Retail101

As The Economy Starts To Really Hit Home... All We Can Say Is Hold On For A Roller Coaster Ride. If You Are A Retailer That Survived The Late 80's & Very Early 90's You Know What I am Talking About.

With Elections On The News 24/7 It Only Makes Consumer's Hold On To Their Purse Strings Allot More. We All Hear About The Foreclosures, Unemployment Rising And No Matter How Much The Feds Cut The Interest Late It Just May Be The Cliche of " Too Little, Too Late".

For The Next 2 to 4 Years This Will Be The Test. What Are You Made Of ?...Are We Mice Or Men ( For All Intense Purposes). These Will Be The Years That Will Either Make Us Stronger OR Put Us Out Of Business. I Have Been Through This Before. A Little Older Now, I do NOT Want To Go Through It Again, But I Am. To Survive The First Thing Is "STAY FOCUSED", Take One Day At A Time & Re- Adjust Your Retail Mentality. As A Retailer You Will Have To Work Harder To Keep What You Have, See The Opportunities to Re-Adjust Your Inventories And Make The Changes Needed To Get Through This Period. My Uncle Herb Had Several Sayings, The One That Comes To Mind Is " You Can't Sell What They Don't Want".

For The Last Several Years There Have Been Lines That Have Catered to That Average Price Of $100 - $200 An Outfit. THOSE DAYS ARE OVER. Don't Keep Going Back To A Well That Is Now Only Selling On Your "MARKDOWN" Racks. Consumers May Still Spend The Same Amount With You, But They Will Want MORE For Their Money. It's Up To YOU To Hunt Out Those Lines That Are JUST AS GOOD and At A Better Price. If The Line Is Cute, Well Worth The Money, Has A Great Value For The Price,FITS, And They Have Customer Service THAN I SAY Go Get That LINE. Try NEW Lines That Are Lower At Retail AND DO NOT SELL TO Department Stores, Discounts or Chains. They Are Out There ( This Is The Part Where You Will Need To Work Harder To Find Them). Lots Of Reps Have Lines You've Never Heard Of, Don't Be Affaid To Ask...

Retailers, Reps AND Manufacturers Will Have To Play Nice And Work Together To Survive. Reps Are The Main Liaison Between YOU & The Goods You Buy For Your Store. If Manufacturers Want Your Business, Now Is The Time To Fish Or Cut Bate. Days Of $3,000 Minimum Orders Are Over Baby!!!! There Are Plenty Of Lines That Do Not Have Minimums OR Low Minimums Of $200-$300. SPREAD Your Money Around, Test NEW Lines. See Which Ones Want Your Business. This By No Means You Have A FREE Ticket To Take Advantage, But This Is Where Companies Build Relationships. I Have Found And Made The Strangest Relationships With Retailers I truly Consider "Friends". I would Never Intentionally Hurt Them And Vise Versa. I Want Their Business, So Do My Manufacturers. I would Rather A Retailer Take Several SMALL Orders in over 4-5 Months Than A Big Chunk. DKS Vendor's often Have INCENTIVE GOODS, SPECIALS, Or Something They Are Willing To Do To Keep The Relationship On A Path That Builds A Business For Both.

Now That You Are Thinking About Reevaluating The Lines You Carry And Trying New Ones, Think About "BUYING" Closer Into The Season. If You Can Honestly Tell Me That You Can PREDICT YOUR FALL SALES, Well Then By All Means Go Buy Fall NOW. But Really, The Reality Is That Your Crystal Ball Can Only See 30-60 Days Out. Can You Tell Me That You KNOW For A FACT That in JULY You Will Have The MONEY To Pay For Those Fall Goods? Especially When It Will Be in the 90's Outside. Which Brings Me To Uncle Herb's Second Famous Quote, " You Can't Sell From An Empty Shelf". True, But If Your Customer Is Holding On To Their Purse Strings What Will They Buy? Retail Customers Are Going Back To The Days Of "BUY TODAY, WEAR TODAY". Remember This When It's 90 Outside and Your Racks Are Filled With Sweaters And Coats. Remember My First Paragraph? Re-Adjust Your Inventory, Re-Adjust Your Thinking. Watch What The Consumer Is Spending AND Buying In Your Store... AND RE-ADJUST To Fit Their Needs.

If You Are A Retailer who Knows Us (Me), You Know I Am A No BS Kindda Gal. I Love My Retailers, I Want Them To Do Well. It's Not Always About The Money & Commissions For DKS, It's About The Relationships & Friends We Make.

Next Month, We'll Add More Ideas On Retail. You Can Always Contact Us... For Just About Anything!!!