"Destiny is not a matter of chance, it's a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved."
-- William Jennings Bryan

by Jami Petersen

This week, Dennis Conforto offers his advice about how best to utilize retail space. Capitalizing on the advantages of being a smaller retailer, you can draw customers and profits into your store. Great merchandising and promotions can be more important than your size and square footage. You can even take advantage of goliath stores like Michael's and Hobby Lobby. Don't believe me? Read on....

Jami Petersen
newsletters@a-z.com

Sakura

Sticklers™ kits include gold or silver outline stickers with three Glaze® (glossy) or Soufflé™ (opaque) 3-dimensional ink pens.

 Fun to demo because anyone can color! All ages can easily personalize cards, bookmarks, cell phones, picture frames, votives, journals & more. All-in-one family fun kit works on glass, paper, plastic & metals. Great for travel, parties, incentive, award, gift and home.

Peel Sticker, Place, Color-in, Let Dry. View video on website. $6.99 U.S. MSRP

http://www.sakuraofamerica.com/Kits-Sticker

Press Releases

News you can use about the latest media coverage of hot trends, noteworthy events and dynamic industry leaders. Learn more about the current headlines in arts and crafts by clicking on the title of each article segment.
 

 

Survivor Crop 2009 - Ever After Scrapbook's fundraiser for Komen For The Cure. "One in seven women are affected by breast cancer. Help find a cure by participating in Ever After Scrapbook’s SURVIVOR CROP 2009 taking place on October 17-18, 2009. Every scrapbooker wants an excuse to spend 24 fun-filled hours with like-minded scrappers, completing those unfinished projects, putting together upcoming holiday gifts, participating in the most fun and silly games and contests imaginable, hanging out with friends both old and new, eating all kinds of goodies – all for the good of finding a cure, so here’s your opportunity - don’t pass it by!"

Survey shows American consumers planning ahead for holiday season. "Nearly six in 10 Americans (58 percent) are more concerned about how they are going to pay for their holiday shopping this year than they were last year, according to a survey conducted earlier this month by Kelton Research, Los Angeles, Calif."

A.C. Moore reports second quarter 2009 results. A.C. Moore Arts & Crafts Inc., Berlin, N.J., announced second quarter sales were $104.4 million, compared to sales of $126.4 million during the second quarter of fiscal 2008. Sales were impacted by operating six fewer stores than during the comparable period in 2008 and by a decrease in comparable store sales of 13.8 percent. Net loss for the quarter was $8.1 million, compared with a net loss of $4.3 million, in the comparable period last year.

Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L™

SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVES BY 3L™ offers you a new opportunity to gain more sales!

They now have launched an online store powered by Shopatron! This move also bolsters the commitment SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVES BY 3L™ has to their fulfillment partners by driving sales through independent retail stores. The addition of in-store pickup available for brick-and-mortar stores will create ancillary sales of complementary products when customers arrive to pick up their orders.

Sign up for FREE today!!  

by Dennis A. Conforto, A-Z Media Group, Inc.

One of the key steps involved in solving your retail dilemma is to grow your sales per square foot to $350 or more. To achieve this, your store needs to be the right size in the right location.

The Law of Retail Space
If your goal is to make money in retail, then sales per square foot is the key. A store that is too big will follow the law of retail space: if you have space you will fill it. Often, retailers operate stores that are just too big or too small for their given marketplace. If your store is too large, then you will carry too much inventory. This undermine your goal of a sizable post-tax profit.

Stores that are too small lack selection, thereby directly impacting sales. Given the choice, however, choose to have too little space rather than too much: It is always better to start with less space and grow your store to match your increased client base.

Follow the Traffic
If you were opening a store today, you would think in terms of where the most craft traffic is going within your market area. Contrary to what most in the marketplace would say, it would be prudent to open a store next to a Michael’s or a Joann. You’re skeptical? Think about competing car dealerships, restaurants and gas stations that are strategically located near each other to create a destination shopping area by category.

In short, what you want for your retail store more than anything is traffic and lots of it. And, while it may be true that the larger retailers can have deeper sales, they can’t give better service or have greater selection in your category, nor can they compete with the same selection as your store. Unlike the big chains, a good independent retailer can change her business on a dime.

Use Their Market Studies
Larger operations do lots of studies to determine where to a build a store based on demographics and traffic patterns - take advantage of their research and information and follow suit. Of course the rent is going to be higher because of the fact that it is a prime location, but the rent is higher for them as well; they don’t mind that because they did the study to prove to themselves the market and traffic would be there. And if the traffic is there for them, it will be there for you.

In addition, you will be able to feed off of their advertising. You will also be able to feed off of their weakness: they will not pay the price to be as successful as you in scrapbooking. Remember that is just one of many categories they have to manage. You can out-think them, out-run them, and at the end of the day you can out-sell them. Let them bring cars to the parking lot, all you have to do is pick off the customers when they get to the parking lot, drawing them in with your great signage and great window displays.

Learn the Right Lesson
The scrapbooking industry has been taught that retailing is a price war of the big retailers vs. the small independents. Nothing can be further from the truth. Retailing is about who is the better merchandiser and better promoter. You can never get the quantity discounts of a 1,000-store chain, not even with a buying group. The cost savings for a manufacturer of packing and shipping it all to one retailer’s distribution center is just too great. It is their advantage, and there is no need to fight it, because you will never win; it’s the wrong battle for a small retailer to fight. The right battle is selection, service and clever promotions: here you can clearly win.

In the end you will be better, faster and have a real business model that can grow and expand. There is no fighting the big retailer, so don’t fight them, rather feed off of them and win.    

Pocket Pics Allows Users to Sync Online Photo Collections to the iPhone

Synchronizing your online photos with your iPhone is a snap with Lucidiom’s new Pocket Pics application, available free on Apple’s iTunes Store to all Photo Finale Web account holders. With Pocket Pics, when a Photo Finale account holder adds pictures to her online collection, the iPhone will automatically display the new pictures in Pocket Pics. Photo Finale is Lucidiom's award-winning, white-label, photo sharing and ordering site that retailers can customize as their own.

“We’re providing software and services that allow retailers to make money amidst all the social networking hype,” said Lucidiom CTO Jason Pareti. “Lucidiom Pocket Pics allows retailers to offer that anytime, anywhere access today’s consumers crave and, because it alerts subscribers when new photos have been added to a collection, it increases the retailer’s sales potential.”

“Integrated in-store and online services are a must in the photo world and our Lucidiom APM 7.0 kiosk software features instant kiosk to web uploads as well as the ability to access online photos from the kiosk. With RSS feeds able to instantly update digital frames with pictures and now Pocket Pics syncing online collections to iPhones, customers really do have 24-7 access to photos, and retailers 24-7 access to sales.”

The Pocket Pics application can be downloaded for free by consumers through Apple's iTunes Store. The app is compatible with firmware version 3.0 on the iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch devices.

Lucidiom is providing a marketing kit to aide retailers in advertising Pocket Pics to their customers. The kit includes web graphics, in-store materials and creative marketing ideas to help boost awareness and membership subscriptions.

About Lucidiom:
With more than 55,000 APM photo kiosks deployed worldwide, Lucidiom Inc. is the leading provider of social expression imaging solutions. Lucidiom’s flexible and brand-independent digital photofinishing system, known as Lucidiom EQ, enables retailers to develop in-store and online revenue streams beyond the standard 4x6 print and empowers consumers to express themselves through images. Lucidiom EQ runs on the APM Network and features the best business systems, software tools and equipment: the APM photo kiosk; scrapbooking and creative content; the EQ Printer; APM ProfitWatcher statistics tracker; Photo Finale Web portal and the Lab 50 management system.