WELL its the dreariest time of year and lots of my store buddies are feeling really down....and me too..a lot of dark thoughts are going around....like why am i doing this.... is it ever going to work etc etc..... we all know its a tough economy.... some are even considering closing.... sometimes thats the smartest thing to do.... NOT ME THO!!!!
we are hanging in there and thinking we can still make it work , even tho the last couple of weeks have been horrid. i really like my work.... no doubts there!!!
but i hate thinking about money....and its a big cloud over us now....we have bought and bought for spring....spending like mad....and the store is packed ....and the parking lot is full of garden iron....its here and paid for and waiting. .
..its kind of the worst time of year to have slow days....it happens every year about this time.....
... but its no fun....one day last week we had 5 workers and 6 sales....thats just so wrong!!!! we did get lots of work done tho...
BUT TODAY WAS LOTS BETTER!!!! lots of customers and they even dug around outside....
a little sunshine seemed to make a lot of difference today. ..
we have used the last couple of slow weeks to really revamp the store.... so much new product has come in we have had to really look at the areas and how best to use them.....
im so pleased with the new lines we picked out in chicago....and really think our customers will like what we bought!!!
we are discussing the blahs a bit on the new forum.... http://www.retailersshoptalk.com/ did you join? sorry its for brick and mortar store owners only...but if you have a store come on over...
did you see the new magazine? flea market style? its really neat and started by ki ....the woman who has the fun http://www.junkrevolution.com/
heres something else that i enjoyed http://www.regretsy.com/ fun crafty etsy ideas that didnt quite work out....
PET PEEVES OF THE WEEK.... almost every order came in with some mistakes...one over charged us by about 400$ , luckily i caught it.... we were supposed to get a big discount that wasnt on the bill... ...many orders included things not ordered...i try to return but if its just a 12 $ item or group i kind of just dont bother.and sometimes i think they substitute on purpose....just a guess tho.......we did make one big return, after opening 2 out of 24 and they were both damaged i figured just send them back....it was big lighted paper balls from burton...
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i really like having a good rep....then if things go wrong with an order or a company you have someone to step in and do the right thing...i like my reps a lot.... ...
well GOOD LUCK OUT THERE....AND GET READY FOR BETTER DAYS!!!!
2 comments:
Because of some personal financial issues we have decided to go from events only to open every Saturday. Hopefully making it not as much work as extra events would. ( I work a reg. job during the week) It's kind of scary... hoping it doesn't deminish the events too much. My overhead is extremely low and I have a great following so I hope it's worth it! My problem now is that I have very little buying power. So trying to fill up the store... even at only 500 sq. feet is proving difficult! (sounds pathetic! lol ) Hoping that warm weather will get here soon so we can get in the garage to work on furniture and projects.
I give you credit for hanging in there and tackling such a huge amount of space that you have to fill. I hope some day to visit!
Laurie
Spring hasn't sprung, but it may be getting a bit more springy. Hopefully with Spring will come tax refunds and buyers. "Let's take a ride in the country" shoppers. And a lifting of the blahs from between our ears. We all pray for better times both for ourselves and for the country.
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