Cindy’s Newsletter provides its readership of over 3,000 gift shop professionals “actionable content” to help optimize their shop operation, grow revenue, and connect with one another. LEAVE A COMMENT: Click the colored comment tags throughout the newsletter or email Cindy at cindy@cindyjonesassociates.com

Get the most out of January market at AmericasMart

AmericasMart Atlanta offers an enormous selection of merchandise for every type of gift shop, and the sheer volume of product might seem overwhelming. We sat down with some veteran buyers to find out what they’d recommend in order for new and returning buyers to get the most out of the trip to January Market. Here’s what they suggest.

Tip 1: Make a Plan
AmericasMart offers tools to help buyers discover new products, and registering early will ensure buyers can take full advantage of these freebies. Molly Egbert, owner-operator of Tin Roof Gift Shop in Princeton, Kentucky, has been in business for 18 years and is working on opening a second location. “When the book comes out, it is like a celebration,” Egbert said.

As soon as the Atlanta Market Magazine arrives in early December, Egbert takes the time to Google search the vendors in the temporaries to find out if they are right for her clientele. She creates appointments during the first two days of Market with her staple brands to ensure she is able to get those early shipments. Her planning process is extensive, but it is how she is able to get special deals on shipping and be part of the first wave of shipments. “This is extremely important to me in a highly competitive industry,” Egbert said. In addition to free or discounted shipping, Egbert looks for Net 90 terms from vendors- a perk of being a VIP.  

Tip 2: Organize your Path
When Egbert gets to Market, she begins on Floor 18 in Building 2. It’s more spacious with larger showrooms, so it is a serene place for Egbert to start the process as opposed to busier areas like floor seven. In order to stick to her budget, she is certain to make appointments with the brands she always buys during the first two days as well. She methodically makes her way through every single floor in Building 2 and goes through Building 3, then Building 1, ending at the temporaries. With the level of detail she has in her plan, she is able to see it all.  Read more…

Source: AmericasMart

2020 Vision for 2020. Here we go!

By Cindy Jones, Editor and Publisher 💮  

Look to the future of your hospital gift shop. Start planning for this new decade!

Engage, learn and connect! Make learning a priority in 2020. View webinars, attend trade shows and conferences to help you do just that.

Watch your margins. Use free freight and other discounts whenever possible to reduce inventory costs, and don’t be afraid to take more than keystone markup on some items.

Set realistic goals to help your business succeed! Service, expertise and adding value will thrive in 2020.

New merchandise and new lines excites shoppers! Read publications, attend markets, and consult with your sales reps to see what introductions are out there that would sell well in your shop.  Ask for specials in order to offer your customers sale pricing at full markup.

Are you burnt out? The holidays are exhausting. Work hard to maintain balance in your life between your shop, your family, your health, and your spirit.

Find your passion again. Find the joy you may have lost and use that to motivate you again. You can’t coast on hope or ride on the wings of angels. You have to use your initiative and ingenuity. You need to be your own angel! Hope is not enough! You need to take action! Get out there and rattle some cages. Rattle your own cage. Take chances. Call someone, initiate something, do something to grow your shop!

STATE AUXILIARY CONFERENCES

GIFT MARKETS

The J Months

Do you cringe when you think about the “J” months; January, June, July. These are typically slow months for sales. So, get your creative juices going and begin making plans now for various promotional events to boost sales in your shop during the dreaded ‘J’ months. 

Set up a calendar for special events and window displays. Take notes to the market with you so that you can buy product to support these plans.

Keep in mind that the ‘J’ months are also the best months to conduct a shop renovation since traffic is slow.

10 Retail Resolutions

To Make This the Most Profitable Retail Year Ever!

1. I will never, ever, take my hospital employees (our primary customer) for granted.
2. I will make a habit of catching, praising and rewarding my staff for “doing things right”.
3. I will keep the floors vacuumed, the fixtures neat and my counter clean. These little things make a BIG impression. I will always remember, “Retail is detail”.
4. I will manage my inventory like our shop depends on it (which it does!). I will never run out of best sellers and my “dogs” will get marked down and sent down the road. I will spend time this year learning the “nuts and bolts” of how to buy properly.
5. I will take responsibility for my part in the things that don’t work. I will not blame the economy. I will “pack my own parachute”.
6. I WILL NOT WHINE. It won’t change one doggone thing.
7. I will constantly learn and improve. I will pay attention to what works and why. I will apply what I’ve learned to make everything I do better, easier and more profitable.
8. I will respond to stress with action. Every time I feel stressed out, I will immediately find a way to solve the problem and act. I will do something positive.
9. I will remember that perceived value is never out of fashion. When buying, I will find items with great perceived value that will allow me to keep margins at the 55% to 60%.
10. I will have fun. I will make my professional life a wonderful adventure – not always easy, but always worthwhile. Hey, if I’m going to spend at least a third of my life someplace you can bet I’m going to enjoy it!

Don’t take over a decade for these resolutions to become habit. They represent the traits we need to keep our eyes on if we want to achieve long-term, big-time success.

– Adapted from WhizBang! Retail Training

January Action Plan

•  It’s time to take a deep breath and pat yourself on the back for the great job you did over the holidays!
• Mark every Friday the 13th with a “SPEND $13 | GET 13% OFF ” sale.  
• Put all Christmas merchandise on sale at 40% off. Hallmark did a study and found customers did not purchase differently whether the discount is 40% versus 50% off on after Christmas sales. So, just do 40% off for the first week after Christmas, and then go down from there. Make judgment calls on certain lines whether or not to discount further after the first week. Then pack leftovers away or donate. Try not to hold over any product. If it didn’t sell this year, chances are it won’t sell next year.  However, you might hold over items that sold well but perhaps you were a little too optimistic in your ordering. ✂️
• Mark the months with five Fridays and hold a “FIFTH FRIDAY $5 OFF SALE”. Qualify it by taking $5 off any purchase totaling $25 or more. That way you are only giving a 20% discount at the most, but usually it is less than 20% off because they often spend more than the $25. It is also a good incentive to add on to a sale that might only be $20 initially. It helps to have a ‘$ off’ button setup on your POS register which pro- rates the discount off each item purchased. If a customer returns just one item, the sale price is listed by item on the receipt. Be sure to advertise this event with emails to all hospital employees.  

…. Learn what to buy this month, what to mark down, and what to display. Get the Valentine’s pre-order template and all of the January action plan in the Twelve Month Action Plan. 

DISCUSSION

VENDORS FOR BABY ITEMS & BACKPACKS?

Q. We are looking for vendors for baby items and backpacks? I have gotten baby items from Kellies but they do not have zipper slippers.  I have also had a request for backpacks and have not been able to find a vender.  We are a small hospital of 18 beds. Cindy, you do an awesome job keeping us informed and helping solve issues. Thanks again for all you do!! – Lori Bullerman, Pipestone County Medical Center, Pipestone, MN. 25 beds. 12/31/19

PHYSICAL INVENTORY

Q. We are preparing to do our first organized inventory this week. Do we count items sold on consignment as inventory?  In the past we didn’t include these items because we didn’t actually own the stock. Thank you. – Robin Truax, Gouverneur Hospital, Gouverneur, NY. 77 beds. 12/29/19

PRICE OF STANDARD CANDY BAR

Q. What is everyone is charging for a standard candy bar? I sure don’t want our hospital employees thinking we are scamming them. – Sandy Palmer, Harrison Valley. 311 beds. 12/28/19

TURBAN & GREETING CARD VENDORS

We have purchased basic turbans for chemo patients for years from Betmar and a lesser expensive style from Kelli’s. We also recently started carrying a line of greeting cards called Kimo Kards. We have received a lot of positive feed back on these from our customers. – Sandy White, Shop Manager. 12/25/19

OUR BEST SELLING CATEGORY

The biggest sellers in our shop is purses, scarves, and jewelry. Thank you for this newsletter and your support all year long.  Lots of great information. – Nancy Collins, Volunteer Services Manager, London Hospital, New London, NH. 12/23/2019

YOUR SUCCESSFUL HOLIDAY THEMES OR TRENDS?

Q. What looks or themes has everyone been successful with this Christmas? Our biggest selling items continue to be in metallics, silver, copper, and gold mixed with white. I have been less successful with “cute” Christmas (i.e. Santa, Snowmen, and Gingerbread). Even when I google “Christmas trends for 2020” almost all of the pictures are showing metallics. Is anyone else seeing this trend in their market area?  – Eric Wininger, Gift Shop Manager, Reading, PA. 759 beds.  12/16/19

NOVEMBER SALES DOWN?

Q. I would like to know if anyone was down in sales for November? Our sales were down about $6,000 year over year. In my area, a lot of the stores had their Christmas items on sale at 50% off the second week of November which I believe had a lot to do with it. That, the weather in my area, and a couple of internal changes were all culprits.  I was just curious if anyone else was down due to the shortened holiday season with Thanksgiving being a week later.  – Kim DeBord, Marketplace Manager, Riverside Medical Center, Kankakee, IL. 325 beds. 12/4/19

My November sales are also down but we need to keep in mind that Thanksgiving was a week later this year and Thanksgiving really does kick off the Holiday Season. I am expecting to make up the difference in December and we are off to a stronger start than last year. I think it is too soon to tell how are this year’s Holiday Season will end up. Thanks for another great newsletter! I hope everyone has a very successful Holiday Season. – Carol A Colpitts, Gift Shop Manager/Buyer, Milford Regional Medical Center, Milford, MA. 116 beds. 12/8/19

A SUCCESSFUL TOTE SALE

Something that worked extremely well for us was a Tote Sale. I bought holiday totes from Burton & Burton for $1.66 each, priced them at $4.99 which is a 66.73% mark-up. The promotion is, buy a tote at $4.99 and anything you can get in the tote is 25% off.  And our pitch is “We can make anything fit in a tote.” We sold out of the totes in 2 days and I bought a lot of them.  I do a tote sale two times a year and my customers/employees can’t wait for it. Thank you so much and happy holidays. – Kim DeBord, Marketplace Manager, Riverside Medical Center, Kankakee, IL. 325 beds. 12/4/19

BEST SELLERS

Warmies, a heatable plush and home therapy product. They are always adding new items to their line. 844-927-6437
Simply Pairables from Snoozie Slippers. They have added a lot of new items. Simply Pairables are now available in women’s and men’s sizes. 252-650-7000
SwirlyDo Hair Ties by Lindo. I carry them in the large and small and I have reordered several times. This is a great product to keep at the checkout counter. 206-973-2363 – Sally Begue, Gift Shop Manager, Akron Children’s Hospital, Akron, OH. 263 beds.10/16/19

The Gathering of Friends cookbook series is good. The photos in this book are fantastic, the recipes just wonderful, and they include a shopping list and place for guests to sign at each gathering. With the holidays coming up I highly recommend it! Cost is $12.50; I sell them for $29.95. – Anonymous. 10/19/19