2 Things consignment, resale, & thrifts would rather not see popping up

It’s Spring! Tra-la-la and all that. Birds flitting by with ribbons in their beaks, little bees courting one another, puppies and rabbit-lets rolling in soft grass. Then there’s the Dark Side of Spring:

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The Customer Is Always (Convinced That He’s) Right

Everyone deals with dissatisfied customers. Everyone. From the grocery manager to your dentist and everyone in between. The stakes don’t usually add up to $10,000

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Random Notes on Superbowl Sunday and Consignment

I am not a televised-football fan. I couldn’t even tell you what teams are in the Superbowl this year… or even whether it’s “Superbowl” or “SuperBowl” or “Super Bowl”… but I am a very big fan of

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Planning tool for consignment, resale, and thrift shops for 2012

Hi Kate, I thought I would pass this along. It’s a calendar that lists every holiday, event, awareness, cause, etc. that can possibly be thought of. It’s a great tool for those of us who like to plan specials, sales, and promo’s around certain times of the year, or for a head’s up about having [...]

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You CAN have a GREAT holiday season in your consignment, resale, or thrift shop

Whatever you do, don’t give up the (Christmas) ghost in your shop just because you sell used stuff. Read how resale CAN have a great

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Rearranging the sales floor is hard work.

Now mind you, I don’t have to put my shoulder into it as much as my brain power, but moving my shop layout into something more customer-friendly is every bit as much hard work as pushing those racks and shuffling those sofas. Those electrons can get mighty heavy. Only another resale shopkeeper

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Anyone have a time-horn?

Ever used a shoe horn to squeeze more foot into a tempting shoe? Well, that’s what

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The absolute, bar-none, way to succeed in resale and consignment.

There are web sites out there that will tell you what a simple thing opening a consignment or resale shop is. Well, I won’t. Heck, there’s even

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Hidden delights

As I was going through the Manual this weekend to prepare it for its next printing (I think this is the 13th or 14th edition!) , I ran across some little tidbits that even I had forgotten about. And I thought I’d remind the many folks who use the Manual as an invaluable business resource [...]

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Logos I rejected (and why)

Okay, I showed you some logos that I liked so much I kept them in my reference file. Now, let’s take a look at choosing a logo. Some logos I rejected, and why: A logo from scratch: when I was developing

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Selling is a SERIES of ongoing opportunities.

Selling is a series of ongoing opportunities. The art of selling is guiding your customer through those opportunities and allowing her to

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You probably already have enough customers

You probably already have enough customers.* A customer in motion stays in motion. Persuade current customers to buy more, more often, for more. Turn a current customer into a more customer. To keep and develop

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Your consignment shop marketing plans, simplified

If you’re looking at your calendar, you know it’s time to start firming up your marketing (AKA advertising and public relations) plans for the coming year. McGraw-Hill offers this

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TMI?

There is simply Too Much Information out there, isn’t there? You haven’t got enough time to possibly USE all the great info out there for resale and consignment shops, do you? There’s fuzzies to hunt down and kill, shelves to straighten. Shirts to colorize. Not to mention a life to live. Count on Auntie Kate [...]

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A Final Checklist for Consignment, resale, thrift shopkeepers who aim to freshen up their shops

Now that you’ve read this week’s mini-series on Freshening up your consignment, resale or thrift store, let’s go through a checklist just to make sure we haven’t overlooked anything obvious. Here’s one that’s

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