Re: OT Christmas Discouts
- From: "JanOrme99@xxxxxxx" <JanOrme99@xxxxxxx>
- Date: 22 Dec 2005 15:32:18 -0800
Don, in Maine wrote:
> Went Christmas shopping today in Filene's, a Federated Department
> store. Everything we bought was between 40-60% off, then we got 20%
> more for a newspaper coupon, $10.00 more for another coupon. We then
> opened a charge account for another 15% off the final sale price. It
> seemed to me like must have been very close to Walmart pricing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For sure, retailers are competing with the likes of WalMart this month.
We were in Palm Springs for 10 days. Came home to Nor Cal Monday.
While there, my wife Carol went on several shopping trips. One of them
was to Gottshalks. She got a discount of 50% then another 10% off
for using their card, then another 10% because it was Senoir Day and
also that day they had a special where they paid the State sales tax
which
is like another 8.5%.
She bought me a very nice Columbia Fleece Jacket. The price for that
jacket out the door was $12. The original price of this jacket was
about
$30 which was not a bad price in my mind.
Are the retailers making any money at this? Damn if I really know. I
hope
they are. But, I do know that in our own Mom & Pop Retail store that we
own, we would be well below our cost to open the doors. I'm sure it's
different for the "Big Guy's" but we can't operate that way. We set a
decent price for our items, choose items to offer that are proven to be
what our customers want in our store, and rarely offer more than 20%
off.
Mostly we stick to that original good everyday price.
We also look for sources that will end up being good bargains for our
customers. This year and this season, one thing has been fine jewelry.
We found a local source of a Jewelry Liquidator that has a large
inventory
of fine jewelry from closed out of business jewelry stores. We
periodically
have a special sale date for their jewelry. We have our own jewelry
cases
that we stock from various sources including this Liquidator. But for
those
special sales we set up a horseshoe of 8' tables for this wholesaler to
come
and set up just for that day. They are a local Mom & Pop operation like
us
that have no retail outlet of their own. Mom and Daughter come and
staff
the Sale Tables for the day. We print them preset price tags. We ring
the
sales for them and we get a nominal percentage of what they sell. They
sell a pile of jewelry to OUR Customers at wholesale prices.
It's a WIN-WIN-WIN kinda thing for all. The wholesaler is happy for a
place
to move their stuff. Our customers are very happy and keep asking
us to repeat the sale. We are happy, not just for the percentage we
get,
but for the traffic it brings to our store and the other sales of our
regular
items that take place. It also brings in new customers that have not
been
in before. We do local advertizing for these sales and also pass out
flyers
to customers for weeks in advance. I also have a set of sandwich signs
that
go out on two major streets and I have about 40 helium ballons to
attract
traffic to our location next to a T.J. Maxx.
This is one way that us little Mom and Pop outfits make things work in
this retail world we live in. We have loyal customers that come back
over
and over because we operate on a more first name basis of come on in
and sit around the old cracker barrel kinda atmosphere. We provide all
kinds of individual service and advice to our customers. If we don't
think
we can help them we tell them so and then give them advice on where
to go and what to do. We have new items and we also have quality
consignment items. We also have a loyal following of consignors
that trust our judgement on the best ways to market their items. Those
consignors also end up being customers in most cases.
Jan Eric Orme
MERRY CHRISTMAS
.
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