Sure the economy still sucks regardless what the economists point out and business is tougher than ever. Most pundits would point out now is not the time to invest and reinvent. They say to ride out the storm and be safe during turbulent times.
Being in business today is anything but safe. Ask any business owner. The reinvention of our corporate store didn't take place because it needed to, it all came about because of SAP, our database software system.
We are now finally able to review metrics and do something about them. For instance, we found out that we had nearly 5000 items in the store. Of those, nearly 1400 didn't sell during the past 8 weeks. The top 500 items accounted for over half the business.
What happened? We became complacent. A customer would ask for a certain item and we would bring it in. Too bad the item never sold afterwards. Repeat this 1000 times and viola! More importantly, we didn't have the right tools in place. It's also a whole lot easier facing items than taking them off the shelf, cleaning the shelf, and putting the items back on.
First thing we did was get rid of the 1400 plus items. Whew, that was a lot of work. Next thing was to bring in our best selling catalog items not in the store including our all new CLUB1 items. Then we took our best selling store items and prominently featured them. And finally, we added a bunch of fun stuff like really cool Quotable greeting cards, mugs, notepads, snacks and a whole section of cleaning supplies.
New graphics and store displays were added. New signage, new in-store secret deals and new T-shirts for the staff. Also added was our new outlet center featuring all the stuff we couldn't sell at regular price.
Today is the soft grand opening and you will be impressed. Special thanks to Lo, Megan and Lindsay who put up with me for two weeks and worked until 8:30PM Saturday to make it just right for today.
Today also kicks off the launch of Hair Manya, Kemon's sexy and cool styling line. The Kemon "store-in-a-store" concept is really hip with its own color bar, mixing station and full range of products.
Of course there is no rest. Next up is our Shelby Township store. What fun and I know the Shelby girls are revved up and ready to go.
Happy Monday!
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