BRITSMA Design Group Ltd. - Retail Success by Design: End of the dark days. Be prepared.

Britsma Design Group - Retail Success by Design: End of the dark days. Be prepared.

End of the dark days. Be prepared.

Recovery of the economy and consumer spending is on track as predicted last October 2009! Retailers must continue store update/revamp in order to catch on part of the action. You snooze, you loose.

Retailers Be Prepared

This is a good time to start planning your next store. With many of the majors in trouble & many canceled leases, many Landlords in N America & the EEU have many AAA locations empty & are motivated to strike your favorite deal. The economy will be back on track within 18 mths giving you plenty of time to get organized & get ready for the next big rush. Read our "Ten Commandments on retail success" and be prepared: "http://www.britsmadesigngroup.com/tencommandments.htm"

Thanksgiving SALES BOOST

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, there is still time sending and/or calling your wishes to your customers on your roster list and inviting them to your store to view your new arrivals.

We recommend prior to doing so, to do some house keeping as we recommended in our “Store Tune-Up” article posted earlier this month and reorganize the layout of your merchandising departments, giving more emphasis on your new arrivals which you will display in your showcases towards the back of your retail store sales area.

Wishing you all, a ‘Happy Thanksgiving’ and happy sales.

http://www.jewelrystoredesign.com/

STORE SPRING TUNE-UP

STORE ‘SPRING TUNE-UP’

CAN & WILL IMPROVE YOUR RETAIL SALES!

INTRODUCTION
A Spring ‘tune-up’ of your store can easily increase awareness of your store and your merchandise to your local consumer market leading to increase traffic flow into your store and in your retail sales. No matter how small your operating budget is, this Spring tune-up is essential to your store’s business.

This Spring ‘tune-up’ can be executed either by your in-store team or hire a professional cleaning team who can do it for you. Either way, the intent is to freshen-up your store so your jewelry will look much better and much more attractive as displayed in your cases, drawing this way more attention to them.

The following are simple steps for a good store ‘tune-up’:

RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Clean and then shampoo all carpet floors, wood floor and hard stone floors throughout the store. Then, deodorize the retail sales, consultation/diamond areas and work shop with a deodorizer. This will be a good time to engage the opinion of your most regular clients and your employees for their preference.

2. Clean the surfaces where your store’s sign(s), logo(s), graphics are displayed.
2.a. Exterior Signs: if your store has an awning, this is the time to have it cleaned and washed and, if you have a sign on it, touch it up with a fresh coat of paint or replace with new vinyl letters to freshen it up, whichever the case maybe; if you have channel letters, have them carefully cleaned inside-out and possibly have them washed too with a wet cloth. Use only clean soap water. DO NOT use any abrasive chemicals or ammonia based cleaners.
2.b. Interior Signs: logo, brand graphics/slogans; wash clean all sub-surfaces; polish al surfaces of stone wall cover; polish the letters/characters of the sign(s) making them to look bright with their overhead lighting.
2.c. If in your store you are using photo brand/product promotion boxes, have them wiped off clean using again soap water cloth (no chemicals or ammonia based cleaners); check consistency with their internal light bulbs correcting if necessary. Then, change the displayed brand photos with new ones. Consult with your brand(s) supplier(s) on the supply of new photos as they may already have a photos program you may benefit from!

3. This is the time to check all your interior lights, especially all ceiling spotlights over the showcases, for color consistency with one another. Replace the ones that their color has changed (even slightly) over the past months or year. Finally, using a soft cloth wet in soap water, wipe off clean the interior of all aluminum reflectors inside the ceiling spotlights. DO NOT use detergents, soda, any other abrasive chemical or ammonia based cleaning liquids.

4. This is the time to remove all displays and floor boards from the showcases and wall-cases and clean with a wet cloth all interior wood floors, sides and glasses of the showcases/wall-cases. Dust off your display goods (trays, boxes, stands, etc) that are covered in suede or any other fabric. If your displays look really bad, you may consider dry-cleaning them. If your displays are covered in a leatherette material you may use a soap water soaked cloth and wipe them off clean. As leatherette is a man made material, most definitely, do not use any chemicals or ammonia based cleaning liquids to wash them clean.

5. Consider, re-allocating (re-merchandising) the various merchandising departments of your store based on your recent experience of the traffic flow of your customers in your store and your store security concerns. Make your store merchandising to look like new.

6. If for any reason you do not have any interior sign(s), logo(s) or photo boxes in your store, now is the time to consider getting them in your store and placing them on an appropriate location(s). Over the years, it has been proven that they do work and help increasing store sales.

7. Finally, this will be the time to plan a couple of longer meetings or a day long training session with your sales associates than you regularly do in order to refresh their knowledge on your products and their proper display in your store, sales presentation & procedures, as well as your store’s security procedures. Keep in mind that your sales associates are your best ‘partners’ for your retail sales success.

For further information on cleaning and maintenance of your signs, displays, leatherette and photo boxes, I recommend you consult your suppliers of the same. For any related questions, feel free to contact me.

Happy selling.

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Britsma Design Group is a multidiscipline commercial design group w/practical “Retail Design Ideas that Deliver Results On Target.”©. Voted by our industry as one of the Top 50 Design Firms, 9 years in a row. With offices in Toronto, New York, Zurich, Nicosia, Sydney and Hong Kong, we serve our Clients’ design needs worldwide. Often copied by many, but never duplicated! Your design needs will be met in the same courtesy and success by our professionals at our office near you.

Our work includes handling such diverse projects as Shopping Centers, Airport Retail Malls, Duty Free Shops, Museums, Department Stores, Supermarkets, Jewelry Stores, Cosmetic Stores, Restaurants, Cafés, Food Courts, Convention Centers, Entertainment Facilities, Hotels, Spa, Marinas, Medical Facilities, Geriatric Care Facilities, Centers for Well Being and private Villa Estates, among many others. www.britsmadesigngroup.com