variety of envelopes, or would you be better off using another system. Systems which helped a business a few years ago may be hindering it now. The way you operate may be outdated by the length of time you have been in business, or simply by the way life is lived in the year 2010.
Some more spruce-up tips
- How’s your pricing? With new retailers desperate to sell stuff, is your pricing structure still motivating to your shoppers?
- How’s your service? As retailers get desperate and cut hours and even outlets, here’s an area you can shine in for little cost. (You would not believe the piles of merchandise that had fallen off hangers at the teen stores in the mall Saturday afternoon.)
- How’s your outreach? Do you have a moribund blog, or none at all? Is the only thing you can think to do is tweet and Facebook? Is your web site up to date, and do your mailing list folk hear from you in a way that motivates them? Ads? Commercials? Fliers and billboards and Frequent Buyer Cards and promotional activities?Ā What are you doing to remind people, every day, that your shop is there?
Tomorrow, we’ll move on to Step 3 in Freshening up your Thrift, Resale, Consignment Shop: We’ll Liven it up!
What did I forget about Sprucing It Up? Pipe up by adding a comment.
Auntie Kate The Resale Expert 
[…] the series: Step 2, Step 3, Step […]
Hi, Kate!
How about a few “presorted” racks – for example a sign on one rack “Fancy Stuff” for items that have added appeal, that would not otherwise stand out from the “run of the rack”, or a rack signed as “Good Enough” for marked down items that are “good enough to wear while….”(fill in the blank, such as go to the park, clean house, haunt your neighbor, etc.).
Anything that makes a small selection of your items stand out, and is always being “refreshed”. (Don’t let any individual item stay on that rack too long… the space there is too valuable!)
The most deadly thing I find in retailers is having the same items in the same spot forever. No, not the same pair of shoes (that’s another story), but the shoe rack or shoe department itself. The individual customer has a pattern they follow in looking at your store, and if their attention is to their right as they enter your store, they’ll never notice the handbag selection that is to their left. Move your stock around periodically so that different departments are highlighted in new areas. You’ll be amazed at how often you’ll hear “I never knew you had these delightful knick – knacks”, or whatever.
[…] August 25, 2010 by Auntie Kate Here’s the fun part of Freshening up your shop, after you’ve managed Step 1 and Step 2. […]
Thanks Martha for your kind words!
About “allowing” returns: the simplest way is to have an approval policy. There’s an explanation in the manual, and also in the Layout Idea Kit (along w/ a layaway and NTY forms and stuff) for Counter Forms at http://tgtbt.com/layouts.htm#37 Now, if you DO start an approval system, make SURE your shoppers know this. Otherwise, you’ll just continue to lose customers because they think they can’t bring it back…
If you are using the POS area of a software program, I believe most can be set to not mark things sold for a few days to allow for any returned approvals. But the rate of approval returns, I found, was so low that it never impacted my paying consignors on demand.
The messy teen store at the mall was an example of how your shop can provide better service at little cost. I mean, how much does it take, $-wise, to make sure clothes are not fallen on the floor? I think that having clothes nicely on hangers as opposed to crumbled on the linoleum is customer service, huh? š
Thanks Kate, all the tips you give us are great! Makes me see my shop as a customer…thanks…But one question how can I implement a return policy? I have thought about that alot…I was thinking maybe 48 hours return policy? And if the consignor comes in for her money owed just look up 2 days before sales and pay her that much and leave the rest until the 2 days have passed? How does that sound? And what did you mean about the teens stores on Saturdays? did not quite get that..sorry i am lil sloooowww.