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Archive for the ‘Shopkeeping talk’ Category

Is there still time to improve your shop this year? You betcha.

Posted in Shopkeeping talk, tagged , , , on December 29, 2009| 1 Comment »

What are they saying about YOUR consignment shop?Is there still time to improve your consignment or resale shop this year?

You betcha. Take the next few days to sit down and read. And make (more…)

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Go buy a lot of little Christmas trees this weekend.

Posted in Shopkeeping talk, tagged , , on December 26, 2009| 1 Comment »

little Christmas trees can mean a BIG boost to rresale sales

If you have a shop which sells kidswear, go find little fake Christmas trees.

You’ll need them next November 1.

Little kid-can-carry trees that small ornaments can be hung on. Buy them all when you find them. 

It’s gonna be a great holiday promo that will boost not only Christmas sales, but your shop’s community-activity profile as well. 

Now’s ALSO the best time to

plan for next year’s holiday season to be even better than it was this year! Order TGtbT.com’s PDQ of  Holidays in Resale for your advance planning.

More holiday decor items you might want to stock up on, and why.

Okay, why little trees?

Here’s the plan: You want families to remember your shop in November and December. So you build a promotion that will keep customers coming back regularly during this time span.

You start with the beginnings of a season-long giveaway: a little Christmas tree per child.

Each week, you offer something to decorate this tree. Depending on how much time and energy you and your staff can devote to this you can offer:

  • A workshop once a week for the kids to make an ornament through materials and lessons offered by your shop.
  • A branded “kit” of take-home-and-make supplies with easy instructions.
  • A how-to handout per week with an ornament-making idea for kids to try at home.
  • A completed ornament for the children to hang on their tree. These could have a theme: Week One, an ornament representing transportation “I’d drive from anywhere to visit MyShop,” Week Two a teeny piggy bank for “I am learning to save money by shopping resale at MyShop,” and so on.

Some notes:

  • Be aware of the safety factor: no small parts, no instructions involving sharp knives, ovens, epoxy!
  • Be sure your promotion actually promotes your shop with your logo on all kits, instruction sheets, maybe even a sticker sheet for them to fill as they try the various ideas you offer.
  • If you are offering an instruction sheet, keep the past weeks’ around so some kids can play catch-up as time goes by.
  • (You might even offer a full collection of these ideas as a stocking-stuffer freebie to parents and teachers, or a post-holiday idea book they can use next year.)

Don’t want to deal with those little trees? Vary the promotion by having a big, bare tree in your shop window. The participants can hang their ornaments on your tree and the community can watch the tree become bedecked with a dazzling array of imaginative ornaments. (Bonuses: A great photo-op for local media and a way to bypass the necessity for display changes for weeks! And the week after Christmas? They can bring in their visiting relatives to see the tree they helped build, and then reclaim their ornaments to use on their tree next year.)

So what has this type of promo done for your business?

  • Increased traffic in your shop at a time when families might be lured away to the malls and big-box retailers
  • Built community involvement and shown community acceptance of your business
  • Provided a news-worthy story for the media
  • Promoted loyalty to your shop by your clientele by starting a new tradition
  • Increased the growth of consumer habits…let’s go to MyShop this week!
  • Perhaps decorated your shop windows for little effort and built the appeal of your shop’s location by the tree’s display
  • Given consumer families and their out-of-town family a reason to come to the shop between Christmas and New Year’s.

This idea specific to shops which carry childrenswear is from KidBiz: It’s NOT Child’s Play, one of TGtbT.com’s Products for the Professional Resaler

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The day after Christmas can be a resale bonanza, in both ways.

Posted in Shopkeeping talk, tagged , , on December 25, 2009| 3 Comments »

Two email subject lines to send to your consignment shop clients Saturday. (more…)

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Need something to talk about at those awkward holiday gatherings?

Posted in Shopkeeping talk, tagged , on December 22, 2009| 2 Comments »

Christmas tree, after visiting pets are finished with it.Like why Santa is a turkey? (Well, okay, he was from an area that’s now Turkey.)

Or who decided that Santa lived at the North Pole? (Hint: an artist.)

Stupefying pieces of trivia to amaze and stun your relatives.

Need to get that BOOOORING conversation quieted down? Printable Christmas Trivia quizzes, from easy to hard.

Need to get the kids to PLEEEEASE stay still for JUUUUST 10 minutes? Get out the crayons and print out the Snowpeople Coloring Page from HowToConsign.com.

Need your computer to sing carols quietly in the other room? This is a pretty interesting collection.

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Whatcha gettin’ for Christmas?

Posted in Shopkeeping talk, tagged , on December 21, 2009|

Make your Christmas merrier and your business better!Make your Christmas merrier, your shop better, and your career TWINKLING with Products for the Professional Resaler from Too Good to be Threw, The Premier Site for Consignment, Thrift, and Resale Shopkeepers. (see them all)

PS A little stocking stuffer that will stuff your shop with new clients… that costs less than a box of Godiva chocolates? Your shop on the  Resale Shop Directory at HowToConsign.com (here’s how)

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