Theo & Teale Spot Trends

Theo and Teale own a store called … Theo & Teale. We would have said that it was a gift store if you had asked us several years ago, but today it would be called a lifestyle store. They offer their customers everything, short of appliances and furniture, that can be used in the home or given as a gift. The store, located in a freestanding building in the town of Merryville, is large, charming, and successful.

But times are hard for retailers these days, and Theo and Teale are constantly debating what will sell. Trends are very important to them. Teale is a slim, beautiful, woman who always dresses in the latest fashion, and is always the first to use the latest gadget. Theo is more cautious, comfortably upholstered, slower to change, and interested in the basics.

Both women do their best to keep up with the changing styles. They read Gifts & Decorative Accessories for news, ideas, and trends. Teale reads the American, English, and French fashion magazines. Theo reads the best shelter and trade magazines about leather accessories and Christmas retailing. They also both read news magazines and a good daily paper, and Teale subscribes to an online trend report. Information overload

The result of all this reading is lots of data. The question that Theo and Teale have to answer is what to do with it — which parts apply to Merryville and which don't.

T&T know all about the red, white, and blue trend of last fall. They are perfectly aware of the rise of warm, lively reds, yellows, and oranges. Orange and its sister color, goldenrod, are the hot new shades in New York and Beverly Hills, as well as in Merryville. Teale's sister, Toot, an avant-garde designer, has just redone her laundry room in a fabulous toile de jouy. Her canopied dog bed is covered in the same fabric. And T&T know that young people will buy anything, as long as it is brushed silver.

These two storeowners know a wide variety of status-conscious teenagers, computer whizzes, and crackerjack businesspeople who keep them plugged in to the glitter and shine of the latest electronic gadgets and stock market trends favored by the fashionable set. And you don't have to be a rocket scientist to know that people are retreating to the comfort and security of their homes: If there were adult pacifiers they would probably sell like hotcakes.

The challenge is to know which trends to focus on and which ones to ignore. "If we could buy nothing but cordless orange heating pads we'd be fine!" said Teale. "The problem is deciding which trends are important here." The focus plan

The first thing that T&T did was use a basic retailing tool: They wrote a focus plan for their store. The first part of the plan described who their customer was, and what her most likely lifestyle choices were. The second part described what Theo & Teale offered its clients, and why. That part of the plan was more troubling, because Theo and Teale's focus had begun to wander a little in the last few years. Their lifestyle store mandate was not spelled out, and they had expanded their inventory in too many directions.

"We have to pull back a little," said Theo, "Not as much fancy hardware and no electronics unless it is something so different and trendy that we can't pass it up. Those big electronics retailers and e-businesses can always beat us on price, and they have the latest gadget before we know even about it."

The next thing Theo and Teale did was put a notebook in the office. T&T asked the staff to jot down things that customers had suggested and comments about what they had worn or bought. It was here that Theo found two requests for fragrance-free candles from clients choosing gifts for people who had allergies or asthma.

Teale also created a big display of new gadgets and items in fashion colors. She had their sign painter make a wonderful painted-wood banner reading, "What's New!" in the store's colors of teal and gray. Teale hung it with strong fishing line right above the display. The Three-Customer Rule

Theo recalled reading Roger Horchow's book about how he built his mail-order business. His rule was that before an item could be put in his catalog, each buyer had to think of three types of customers who would buy it. "From now on nothing comes into the store unless each of us can think of three people to sell it to!" she said.

Theo made a quick list of the types of customers their lifestyle products would appeal to. It looked like this:

• Affluent, educated, two children, wife works.
• Two cars, two computers, three cell phones.
• Big house, eats at home, lots of take-out dinners.
• Three big parties a year, two are catered.
• Pattern is an accent, not a theme.
• Colors, must last more than year.
• Animal themes have to be funny or clever.
• Gadgets must be useful and easy to understand—no manuals!
• Price important, unless the product is to-die-for.
• Men's gifts, useful but not just for men.
• Children's gifts, not too educational, but must serve a purpose.

When Teale actually found a wireless heating pad covered in orange toile featuring monkeys sitting under umbrellas, she and Theo each pictured three customers, checked their list and … you can guess whether or not they bought it!