when i should have done the math

****WHEN it takes 2 workers TO HAUL OUT some HUGE 30$ ITEM OUT OF THE ROUGH ROOM..

****WHEN ITS TOO MUCH TROUBLE , or too busy, TO CALL IN SMALL DAMAGE FROM AN ORDER or to return about anything ..

****WHEN 1/3 OF AN ASSORTED item IS A DUD AND WONT SELL
****when A COMPANY TOTALLY WASTES SHIPPING MONEY...LIKE SENDING THINGS IN 4 BOXES INSTEAD OF 1 BIG ONE....COSTING MORE THAN THE PRODUCT CAN MAKE UP.......
*****when my main salesman gets called from a big furniture looker...to talk about 3$ knobs
****when we scratch something and have to repaint or ????....

***when we do an hours work on a 20$ item

****when we pick out something to refinish...

****when 3 workers are helping the same person...

the math is our friend!!! even if its mean sometimes...

do the math:::::JIGGLING....

. i can never explain this to dh..hes such a conServative on numbers....but jiggling fits into my math usually at auctions...and thats how ive bought and priced for our store..pretty successfully...and without a calculatort......say i buy 10 things....one is super cheap and one is a big mistake....like if i missed some horrid flaw...a crack, made in hong kong , etc....when i thought it was a good antique, etc etc...

.so to make money on it all i jiggle the numbers together and WALLA the disaster cost nothing and the great deal that i got cheap now has a little higher price in my head wheni price the load...........i wouldnt suggest this all the time...its better if you make good money on your great buys......but it really gets the bad buys out of the way....and if it really was a bad buy it would be hanging around and just cause you effort and space and not sell anyway....

i jiggle in my head if i got a run of things really cheap at auction and then the best thing comes up....if im really doing well at the auction i might pay a little too much for the best thing , just to get it.....and still feel good about the auction....that way i can have the best peiece for the store and in my head anyway that exact auction still makeS great sense money wise....

the down side of JIGGLING might be my reputation.......BECAUSE I BUY SO MUCH..im usually very UNpopular with SOME OF the other buyers.... im very popular with the auctioneers...lol.... its really kind of bad...

.but to me an auction is my job and my income so i just bid on what i want.....anyway THE BAD THING THATS BEEN SAID, the word on the street sometimes, is that i dont know what i paid and sell things for less than i paid...WHICH IS PRETTY MUCH AN INSULT AND BULL S....... and probably third hand since my auction competition doesnt usually come to the store..

.but it could look true sometimes too.... i might have jiggled..

.which makes perfect sense to me....or i might have bought a box lot and counted one thing in it and sold the rest cheap.... so if you were bidding on something else in that box and heard i sold what you liked for less than i bid well you might have missed what i was bidding on and valued in the box...

ACTUALLY I CAN and do PRICE A WHOLE AUCTION load WITH DOZENS OF ITEMS BOUGHT...WITHOUT using ANY RECORD.... which is a good thing since the auction tickets dont really tell you much....like a 100$ roseville pot in a box of planters or a box of clay pots might both be described as a box of pots on my reciept.....

ON THE PLUS SIDE....THE REPUTATION OF low or CRAZY PRICING ISNT ALL BAD....IN FACT IT MIGHT BE GOOD BUZZ FOR THE STORE..

we do price antiques by what we paid a lot more than by book price.....if im low and still making money ...WITHIN MY FORMULAS.... ...im happy...

I CALL IT OUTSIDE THE BOX MATH....

do the math.....

WHAT TO BUY AND WHAT TO PAY IS ALWAYS THE BIGGIE AROUND HERE....

obviously dh is the math person in our business.....but i have to do the math all the time....

HERES A LITTLE NUMBER THAT IS A GOOD REALITY CHECK SOMETIMES...

ITS A NUMBER that really helps me judge things, whether to buy something, what to price something, etc ....ITS is a number he gives me once in awhile..... im supposed to make it lower....the number is the percent of sales our expenses are......

we are usually between 25 and 30%....

HERES HOW I DO THE MATH WITH THAT NUMBER IN MIND....

we pay 10$ for something....operating the store adds 3$, if our expenses are at 30%, so if i double the price to 20$ we are only making 7$...... and that is if we dont discount.....the lower the expenses the more we make....

confusing to me is ....if we buy something for 500$ and sell it fast , like the same day or week, , for 600$....did we make money or not? ....

i also use this number when trying to judge how to use the paid hours in the best way...

i use a lot of general ideas.and consider the numbers all the time and in lots of ways....but

couldnt do our books....and wouldnt want to...

heres a math HERES A MATH PROBLEM FOR YOU....

**YOU ARE IN A MALL

**YOUR BOOTH RENT IS 150$ PLUS 5%

**YOUR MARK UP IS ABOUT DOUBLE.OR WHATEVER....DONT FORGET TO TAKE OUT YOUR EXPENSES

***YOU SELL 500$

THIS IS HOW I WOULD JUDGE A SHOW OR A MALL SITUATION.....AND IT DOESNT REALLY COUNT THE EXTRA TIME IT TOOK, ABOVE NORMAL EXPENSES, TO GET THE STUFF THERE and it doesnt really take in all the other merchandise thats tied up ....it cant really count the good stuff that might happen too...like a big sale at the store later etc etc....from seeing us at a show or mall....there is always a lot of grey areas....thats where the your owners judgement comes in...or for us our consensus on the situation...

AROUND OUR WORLD

ITS TOUGH OUT HERE BUT WE ARE DEFINITELY HANGING IN THERE.....a few things on my mind....

* IM RESISTING LOTS OF THE DATING PROGRAMS we are BEING OFFERED..... my goal is to make do with lots less new christmas this year..... and still be a wow thing...also i hate paying for stuff after its over....

*I DONT THINK THE 3/ 50 IDEA IS WORKING VERY WELL..we didnt sign up for it......IT TAKES TOO MUCH THOUGHT ON THE CUSTOMERS PART.... THEY HAVE TO BE EDUCATED ON WHAT IT MEANS....I LIKE THE ...KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON ....A LOT BETTER...ITS simpler and MORE POSITIVE AND STRONGER ..and easier to catch on to... i love the idea of the 3 50 ... people do want us to survive i think...in a way....if we meet their needs....

..................WHAT SEEMS TO BE WORKING NOW......

*BACK TO OUR ROOTS ..jon and i have been out buying antiques together ......even going to the neat smaller junkier places......and thats been so good .....i know the smalls so much better so i need to be the one out there..im going for cute and cheap and also for THE REALLY good if its at the new lower prices........this really is enriching the store.....

. and jon is going to yardsales again...... thats how i started the business., while dh had another job........ and already we are getting lots of compliments on the flow of stuff and the new incoming is selling fast.......the rough room is packed again..you can barely walk thru....WE ARE GETTING LOTS OF GOOD FEEDBACK.....its made me realize more how important the thrill of the hunt is to our customers...... they love that experience i guess.... and its showed me how observant and interested they are in the store...

*ETSY.....not big money by any means but it is working pretty well and has brought in a couple of thousand $$$$ in the last couple of months.... http://www.gypsymarket.etsy.com/

\
*MALL BOOTHS........i wish we didnt need to be in them....its so much work ....but the checks are really nice and im glad to get them..... we are in 2...countryside and borkholders...

*THE GIFTS!!!!!....this is saving us so far this year....the furniture is way down and the gifts are pulling us thru..... i know they still like our furniture but lots of folks arent wanting to spend over 200$ right now....im working hard and paying attention to the gifts....
and i have marked down lots of things that were too high and turned them into cash...

*SOMETHING BIG AND FABULOUS IN THE MIDST OF THE REST........ like our big signs....the big parrot butler in the key west room... the gazebo amongst the 30$ planters...the 6 ft cherub screen in the frenchy room....our gigantic fake clock...etc etc....the biggest best thing in every part of the store.... its good and reminds them they arent in hallmark!!!

*DISPLAY ....i hate that this is so important....BUT IT IS....for instance..we just gathered all our clocks together in one place...making a big dramatic clock area....and have sold several.... IM TRYING TO DO THIS better in every area...

* A GREAT EMPLOYEE IS BACK!!!...IM VERY HAPPY ABOUT THIS... and i feel like i can leave easier..to go junking or maybe just to go out in my garden or have the grandkids over.... she can sell!!!! and fluff...

ITS DEFINITELY HARD OUT THERE FOR US ....BUT I FEEL HOPEFUL..

..AND I KNOW A FEW STORES WHO ARE STILLLL DOING GREAT...BARELY FEELING THE DOWNTURN..... YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE... THEY BOTH HAVE lots of THE RIGHT THING FOR THEIR MARKET.... AND WEIRDLY NEITHER ONE HAS MUCH DEBT...one is totally focused on her seasonal market....shes in a beachy situation on the atlantic...... and the other is focused on a certain demographic ,,,,upscale 20s and 30 yr olds, who like what shes offering them....both are smart and flexible .

.. its so good to see something thats working....somebody going up instead of hanging in there or going down....

THINGS WE HAVE SURVIVED;;;;;in just the last 5 or 6 yrs, except for the antique worLd...which totally changed about 10 yrs ago...

.....the almost total collapse of the antique world around here...... nearly every shop has closed and most of the malls are struggling...or gone...that was our main business....and now almost gone...

....dropping the wholesale shows..... about 80,000$$$$$ a year....we had to do the math...

....dropping our pictures....which got copied and made in china, ours were handmade by carpenters here and just too high.......ours have been in several magazines, in our customers rooms...we had to do the math...

....losing our ebay....we have a 4000 + feedback rating and cant make it work now...we tried in vain...

...losing over 60% of our wholesale.... they went out of business or are broke...hopefully they will remember us when things get better....and we are so thankful for the ones still buying right now......

just saying ...

its a BIG MESS...

.AND HOW MANY TIMES DO WE HAVE TO REINVENT OURSELVES?

CHRISTMAS IN RETAIL

right now in retail its all about CHRISTMAS.....im getting catalogs and lots of calls from the reps... ITS TIME TO MAKE THE DECISIONS AND MAKE THOSE ORDERS....BUT FIRST THE HARD PART... its time to figure out what i want to do this year, what themes, how much money , and take my wild guess about the mental climate of our customers this year...... will gm fall and leave the whole midwest in deeper doodoo?
and i have to try and remember whats left from last year.....LOTS....and lots of it is still really good....plus i just bought a 1000$ pile of really high end christmas from a store going out.... 100 $ garlands and stuff like that that i wouldnt normally have..... I DID TAKE GREAT AMOUNTS OF CHRISTMAS NOTES... LAST YEAR..and should know what sold out and what didnt go........
im just pretty overwhelmed....and wish i had someone to go over all this with.....dh just cant even go there..and jon just rolls his eyes.....they know we need all that money but thats about as far as they can go on making the plans......the staff mainly wants to do what i want....every year i wish we had a A FLORIST ON BOARD....they know what im talking about....

i never do budgets....i have no history of that..... but i know we sell about 40 to 50,000 of christmas product mainly in november and some in december......so i plan to get enough to do that again....roughly.my number decisions go like this: .. my best guess is that we and have about 10,000 of good christmas product on hand and if i buy another 10 that makes 40 retail so i better add another 5 or 10.....i figure to get to 40 i need at least 50 on hand.....
so thats my number....thats what im trying to spend in the smartest way possible....
so far my real buying is aimed at more towards gifts and what will still be good in january.like clocks frames useful stuff......and a little less in actual christmas...... i am so over cheap looking christmas crap made in china that my country customers with kids and budgets are supposed to pay 9$ for... like resin a nd lots of the ohio wholesale type stuff......and wont that kind of thing be in hobby lobby at half price in october? but what does that leave to buy????

SO MY GOAL HAS TO BE REALLY NICE CHRISTMAS THINGS THAT FIT EVERYONES BUDGET AND DONT LOOK LIKE HOBBY LOBBY.......
and also to really think thru some of the good promotions ive heard about.... and pick the right ones...

AND REPEAT OUR HUGE CHRISTMAS OPENHOUSE AND THE WOW FACTOR....we had such a good turnout last year.... even tho the economy was on everyones minds.... and we got so many compliments....its a big challenge to pull it off again....

one more problem....in past years ive always been on a retail chat room with other stores that talked and talked about this huge retail subject.....and this year i dont have that....i miss it a lot.....i have learned so much from my cyber retail chat places and the great people on them....mostly gone or scattered now.... all this was on country business forum...the old one ....now its all different and not anything great like they had before......and of course they removed all the christmas discussions when they threw away the archives.....

now im planning to join giftbeat..... it sounds pretty good....even if a lot more mainstream and inside the box than our store.... but ive heard good things about it..

our etsy plot.

we have tried so many things over the years....and every year..... ebay, mall booths, shows, all kinds of different ideas and promos in the store....lots of different marketing ideas..... so many things havent worked.... even after lots of thought and the best effort we could come up with, most things just dont make it.......but thats how we get to the good ideas.....

... now one of our new ideas is actually working pretty well ..its not a big money idea, but in this economy we have to be grateful when an idea reaches someof its potential.......

...the new idea is OUR ETSY PLOT http://www.gypsymarket.etsy.com/ .... the idea is :

.... to sell vintage parts and pieces / suppplies to the the altered artists, the junk artists, the steampunk people, the gothic artists, the scrapbookkers...junk art robot builders....etc etc .. ...

.....to have the price at nothing below 20$...we cant afford to work for a 5$ sale. ...

.....to offer big piles of raw materials .... mostly antique...i figure there are some buyers out there who would like to get the real thing for their projects....and thats what i might have or can find....

anyway its actually working.... we have sold over 80 groups.... i still have very limited understanding of how people navigate thru etsy..you can put in lotsof search words....so many that it seems like a big blur.....its nothing like the detailed and focused ebay search engine....but it seems to be working for us ....

also i love expoloring on etsy....and seeing al the neat things artists are making....

=============================================================

back at the store

WE HAVE BEEN SELLING PRETTY WELL AND IVE BEEN ORDERING......
I NEEDED PLACEMATS AND FLOWERS AND PILLOWS FROM ONE COMPANY....OUT OF ABOUT A 400$ ORDER I GOT 2 APRONS AND 3 FLOWERS... ABOUT 70$...LUCKILY I MADE REALLY BIG ORDERS FROM THEM IN JAN, SINCE THEY HAD THIS PROBLEM LAST YEAR TOO....INITIALS...GF...

WITH ANOTHER COMPANY I MADE A GREAT DECISION WHEN I SAW THEIR BOOTH IN CHICAGO AND BOUGHT HEAVILY.........VERY NEAT METAL FLOWERS...THEY HAVE SOLD OUT FOR US AND ITS ONLY JUNE...SO I TRIED TO reORDER AND THEY ARE COMPLETELY OUT....BIG LOSS ON THIS ...

ANOTHER NICE BIG ORDER DID COME ALMOST COMPLETE....BUT WITH ABOUT 6 LANTERNS WITH BROKEN GLASS...... NOW THATS WHEN ITS NICE TO HAVE A GOOD REP WHO VALUES YOUR BUSINESS...ONE OTHER DRAWBACK WITH THIS ORDER.... IT WAS ON A TRUCK AND 2 PALLETS....BUT IT CAME ON THURSDAY, WHEN WE ARE CLOSED..... I WAS OUT IN THE GARDEN AND SAW THE TRUCK.....WE ALWAYS TELL THE COMPANIES NOT TO SCHEDULE US ON THURSDAYS....BUT I GUESS THEY DIDNT PASS ON THE MESSAGE to the trucker .....LUCKILY JON SAW IT TOO and we both got to the parkinglot before he left, and WE UNLOADED THE BOXES ONTO OUR BOX TRUCK....ABOUT 50 BOXES....

another company is offering a great dating program...90 days and percents off for big orders..... dating gets me in trouble..... in the antique world it was always cash and carry no credit....you never left the auction owing any money...the spending was very closely related in time to the money coming in...thats the rhythm im used to......so then comes these companies and the dating programs...it sounds good and i do it some.....but it does mess up our money, with that debt lurking in the background.... of course in the antique only days i didnt have to buy all the christmas that we need now....

ANOTHER COMPANY SENT ME ABOUT 20$ OF STUFF....MAKING THE SHIPPING ABOUT 50%....THAT IS SO WRONG.... I REALLY TRY TO SAY NO BACK ORDERS.....DO THEY GET THE MESSAGE?do they even look? how do you prove it when you order on the phone? MY MESSAGE to myself IS DONT ORDER FROM THEM AGAIN...

AND THEN THERE ARE THE SALES REPS .. A NEW COMPANY is approaching me .she wants my order., im willing.......SHE WANTS TO SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT A MONTH AHEAD....I CANT DO THAT..maybe the rest of the world can plan a month ahead but i dont... ... THATS HOW SHE SCHEDULES ...SO I DONT KNOW HOW THATS GOING TO TURN OUT....I TOLD HER TO CALL ME CLOSER TO THE TIME..she acted like that was very wierd.....

we have 2 more big orders coming this week....creative coop....and a big metal garden order...
retail and smalls are whats keeping us going right now....so thats what im buying....
thats about it with us and the companies this week..
things seem to be getting quite a bit better around here..

an expensive day

we broke down 50 miles from home and had to be carried back...........i think we barely got under a viaduct on the way home....our truck weighs over 10,000 pounds....

the steering wheel quit working..we figured it out while still inthe parking lot....i guess it was a real close call...

at least we got our stuff loaded before the disaster...

make your money count.....

we just saw our may numbers....not pretty..... but the good part was retail was still very good and mostly around smalls and gifts........ furniture and wholesale are still way off for us ..
so i have been trying to spend my money in the retail and gift area...instead of more furniture...
so...
big orders this week for
MORE LANTERNS, they sold out at the garden party
A BIG CREATIVE COOP ORDER, some black, locker baskets,bird stuff, some chandeliers, most will be good all year...
A BIG GARDEN STAKE ORDER ,this was mostly filling up the big gaps left after the garden party....
all 3 of these orders made sense to me and will add a few extra percents of profit when they sell.....because i got between 10 and 25% off because of the size of the orders..... in the long run that really will add to our profit... and help me keep the mark up good without pushing my prices into the clouds... i try not to go for lots of little orders..
im spending a lot, but im trying to really pay attention too...
im getting lots of old inventory out the door, by repricing lower or putting more in the half price room, but i sure dont want to look less than full, especially our staples, like stars, placemats, garden iron,....etc etc

talked to my buddy the show dealer yesterday and also another one....both reported upturns in the upper levels of the market....so thats good... also hearing lots of travellers are pushing up the prices at the auctions .....so there is good activity going on somewhere...

great day..

i had a great day and bought a whole box truck full at an auction.... tons of things i can easily make money on.... the theory at a cheap auction is buy by the pound and sell by the ounce....and it was a lot of the basic things i do sell... thats the kind of buying i got to do.... with a few exceptions..... a few just knock out things i paid dearly for and will loook great in the store....

also went to a church sale and got some big furniture that sold in a day....

also might consider a lot more old christmas for the store this year....and not so much new ..im getting over trying to get 9$ for a cheap china resin figure....

not real sure what my christmas options are....im getting catalogs already...i have a lot left....

reinventing....

reinventing....thats how we have survived...

IM HEARING THIS A LOT..from other stores ..AS IN IM REINVENTING RIGHT NOW.....meaning coming up with plan b i guess..a plan that will work...

THATS SURE WHAT WE HAVE BEEN FACED WITH ...trying to make our business work without being MOSTLY WHOLESALE..just 10 yrs ago we were way over half wholesale and now its barely a fourth....

i was pretty good at wholesale.we were pure antiques then ..all i had to do was find it and give a price....dealers flocked to us.... we did huge amounts of business with hardly any help ....and had wonderful customers who spent 10...20 30,000 a year....thats each!!!! .

well all thats mostly gone, they quit, the antique world pretty much tanked, and now we have had to reinvent to be a lot more retail ....im so thankful that we were able to make the transition....the guys left are the cheapest ones....and they are the richest ones too...but there arent very many of them...my new retail customers are mostly young and on budgets....DANG!!! but they are keeping us going and still like cool stuff....

BUT I SURE WOULD LIKE TO GET BACK TO MY ROOTS.....when people loved what they dealt in or collected and were out hunting antiques ....people in big trucks and lots of money.... it was so fun...

and back then....before jon had 4 kids, we could go places and do shows..

now im very swamped at the store and locked in there..with employees, dealing with companies, open 6 days a week. no manager,,, ..so im out there mostly over my head doing stuff im not really good at...

and i sure miss what im meant for....running around finding stuff in all kinds of cool places....we were only open 3 days a week at the start...

this summer im going to try and reinvent myself ..and get back to my roots..and just see how our new customers respond..... get out more, buy more antiques, go to more auctions, and maybe steal jon away more for a show or 2.....and buy less new stuff...and still be open 6 days a week with 4 people working each day...

i would love to see kane county.... or at least go to shipshewannae once in a while...

i knew the old customers so well.and they had so much more money to spend......now my base is younger women and families....im barely cut out for retail....but what the heck!!!!

the scary part of this reinvention is that we are going to lower our sites for money coming in....and make more on what does come in....losing over half our income , the wholesale, in the last few years is a lot for our new retail to make up....weve done it but i sure dont see how...and in this economy i dont see how we can keep doing it...

it was a lot easier back then...big sales out of the barn or from the end of the truck....no fluffing needed.....then if they made money they came back for more....it was pretty simple...

if you ever come in and the store looks like hallmark with no piles or junk and see me in good hair, decent nails, and a clean dress you know ive failed!!!!

garden party numbers

dh and the bubble machine...

WE ARE ALL READY FOR THE garden party .....its our annual spring event....its always been great with 6 to 800 coming ...who knows this crazy year....but we are totally committed and prepared for THEM AND HOPE THEY DO COME .

to put it on we have spent ABOUT $3000

3500 stamps

3500 post cards....we printed

FOOD

20 FLATS OF PLANTS ... each customer gets a little 4 pack...

PAPER AND RADIO ADS

WE HAVE FLUFFED UP THE STORE AS WELL AS POSSIBLE,

... ITS A STOREWIDE SALE, ABOUT 20% OFF,

...WEVE USED OUR MAILING LIST...WHICH WE DO 4 TIMES A YEAR..

...AND OUR EMAIL LIST.....

..AND WE ARE PACKED FULL OF SPRING AND SUMMER INVENTORY....

THE GARDEN IRON REALLY LOOKS GREAT AND ITS SOMETHING THAT ALMOST ANYONE WOULD HAVE A PLACE FOR....

im so convinced on mailing list and events...its sure worked for us.... we have people griping if they dont get their invitation..i blame dh of course.... the thing is, the event has to be worth coming to....and i think this one hits the season just perfect...

i never go for spur of the moment events.... or sales .....and i dont go for coupons,,,somehow our customers never respond to them...and i sure wouldnt personally...

i hate the money and work of the snail mail....but this has worked so well i am very leery of changing anything...

this year has been pretty scary ...people just arent spending right...so i will be so glad if we reach last years sales...

DAY ONE....it was our best friday ever with about 100 sales.... so that felt good.. the biggest days are usually sat and sunday, sometimes monday..so if that follows thru we will be happy campers...

several problems.....we dropped a small blookcase on the way to someones car.....we missed some parts to something for our biggest customer of the day....it was for his new store...

my workers feel horrible when this kind of thing happens , or at least act like it...lol.. but we all hate it ... i have a pretty big problem with one of them ....it would be a lot easier if you didnt get to know them...and care about them...and how bad they need the job etc etc...

the free plants were popular.......2 of the big signs 6 ft signs we made this winter went to a big fancy store.

..worst of all , one of jons kids got a broken arm , trampoline accident, and has to have it operated on this morning.....he was in the hospital all night....

fun customers of the day....she told me about chatting in a funeral line with another antiquer about have you been to greenoak? thats kind of sick....but natural junker talk....

my nicest phone call was from an old buddy seeing if i had anything for him..hes called me about once a month for over 2 decades....oh dear.......i get him antique gold and he gets me junk , to him anyway, useless watch parts..... we had a laugh on that one....hes over 80 and into the good stuff....he wouldnt understand my etsy...lol... http//:www.gypsymarket.etsy.com where i sell old enamel watch dials.. ...ive sold to him for 28 yrs, im trained to save all the good victorian jewelry for him....this year i got him a 4500$ pile of antique watch parts... so i have a lot of brownie points with him.....

he drove 2 hrs on the spur of the moment when i called him and said do you want to see a big pile of watches and parts..you have to come right now..? he said yes... ....i was with the owner and didnt want to invest that much..i knew it was good but not that good from my knowledge level on antique watches........ he came and i remember him asking his wife, do you have 4000 $ on you? she said well no...almost tho.....i guaranteed his check so it worked out great....it was about 60 boxes of parts...

im rambeling, but hes what business is about to me....active, successful and still loving it into any age he can get t o.... and the nice part, hes in his 80s and im in my 60s so ive always felt kind of young and perky around him....

Day 2.....great turnout but no big sales....120 sales....nicest comment,...everybody loves greenoak..i know thats not reality...but it was so sweet of her to say it.... .we really do have wonderful customers....

a good day but no oldtimers spending hundreds ....

a couple of things i stocked up on because they sold so well last year havent sold well at all.... go figure..... i do keep a detailed record of these events....

2 old ladies griped becasuse we didnt have the wonderful amish flowers we had last year....

saw our little grandson in the hospital....sickening....hes ok but wont have the summer he thought....no sports or swimming for a long time...

Day THREE...... CROWD UP SALES DOWN..... we had about 120 sales..... at about 50$ each....what hurts is no big wholesale buyers and very few furniture buyers..... thats the big hurdle we are facing.. retail is holding back a bit....and wholesale is about gone ...

we did great on smalls and garden iron...and im needing to reorder quite a bit...the texas trash to treasure, neat junk art flowers, and not cheap!!!! from the springfield show has been a big hit...

last day about 100 sales....and a couple ofver 500$

probably 6 to 700 people thru...

final numbers....down about 5% with hardly any wholesale or big buyers ..

thats a yippie....maybe there is hope for this year yet....

some good signs.....

WORD ON THE STREET......
some good reports this week;;
HERITAGE IN FORT WAYNE... I TALKED TO A BUYER WHO SAID IT WAS REAL BUSY WITH LOTS OF GOOD VENDORS....its a wholesale cash and carry show...in other words shops can go there and buy right on the spot..... its a place you hope you can find some new start up companies with new and exciting merchandise..... we have several of these shows in the midwest....in columbus ohio there is heritage and offingers....and in pennsylvania there are others ...including market square....and heritage...

AUCTIONS GOING HIGHER.... there are more buyers out there ...so i take that as good..even tho i much prefer the depressed prices when im buying!!!

GOOD REPORT FROM A GOOD BUDDY .... her store is in a good town in ohio and doing just fine..SHES HAD IT 8 YRS, SO OVER THE START UP ISSUES...ive known her at least 6 yrs and always listen to her ideas....we used to be on country business retailer forum together......her store is very fresh and full of well displayed merchandise....shes one of the few stores i know who is doing great still........she carries, vera, creative coop, lots of nice high to middle range companies... she has a baby and mom department, a garden department, and lots of all about me stuff..and home decor ...and GREEN OAK FURNITURE!!!! and some clothes ....just a nice young mix..with plenty for any woman interested in decorating..... not much country and not much super high priced.... i would say a good upscale look with reasonable prices...part of her recipe is great fun events and definitely getting input from her college age daughters..... it w as good to see someone doing so well amid all the depressing reports from all around....
and also read a GOOD VENDOR REPORT from the big springfield flea market
so lets hope things are picking up for everybody...... .....

road trip.....

we got to go to the SPRINGFIELD EXTRAVAGANZA in ohio....i was on a budget....which i hate....but necessary this year, apparently....still i was able to mostly fill the big truck with goodies for the store..... seed boxes, garden iron, fun junk art flowers, a nice big china cabinet, 20 chairs, fun architectural parts.wire baskets, and lots more....

half the fun is seeing old buddies and hearing the news from around the country.... one dealer i know told me about thenew store she is dreaming up....she said she wanted it to be like a party....with a big wheel for the customers to spin to see what surprise they get....and a big gong....for her, if someone gets out of hand.....

also got to see a beautiful shop in pickerington ohio....feather your nest....see the owner, denise, above with a cool green house...

we saw lots of white shabby cottage booths....i dont know how well they were selling.....they looked busy...

...the vendor areas were down a little.... but it was still a great show....i love going there... we go every may and september....

shrinking inventory ....not selection....

this winter has been pretty scary....with sales down a bit ..and expenses at the highest of the year......meaning seasonal heat costs....taxes and some big insurance bills which seem to come early ....oh, and the economic disaster our state and the country is in.!!!!

besides all that, we are naturally hurting this time of year because of the garden iron.,..which is bought now and earlier and doesnt sell until later.... we have about $$$20,000 bought and paid for and ready to sell.... so its good...but not this week!!! i hate to sound whiny but did i mention the weather? which has actually hurt us too....

.but one plot is working...and has brought in quite a bit of money........we do have a huge messy inventory so this might not work for all stores....but we have looked hard at the inventory and simply marked down a lot of items....i prefer marking down to a big sale.... sales all the time seem bad to me...this has brought in a lot of money that was just sitting there....

we've marked down

• old stuff i wont be reordering....both the bad and the tail ends ...


• things that are too high by the customers judgement....lots of this i probably realized were losers when they first came in.... stuff from catalog pictures.......why let it just sit there looking boring and overpriced?..


• any damaged...


• any that i priced in haste when it was just in and looked better than it really was...this has cleared out lots in the rough room....

we've dug deep:

also we have dug into the corners and the storage places and into the hidden spots that hold some of the things that are in limbo....

like parts meant for projects we never got around to... .....i want anything we have bought to be out and for sale...im kind of a pack rat and son jon is really bad in the packrat department as well, especially with the architectural parts and all his hardware ...so i have found lots of little piles....

doing this has helped a lot, bringing in new money and also it really shows how some of our buying choices worked out.......and also shows you who your best companies are..and of course it spotlights waste....as in when you realize half of some order is still around and in bad shape...

i want to always have a huge and varied inventory....its our good thing....and this spring, cleaning it out a bit has really helped us pay some bills....

on the other hand, im definitely buying lots of

new fresh merchandise!!!

i dont want to look full of last years leftovers!!!

the best thing i hear from the customers is ....you never know what they are going to have...and this place just goes on and on......

so i know they want our big inventory ....

its our big draw....

and being able to thin it down a bit and turn some of it into cash has helped us get thru this spring and made the store a bit leaner and hopefully stronger.....and with more money to buy more stuff!!! which i always love to do....

some business places on line are talking about monthly budgets....i dont follow this , we dont sell much in march but i have to buy tons of spring and summer things then.... i cant relate march buys to march sales....and i have to get lots of things in big bulk....to save on shipping and to get a better price.... and in the case of the garden iron , i get 2 huge loads , because thats the only way i can get it delivered....

so i guess its a continuing

wandering not lost situation....

a good thing....

i think a good thing for us is that we dont depend on one fad or age range to keep us going....if shabby fades we have french and country going.....if crows fade we have sentimental plates...... i never want to put all my eggs in one basket!!!!
same with age ranges, i have things for grandmas and for new mothers..... like in our foo foo room...the grandmas can afford a whole set of placemats and everything they like for their table etc at 100$ a visit and the new girls can get one nice love sign for the babies room for under 10$....and look at some small furniture too...
niches are great ....but to hinge the whole business on too narrow of a niche would take a heck of a location..
..here at greenoak we have chosen to be fairly wide and general within our target market.....in new york or on the Internet i could maybe deal with just my true loves...

AROUND THE STORE....

these photos are from a cyber friend!!! she picked them off the blogs........i am so grateful for my cyber buddies..... and always love the diferent views, skill levels and wild ideas out there....thanks michelle!!!

destination strategies

we are out in the boondocks so we have to be a destination store....we have to be a store people make an effort to come to...., make a trip to.......we dont have drive by or other retail around us.....

i wish there were more books on destination stores....john shallert has a great program for one...but it takes a week and is far away ....i saw him once and he talked about it.... one of his questions was ...how far does your store draw from?

.HERE ARE SOME OF OUR WAYS TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN.....some destination strategies we use and have seen others use....these ideas are how we try to get them to want to return....

***** OFFER REAL VALUE...... get what they really like at a price they appreciate.... a price they think is really worth it....

***** THE BIG AND/or THE WEIRD..and dramatic displays.....as a start when they get in our parkinglot they see our 14 ft tinman....he stands by our entrance.....inside, things in the big and/or weird category would come and go...but weve had 9 ft cabinets.....trellises inside.... huge paintings...dr.tools....cow skulls, horrid 1950s lamps..fabulous victorian mirrors...like right now we have a 7 ft tall...4 ft wide white one with columns and carving.... or a 6 ft sign saying be nice or leave...

one great retailer i know had a truck brought into her store for her openhouse.....a neat old junky one.....and used it for a display.... another year she added a room and suprised her customers at the openhouse...every year she tried to out do herself for her openhouse.....
*****LOTS OF FUN CHEAP STUFF....

these things really bring us a lot of people...tons under 10$...windows, parts, the 1$ jewelry...the half price room.... for this you really need room...i stick ours in out of the way places.....i love shopping in anyones junk room....

****SOME BIG WONDERFUL EXPENSIVE STUFF

this kind of reminds them they arent in a totally low class junk store!!!

i buy the best in a line sometimes just for the excitement of having it...like the fabulous 4 ft square clock from peacock park design, see above........the price is over 300 but its job is to set the atmosphere too....it gets a little awe....or the big 80$ tin fish ...i got 3 in february and all have sold..i have dozens of birdhouses under 20$ and i would love to have one big fabulous 100$ one to sit in with them.....what i really dont want is average stuff overpriced..if i was a fabric store i would probably have a bit of the best and highest price in the line.....

****BEING GREEN AND REHABBED AND REPURPOSED.....

this makes us a big draw....the recycled and used furniture hits the right price points for young families and they like the eclecticness and uniqueness of our creations...or the benches made out of beds, and all our rehabbing ...or using our black buffets for tv tables..... and they definitely like our prices , so much lower than ethan allen...etc....
or coming to us for cool old parts for for their projects.....this one really works for us....

*****GREAT EVENTS******we have 4 events...and work hard to make them work and bring in the people...in other words be good enough to bring them back the next time...i chat online with other stores and have learned of some wild events..... where people line up to come....i know its possible.....

i have one buddy who takes a group of her customers to paris to shop!!!

and another who opens up her farm to other vendors and has a big fall market

...and another who has an easter egg hunt and puts up with women fighting over the prizes....

a customer clued me in on events a long time ago.... she has a smaller store than ours and buys from us, and has a smaller inventory......she mentioned her christmas openhouse brought in 30,000!!!!! that got my attention!!!...after that i tried to do just what she said.......basically she dolled the store all up...to the hilt....served food and sent out postcards..... she had a great mailing list...which we did too...but we only had one event, the yardsale, back then.but she got me thinking about a christmas event and boy am i thankful to her......now we have 4 events....feb sale...garden party....yardsale!!! and the christmas openhouse.....

if i could get into the archives from the old country business forum i would love to relate some of the wonderful events we heard about from the members....... but i dont think they saved the archives....

*****THE UNEXPECTED.and change . maybe this is easier with antiques....a great example was when we bought 4000 old coke crates....or when i got a pile of 7 victorian caskets..or one of our cupboards in hot pink.....anyone who remembers seeing that , probably wants to come back and see whats happening ...i love buying interesting stuff....just for the fun of it sometimes ...

something i hear customers say is that we always have something different, that the store is never the same.,....we work hard on that GOOD BUZZ....and our store really does change , and fast... when big furniture sells..that happens a lot and keeps the store stirred up....or when a big truckload comes in......

in the more static parts like where the smalls sell its harder to keep it exciting.........we do try to drastically rearrange sometimes....i try for once a year at least...

******SOME HANDMADE.....i know chinese is cheaper....but i love big handmade things....like our 6 ft long signs made out of old fence and old tin....and fun signs made here in carribean colors....plus our own big neat architectural cabinets from old parts...having lots of stuff that is truly one of a kind is what i really like....

A NICHE......i think this is crucial....what ever you are good at or want to be known for....just go over the top for it...

have the biggest selection, or the best selection,or the cheapest prices,or the most beautiful , any of those could help build a niche for a store....a niche seems to be the secret of a lot of going stores...

here are some stores i know and their plot to become a destination in their field.......

..a gift store + vera bradley

a gift store+full fabric service

a gift store+making lake flags...

a girly gift store....with fabulous display and gift bags that look as good as the gift...plus shes a great marketer who gets the ceos and dr.s and other bosses to buy her gorgeous gift baskets for their office workers..........

a gift store.... with antiques and gold pandora beads....she mentioned a case of beads with 60,000$ in inventory...

a gift store +a great gourmet section

a gift store + a gift basket business

a gift store+ a big pampered pet business....

a gift store + supplies and lessons....

im not sure i know very many who just make it on gifts alone...

if anyone knows a book on destination businesses i would love to read it........

we are a destination store to a nice degree..it could be to a lot NICER degree!!! ..but i know first you have to get the customers in ....

some ways to GeT THE customers IN , in THE FIRST PLACE..

.HOW WE DID IT....

• word of mouth, satisfied or even happy excited customers....our referral system...this is the best....
• our bill boards
• repeating ads in newspapers.......weve had tons of 6 week runs of small display ads..... over and over.locally and in nearby newspapers.......
• big ad campaignes for our events...using our mailinglist right from the start.....
• the greenoak website http://www.greenoakantiques.com/ which is mainly a billboard for the store.... not a selling site..barely even organized....but it does show what the store is like.....it could be even simpler like our daughters http://www.bellachicinteriors.com/ both are mainly eyecandy...+ the basic info...
• .flyers, which we try to put out lots of places...
• networking , wherever we go...

then they get here....and its all about if they liked it enough to come back....thats where destination strategies come in...

A NEW STORE TALK SITE;;;;;;

http://strictlybusiness.ipbfree.com/index.php?act=idx

where you can talk to other stores.....

word on the street.... vera report....... carol who works here at the store went to the big vera bradley outlet sale yesterday.....she said the crowd was way down....and that the stock didnt look like returns because she saw big unopened boxes under tables....also said there werent as many people buying huge piles like last year..... also she said the hottest items were;;;;glasses cases,umberellas, dog collars and curling iron covers......

then when she got home they had sent an email aout that they were taking further markdowns......bags she got for 18 on the sale day were 10.....

we dont sell vera but i have friends who do....and this info is mainly for them...