On the NARTS Conference bus tour, it was fun to see who else in your group zoomed into the same details as you did. Here, (more…)
Archive for the ‘Shopkeeping talk’ Category
Love this solution… and this resale display!
Posted in Shopkeeping talk, tagged display, home decor, merchandising, NARTS Conference on August 2, 2011|
Is George winking… or flinching? Balanced budgets in Consignment
Posted in economics of resale, Shopkeeping talk, tagged resale shopkeeping, small business, Thrift on August 1, 2011|
Since the Federal government seems to be having problems handling our money recently, it’s time for us consignment, resale, and thrift shops to
take a look at balancing our budgets and handling our funds responsibly
and with a goal of growing our business and making it stable. Here’s some areas to look at:
1. Are you meeting obligations?
If you are a consignment shop, you know the joys of being able to stock your showroom with goods that have a cost of attainment of, basically, zero. But with that joy comes responsibility: is every penny of the money you owe consignors set aside where it will be safe from spending on other obligations like rent? If it’s Consignor #4521’s money, it’s not yours. Simple as that.
If you’re a buy-outright resale shop, your open-to-buy is the same obligation. Don’t spend it on anything else, and make sure that your OTB grows as your business does.
2. Are you maintaining your reserves?
You know that old saw about having 6 months of business and personal expenses in reserve? It’s an old saw because it’s true. Whether your shop is 4 months, 4 years, or 4 decades old. So keep those sawbucks safely aside, because it would be a shame for your business to go down the tubes simply because you think you’ve gotten this far, nothing will stop you now. Keep that reserve fund up, keep it reflecting today’s costs, and do not spend it on something else. It’s your cushion, your parachute… and you wouldn’t turn your parachute into a ballgown simply because they’re throwing a gala on that airplane over there and ballgowns are more fun to have than parachutes.
3. Are you using profits wisely?
Recently, a thrift shop manager crowed to me about how she got a truck-load of used fixtures for $3200. Great deal… had she needed that type of fixturing. The thing was, these were not the fixtures that the store needed. It ain’t a deal if it doesn’t add to the growth of the business. She might as well have thrown that $3200 away. Worse, actually, because there were much better things to invest in for that store, so spending the money foolishly meant a loss of the potential revenue she could have had, had profits been invested where needed. So the money was gone, and so was the income the money could have generated.
Is that a real ______________ ?
Posted in Shopkeeping talk, tagged advertising, email, Twitter, web on August 1, 2011| 1 Comment »
Is that a real _____ ?
Why, yes it is. Click here to see designer items we have in right now.
Tee-hee. How many of you tried to “click here”?
Great headline and body copy, isn’t it? (Thanks to Peonies for bringing it to the forefront of this busy brain.) SO effective… and it gives your consignment, resale, or thrift shop a chance to blog or FB about how you authenticate, what great items you receive… and what great items they might miss if they don’t
get in right now!
But it’s still summer!
Posted in Shopkeeping talk on July 31, 2011| 3 Comments »
This idea is just too cute to keep to myself.
Homemade flip-flop hangers using recycled wire hangers! (And they work on ballet flats too.)
See it all at epbot.com.
If you think the idea’s too cute to keep to yourself, and if it would cheer up those customers who think your shop’s pushing fall goods too soon, post the link on your shop blog. Or in your FB account at the very least. It’ll cheer them up.
Heck, you could even ask your handiest-dandiest friend to make you a slew of these for your shop!
Love this!
Posted in Shopkeeping talk on July 30, 2011| 1 Comment »
So simple… so evocative…. easy to do… and the (more…)
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