when we started our business we were lucky.... mainly that we fit into the huge trend of the day....or probably we were so flexible we wormed our way into the biggest trend of the day.... the trend of antiques and the country living version of decorating...
funny but country living still shows my kind of customers and their kind of decorating...
BUT MY BIGGEST HELP WAS having a business model,SMITTYS ANTIQUES ,......a store who i could see was making it ....and big time!!! as in a real income... ...the owner was an old guy and very popular and sold tons......his store and clientele fit me like a glove........ i wanted to handle what he did and sell to the kinds of buyers he had..the big guys..... i could see that it was totally possible...i wanted to be smitty junior......so i copied tons of his policies..... they were unconventional,,,,and not like most of the stores back then....but thats what i did and it worked out great.... he was about 60 and i was 27...
this got us out there into our market on the right foot..meaning our offerings were interesting and reasonable with a big turnover not perfectly staged and overpriced .. pleasing the buyers right from the start.... and there were tons of buyers back then....
he would sell out to almost the bare walls a lot...i never quite managed that...
and 20 yrs later he and i were still in business..when he was in his 80s he was outbidding me at auctions or visa versa ..and most of the other stores were gone....
now hes gone, its 10 yrs later his policies still are a big part of our store philosophy...
if we had followed the conventional version of a store i dont think we would have made it...
my point is ..copy someone in business that you see working...... not just theory or a pretty magazine shoot........look around and find a store thats making it in a way that would satisfy you..... then try and figure out how they did it what they do that works etc etc...
every year country business magazine spotlights some wonderful store.and really gives lots of business details.......thats the kind of info i really like to read.....
here are some of smittys rules that guided us....
..sell low if you can....if he got something reasonable he would pass it on...but next time it might be real high because he paid more....and this was back when most places were pricing their stock by the price guides.he priced by what he paid....he would definitely pass on a bargain to his customers.......we have made tons and tons of money on this one idea....
..no credit or layaways...perfect for us nobody owes us money...nobody is dodging me because they owe me...
..sell as is where is...but no hand holding or guaranteeing...duh
...stay till the end of the auction.... i still feel guilty if i cant make it to the end...
...ignore your auction competition....so smart
...total honesty...show those flaws
..buy by price....if something is going cheap go for it...if its in your buyers category..... he had the knowledge and the money to buy the good expensive things....he sold to the top guys in our state, in many fields but he also made lots of money on the lowly things... he wasnt afraid of the hassle and work of hauling big piles of mediocre things...he had auctioneer buyers, the cheapest guys out there for us,, but they had lots of money...and could use big groups of things if the price was right..............he knew his customers very well and what they would buy....
...learn learn learn....he was so smart and skeptical and curious
....know your customers and their wants....when id walk into his store he would let me know he had something for me...he knew what i liked...i was his customer after we got more established...he was my customer at the start.when i was really new and cheap.....we eventually switched places in a lot of categories, ,,,.due to price and our spots on the totem pole or pecking order of the antique business....
...no gossiping about customers...and he would never brag about what he just sold.. and he would never tell what price he sold something for...now i tell stories on my customers...but i never use their names.... well ,except here with smitty...
..... he was a huge buyer and if someone had a big expensive collection to sell he would give a fair price, and always had the money ...but mostly he was an auction buyer...many times he would buy the biggest best piece at auction.... ....and he had buyers waiting for him every Saturdays night, when he got home from the sale.........he never ran out of money.... that part really impressed me... his turnover must have been amazing....
at auction, if i would buy something huge or say 40 shutters, sometimes i would be called smitty junior....which i took as a compliment...he took advantage of every money making opportunity, even if it was a big hassle...
thats what got us started....and i know its not even close to a gift store....then we were almost all wholesale selling and on the secondary market, with nothing new...........but it helps us now too... in our current version of green oak antiques...
...after we got going and got our own set of buyers i bought many many truckloads from him....he was a great supplier for us...i felt like he always tried to give me a good deal...
funny but country living still shows my kind of customers and their kind of decorating...
BUT MY BIGGEST HELP WAS having a business model,SMITTYS ANTIQUES ,......a store who i could see was making it ....and big time!!! as in a real income... ...the owner was an old guy and very popular and sold tons......his store and clientele fit me like a glove........ i wanted to handle what he did and sell to the kinds of buyers he had..the big guys..... i could see that it was totally possible...i wanted to be smitty junior......so i copied tons of his policies..... they were unconventional,,,,and not like most of the stores back then....but thats what i did and it worked out great.... he was about 60 and i was 27...
this got us out there into our market on the right foot..meaning our offerings were interesting and reasonable with a big turnover not perfectly staged and overpriced .. pleasing the buyers right from the start.... and there were tons of buyers back then....
he would sell out to almost the bare walls a lot...i never quite managed that...
and 20 yrs later he and i were still in business..when he was in his 80s he was outbidding me at auctions or visa versa ..and most of the other stores were gone....
now hes gone, its 10 yrs later his policies still are a big part of our store philosophy...
if we had followed the conventional version of a store i dont think we would have made it...
my point is ..copy someone in business that you see working...... not just theory or a pretty magazine shoot........look around and find a store thats making it in a way that would satisfy you..... then try and figure out how they did it what they do that works etc etc...
every year country business magazine spotlights some wonderful store.and really gives lots of business details.......thats the kind of info i really like to read.....
here are some of smittys rules that guided us....
..sell low if you can....if he got something reasonable he would pass it on...but next time it might be real high because he paid more....and this was back when most places were pricing their stock by the price guides.he priced by what he paid....he would definitely pass on a bargain to his customers.......we have made tons and tons of money on this one idea....
..no credit or layaways...perfect for us nobody owes us money...nobody is dodging me because they owe me...
..sell as is where is...but no hand holding or guaranteeing...duh
...stay till the end of the auction.... i still feel guilty if i cant make it to the end...
...ignore your auction competition....so smart
...total honesty...show those flaws
..buy by price....if something is going cheap go for it...if its in your buyers category..... he had the knowledge and the money to buy the good expensive things....he sold to the top guys in our state, in many fields but he also made lots of money on the lowly things... he wasnt afraid of the hassle and work of hauling big piles of mediocre things...he had auctioneer buyers, the cheapest guys out there for us,, but they had lots of money...and could use big groups of things if the price was right..............he knew his customers very well and what they would buy....
...learn learn learn....he was so smart and skeptical and curious
....know your customers and their wants....when id walk into his store he would let me know he had something for me...he knew what i liked...i was his customer after we got more established...he was my customer at the start.when i was really new and cheap.....we eventually switched places in a lot of categories, ,,,.due to price and our spots on the totem pole or pecking order of the antique business....
...no gossiping about customers...and he would never brag about what he just sold.. and he would never tell what price he sold something for...now i tell stories on my customers...but i never use their names.... well ,except here with smitty...
..... he was a huge buyer and if someone had a big expensive collection to sell he would give a fair price, and always had the money ...but mostly he was an auction buyer...many times he would buy the biggest best piece at auction.... ....and he had buyers waiting for him every Saturdays night, when he got home from the sale.........he never ran out of money.... that part really impressed me... his turnover must have been amazing....
at auction, if i would buy something huge or say 40 shutters, sometimes i would be called smitty junior....which i took as a compliment...he took advantage of every money making opportunity, even if it was a big hassle...
thats what got us started....and i know its not even close to a gift store....then we were almost all wholesale selling and on the secondary market, with nothing new...........but it helps us now too... in our current version of green oak antiques...
...after we got going and got our own set of buyers i bought many many truckloads from him....he was a great supplier for us...i felt like he always tried to give me a good deal...
..i learned a lot from him... he never tried to be a teacher to me...maybe he realized what a mentor he really was to us but im not sure on that...
i wish i knew my new customers like i knew my customers when we were mostly in antiques....
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NOW we are almost all retail and not many avid antique buyers...i guess we are a vintage indie gift lifestyle green store now..lol... with few models to loook at and learn from ......i would like to see some good models of retail gift stores working, i hate to think its a big trick and there arent any....i do appreciate style models , like the mags cover...but for survival thats not what im looking for...
so now wheres a good model for a working retail store... at least 5 yrs old? what kind of store is out there producing an income for the owner? im all over the place and i dont see very many..cant think of any left in our town....
.
heres where i have seen some money making stores...
**a few stores featured in country business...
big full country destination stores
***a few with gifts PLUS something else...
interior design services
big fabric department offering custom work
custom furniture
classes and supplies
***a few perfectly focused on their one big segment of retail....
*** several meeting the family goal of a supplementary income...
I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR MORE GOOD REPORTS OUT THERE from the people in the retail trenches.......i can see why the big gift mags dont cover this....it might be a dirty little secret...
now on a fun note........
one of our customers, peacock park has us on her blog!!! http://www.peacockparkdesign.blogspot.com/ shes so much fun .... i love her designs....she stops by about once a year...one year she invited me to go to paris with her and her lucky customers.... she likes it crusty and beautiful....she has a great eye and i love her style....she gave me some display advice on the foofoo room.... plus its so neat to know someone famose!!!
4 comments:
Hi Ann,
Carol and I just returned from Atlanta and were in absolute awe of the Peacock Park showroom. What an amazing transformation! I hope she will show "after" pictures on her blog to go with her "before" showroom pictures, because it is hard to find words to describe it (other than it took a lot of work!) Congrats to her, and congrats to you too for finding a mentor in Smitty and being savvy enough to figure out what would work for you. You've done a remarkable job!
Will be down again soon ~ be on the lookout for . . . well . . .you know what we love!
Gwen
i would love to hear about your trip...
so neat that you saw that booth... maybe she will put some pics on her blog.......
...wouldnt you love to have seen the mens reaction when they had to crustify that perfect space?....
gwen, you probably bought lots of things that went thru smittys hands...
ann
HI! I
really like Peacock Park stuff, their website is cute, their showroom spot adorable- but I placed an order on Feb 9th with them. Never heard from them. In May I called about my order, they couldn't find my order. So I said "ok, forget it" They just called me last Friday- my order was ready and they were going to ship it. (???)
Now, seriously..... all the little easter and Spring things, won't do me much good in August....
Super cute stuff, I just wish they get their S**T together.
Deb
Deb,
Re: Peacock Park--I agree! I placed an order last September, never received it at all! Then placed another order online also in Feb., and like you received a call just last week. But it was for all birds' nests, etc., and a little late for the spring look ---- we're getting ready for Fall! Her showroom was fantastic, but unless she can follow through with shipping, a very expensive waste of time.
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