- But our sweaters are always on this rack.
- Bar stools are here and wine glasses are in that aisle.
- Yeh the shirts are stuffed, but don’t put them on the sweater rack…because that’s where sweaters go.
- No, leave that area clear because we will need it if we get more barstools in.
Sound like what you’d say in your resale shop?
If so, you’re losing a lot of image-polishing opportunities. Not to mention consumer dollars. If the Chicos rounder is interfering with the dining room tables, and you’re kinda light on Chicos… get rid of the rounder and give more room to the tables. Make it look good, and make it shop-able.
Obvious, huh? But how many shopkeepers
give their staff, or themselves, “permission”
to rearrange according to the ebb and flow of merchandise. Rearranging constantly is perhaps the most important merchandising tool you have. “Every day a new store” not only refers to your stock, but how you present it.
Every day, you make a first impression
on every single person who walks in your door. Merchandise that is too crowded or areas which look skimpy and picked over say bad things about your shop.
Fix the problem. Today. Or allow your staff to do so on their own initiative. Does Pat REALLY have to ASK you before easing the overcrowded jeans rack by pulling out the 14 pair of black denim onto a 2-way? Or to move the jeans entirely, to a bigger rack?
Auntie Kate The Resale Expert 
I with Saige Consignment Boutique. I have been in the antique mall business for several years now and am now opening up a consignment store. consignment is a niche’ of it’s own & I really what to get the most out of my new venture.I know how to move things around but I too would like more…. posts on getting the most out of our business.
Hi Sharon, Take a cruise through this blog for lots of ideas to use and of course, our site, Too Good to be Threw, at http://TGtbT.com has articles, an archive, “Kate’s Messy Back Room” and dozens of Products for the Professional Resaler! I would particularly recommend the selection angled towards growing your business on http://tgtbt.com/shopbuild.htm
So true, Kitty! I’m constantly rearranging things so the store remains fresh and the flow does not get interrupted. Overcrowding is the most frustrating thing to a shopper and will cause someone to skip that section. And if a section is overcrowded, that’s the exact section I need to sell! Also by giving my employees creative freedom, they often come up with clever displays that I wouldn’t have thought of. Sometimes I have to nix their ideas but overall it takes a lot of the pressure off of me and a good break for them. If you don’t give your employees a chance to show their potential, they will never “buy in” to your business. The more they feel some ownership over their responsibilities, the more initiative (and respect) you will see from them.
Kate – I would love to see some more posts on getting the most out of your employees. I feel this is really untapped potential in many small businesses.
It is amazing how fast you can sell something that’s been in your store a while just by moving it somewhere else. It’s called store-blind. If categories remain in the same place, regular customers automatically look past what they think is not an area that will interest them. They become store blind and walk immediately to “their” size or area. If you move things around, they are caught off-guard and will stop to look at the “new” things.
We have always moved everything. Great way to interact with customers. Imagine when someone says “oh no, it’s gone!” our first response is, maybe not we may have moved it. Let me help you look.
Now they have to see more items and we get to help. Usually means they buy something else that they love and often we can find that special something. Fresh is best and that means, move inventory around.