November 2013 Newsletter
From our newsletter archive. Prices, specials and stock mentioned below were current when it was written and have since changed; see the shop for today’s prices or call 812-201-5900. Sections that repeat an earlier newsletter are left out.
The Countdown continues .... 1 month until Christmas!
If you have not checked your inventory of paper disposable labels, hard tags and ink tags please do so now. This is a busy season for us as well and sometimes we do run out of certain popular tags.
We will be closed for Thanksgiving on Thursday Nov 28th and on a skeleton crew Black Friday Nov 29th. We will also be closed for Christmas Dec 24th & 25th, closed for New Years Jan 1st, and on skeleton crew between Christmas and New Years.
I will be in transit to Orlando, Florida on Dec 26th but will still be answering tech calls as needed. While in Florida I will have my cell phone 812-201-5900. We are currently scheduled to be back in Indiana the 2nd week of March.
Mark & Mary Fouts
Consider Free Advertising to boost sales this year
With the birth of the internet and the frenzy that the younger generation has taken to texting, blogging, and facebook, the newest means of getting business can be your internet. The best part of this is the fact that it does not cost a .43 cent stamp to send it out. Here are some things to consider:
1. Put out a newsletter outlining your featured products and helpful hints. Start by putting out a signup sheet to acquire the email addresses of your current customers. Put a link on your site for customers to add themselves to your newsletter mailing list as well.
2. Start a blog about your products or your store. Let customers comment on the great service they have received. Be prepared to answer for any negative comments as well so that your blog looks up to date. This is also a great way of keeping a pulse on how the store is doing according to your customers.
3. Consider allowing customers to sign up for instant messaging offers. A quick text once a month about what is on sale could also help business. Even the movie theater texts me once in a while with an offer for free popcorn, just to get me back in the theater.
If all this seems a bit complicated, recruit one of your younger sales associates to pilot this program. They are all about social media and can easily get you up and on the web's current social media places.
3 Great Ideas to Diffuse Shoplifters
1. Caulk around mirrors in dressing rooms. This will keep shoplifters from stuffing clothing tags behind the mirrors. Also consider no cushions in the dressing rooms as shoplifters hide tags under these as well.
2. Watch for empty hangers, tags stuffed into pockets of other garments, or tags on the floor loose to tell if you have shoplifters. If the tag on the floor has the pin still in it then you are tagging in a seam. The shoplifter can just pop a stitch in the seam and wiggle the pin head out. Always tag 4" from a hem or a seam to stop this. This will also diffuse cutting the garment to get the tag off because this far from the hem or the seam makes it hard to repair at home.
3. Use concave mirrors in the corners of your store to cover the blind spots between racks or far away from the cash register. This way the sales associates can keep an eye on things without bothering the customers.
Thanks to the many customers that have refereed to our tech support people as "superheros". We do our best to solve any issues you have in a timely manner and without having to send anything back into our office.
Some things to watch out for this holiday season:
No Christmas tree lights in the same breaker as the security system. Use an extension cord and get them on a different circuit than the towers. This is the most common problem we hear about this time of year. If you are not sure what breaker your outlets are on, wait until after you close the store and close out your register, then flip the breakers till your security system goes out and then test all the nearby the outlets to see which ones are also dead. A good thing to do is to put baby outlet covers in these outlets and do not let anyone use them for other equipment. Anything plugged into the same breaker as the towers can affect them.
Another common problem is when someone plugs in a vacuum cleaner in one of the outlets on the same breaker with the system. It causes constant false alarms, so if you have to do it, just be aware that the vacuum is the problem.