Savvy Store Solutions

March 9, 2010 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

You can’t help but love a blog that starts out with: “In the world of retail, stores are serviced by two separate yet connected groups: the manufacturers who supply the merchandise and the sales force that represents them. I am a rep. These are my stories.” Can the hit TV series be far behind?

The author of the rep blog Road Rage is Meryl Hooker, who describes herself as a “Sales Rockstar.” She offers us a candid, and somewhat irreverent,  glimpse into the life of a sales rep — as well as tips for retailer success — through her fascinating blog  entries.

Meryl Hooker is not your ...Read More

March 2, 2010 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Fair Trade is a phrase that is often heard in the gift industry, along with green, handmade, organic, recycled and environmentally friendly.  But what does it mean? Can any item become certified as “fair trade”?

Fair trade is a movement that, according the Charter of Fair Trade Principles, “intends to provide market access to otherwise marginalized producers, connecting them to customers and allowing access with fewer middlemen. It aims to provide higher wages than typically paid to producers as well as helping producers develop knowledge, skills and resources to improve their lives.”

Usually agricultural items are the first to be given the fair trade label, includi...Read More

February 23, 2010 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

This sign was part of a display of handmade African items at the New York Gift Fair, and I thought it was a great reminder of the fact that one of our jobs as retailers is to communicate the story behind the merchandise we sell. That’s something they can’t do in a big box, self-service store.

Ideally, information about our special products should be passed on personally to each customer. Although it may be hard to gauge a shopper’s interest in every item they pause to look at, noticing when a customer seems really captivated by something provides a great opportunity to offer “the story” behind the product. You, and your sales staff, should know something about where...Read More

February 16, 2010 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

What’s wrong with this picture?

Two things — the first, and most obvious, is that the green apples are labeled as red apples, and the red apples are labeled as green. But the most glaring problem is the fact that they were labeled wrong when I stopped in this Times Square market in the morning, and they were still labeled wrong when I went back that evening.

This tells me that no manager or owner walked the floor that day, making sure that everything was in order.  Do you walk through your shop every day, looking for items that are out of place, straightening displays and adjusting signs?  One of the few positive results of the down economy is that store owners and managers are &ldqu...Read More

February 8, 2010 | Link This | Email this | Comments (1)

I love learning something new from my sales reps, especially a little tidbit like this one: the most popular initials for monogram items today (at least for American women) spell out Mrs. Jakel.  Although I can’t confirm the popularity of M,R,S,J,A,K,E, and L scientifically, those do sound like top letters to me. Many thanks to Michelle Ciotti, our Ganz rep, for sharing this clever mnemonic device.

“Mrs. Jakel” made me think about the popularity of gift items with initials on them in today’s market.  You can find almost anything imaginable with a letter of the alphabet attached, and there is no doubt that many of these items sell very well....Read More