I remember getting a lesson in marketing back in the 70's.
A Can't Miss Sale
I managed a conventional men's retail retail shop and had recently purchased some preppy, Ivy League shirts, exactly the type of merchandise my clientele was used to seeing in my store. I marked them at $9 and strategically placed them, professionally folded, pinned and packaged, in a classy display case right up front so customers could see them as soon as they walked in.
A can't miss sale, I thought.
I proceeded to watch all of them continue to go unsold day after day, (except for the one I bought) week after week. Not one shirt left the shelf.
Out Of My Hands Means Out Of My Stock
A close friend of mine who owned his own counter-culture, typical 70's styled store, a "boutique," was passing through my store. After a brief discussion about these "winners" of mine (who were actually losing), my buddy rescued four dozen of these shirts from me, saying, "wow, I can really use these in my shop."
Now, I wasn't entirely sure what he intended to do with them but out of my inventory means not my problem. I carried them to his car quickly and thought I had heard the end of it.
One Man's Trash...
About a week or so later I get a call from him, this very hip(pie?) merchant buddy of mine, and he says, "I need more shirts, Larry. They're blowin out the door!"
Says me, "fantastic! How much did you have to mark them down?"
"Mark 'em down? Are you crazy? I marked them up to $15 and only got a few left...Get me more shirts!"
I had another dozen or so of these beauties way way way back in my stockroom. So curious to see this chapter of Marketing and Merchandising 101 was I that I personally delivered the remaining stock to his store.
There's ALWAYS An Opportunity
Here's what I learned that day: Jerry had unwrapped and unpinned these gorgeous shirts and tied them in knots.
He washed and dried them in that condition and hung them on a clothesline...A CLOTHES LINE!...in his store.
They were disheveled, atrocious, and just plain unattractive. Standing next to this display was a hand painted sign (forbidden, by my standards) that blared in deep red: WILL SOMEONE BUY THESE F_______UGLY SHIRTS? ONLY $15!
He sold every one...including the dozen I delivered. And I'm still not over it.
Post Script: RSS Available
If you'd like to get updates about new blog posts, hit the RSS FEED button to the right of this post. You'll be notified every time I post something new!
A Can't Miss Sale
I managed a conventional men's retail retail shop and had recently purchased some preppy, Ivy League shirts, exactly the type of merchandise my clientele was used to seeing in my store. I marked them at $9 and strategically placed them, professionally folded, pinned and packaged, in a classy display case right up front so customers could see them as soon as they walked in.
A can't miss sale, I thought.
I proceeded to watch all of them continue to go unsold day after day, (except for the one I bought) week after week. Not one shirt left the shelf.
Out Of My Hands Means Out Of My Stock
A close friend of mine who owned his own counter-culture, typical 70's styled store, a "boutique," was passing through my store. After a brief discussion about these "winners" of mine (who were actually losing), my buddy rescued four dozen of these shirts from me, saying, "wow, I can really use these in my shop."
Now, I wasn't entirely sure what he intended to do with them but out of my inventory means not my problem. I carried them to his car quickly and thought I had heard the end of it.
One Man's Trash...
About a week or so later I get a call from him, this very hip(pie?) merchant buddy of mine, and he says, "I need more shirts, Larry. They're blowin out the door!"
Says me, "fantastic! How much did you have to mark them down?"
"Mark 'em down? Are you crazy? I marked them up to $15 and only got a few left...Get me more shirts!"
I had another dozen or so of these beauties way way way back in my stockroom. So curious to see this chapter of Marketing and Merchandising 101 was I that I personally delivered the remaining stock to his store.
There's ALWAYS An Opportunity
Here's what I learned that day: Jerry had unwrapped and unpinned these gorgeous shirts and tied them in knots.
He washed and dried them in that condition and hung them on a clothesline...A CLOTHES LINE!...in his store.
They were disheveled, atrocious, and just plain unattractive. Standing next to this display was a hand painted sign (forbidden, by my standards) that blared in deep red: WILL SOMEONE BUY THESE F_______UGLY SHIRTS? ONLY $15!
He sold every one...including the dozen I delivered. And I'm still not over it.
Post Script: RSS Available
If you'd like to get updates about new blog posts, hit the RSS FEED button to the right of this post. You'll be notified every time I post something new!
RSS Feed
