Posted in Shopkeeping talk, tagged advertising, christmas, holidays, resale shopkeeping, success on November 17, 2016| 2 Comments »
Okay, so you’re up against the Big Guys. Everyone’s out to grab shoppers on the Black Friday, Shop Small Saturday, Cyber Monday (why doesn’t that Sunday gets its own moniker? Dunno.)
How about something that’s readily available (it’s always a challenge (more…)
Posted in Shopkeeping talk, tagged display, learn a lot, resale shopkeeping, selling on November 10, 2016| 2 Comments »
Do you swing in your shop? What’s a swing shop? From the TGtbT.com Glossary of Resale Terms:
Swing Shop: An area dedicated to selling time-sensitive featured items. It can be as small as a single rack, or as large as the entire center of your shop. This area will generally have a much higher sales-per-square-foot figure. For more, see pages 20-23 of Shop Sizzle.
There’s swing shops all around us when we wander through the retail world. Here’s two I saw yesterday:
Hmm, what do we carry that would make a good holiday gift? Lowes answered that question with this swing shop!
Addressing the concerns that are going through your shoppers’ minds is a good way to decide what your swing shop will be for the next week or month. A gift-suggestion swing shop is especially important in our resale shops, since we do want to let buyers see that yes, they can snag a wonderful gift, even if they are in a secondhand shop!
And what’s more immediate than “What am I gonna cook for dinner?” This swing shop saves the shopper time and foot steps by gathering everything needed for that dish the demonstrator is whipping up!
First they cook, and then you buy: all the ingredients (even the cooking oil!) for the recipe they’re demo’ing.
My first day in my first Manhattan department store job, it started raining after commuters had left their homes. All those folks were caught with no protection from the weather. A swing shop was hastily set up with all of the cheapest umbrellas in the store, right in front of the glass doors, and that’s where I was stationed, selling umbrellas right and left for hours. Proving that a swing shop can meet immediate needs, and make an immediate and unanticipated profit too!
PS Swing shops can be time-savers, too. Switching it out is a great way to freshen up your shop without totally rearranging it!
Posted in Mailbox: 1-on-1 Advice, Shopkeeping talk, tagged daily operations, resale shopkeeping, starting a consignment shop on November 4, 2016| 7 Comments »
Let’s go to the mailbox! EM asked an interesting question recently:
Answer: That depends. (Don’t you love answers like that?) On three things:
1. The actual square footage of the selling space of your shop. Up to 750 square feet, usually, can be adequately staffed, at least in the beginning, with a single person. That’s the size of my first shop, and just one person was usually plenty.
2. The arrangement of the space. That 750-sqare-foot (more…)
Posted in Kudos: Ideas to inspire!, Shopkeeping talk, tagged merchandising, resale shopkeeping, starting a consignment shop, success on November 3, 2016|
Some shops do the slip-slide-into-season shuffle: as one season and its merchandise wane, the new season steps up and muscles its way onto the shelves and racks. That’s kinda the way we all shop, so it works.
Some shops have a lovely preview evening event every season wherethey present, for the first time, the beginnings of their new season. This can grow to be a coveted invitation sent out to a select group of customers.
Still others rely on the time-tested temptation trick: Just like Eve wasn’t supposed to eat from that apple tree, the shop has a sheet-shrouded rack of goodies, labeled DO NOT TOUCH! NEW SEASON GOODS COMING [date] to ratchet up the excitement for the upcoming season. That’s fun too.
But best by far, for shops whose branding fits into this mode, and who can fit a sale of this sort into their location, is this season-opener event from Mama Goose
Although I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting Kelly Moreland in real life, she’s a fount of marketing messaging. Take some time and browse through her web presence, even if this specific idea is not something for your business.
And notice an additional kudo (kudick? What’s the singular of kudos?): Their FAQ on this blog post has ALL the info a shopper would need… which, coincidentally, is all the info you need to pattern your event on this proven shopper- and profit-pleaser at Mama Goose!
Too Good to be Threw is the flagship site of the TGtbT Family of Sites for the Professional Resalers
Auntie Kate The Resale Expert 