Ted Fuller of Lafayette, California writes:
“My friend has a gift store in the downtown area of Antioch, an older suburban city in California. At night, nearly all the shops shut down and the streets are almost deserted.
“She’s tried without success to stir up some action with the merchants association. After a brief period of remaining open at night, she gave up.
“Perhaps your readers can give her some tips.”
Create a night life scene that ties into the culture of your community and make your shop the destination to go to with regularly occuring event(s) that draw people in the evening.
Bring in some local music or provide a show case for local artists; tap into California wine country with bottle signings, meet the winemaker or wine tastings.
Serve beverages along with light fare and use the products you sell during your party — you’ll be able to demonstrate and talk about the things you sell. You may even approach some of your vendors and ask them to provide some items at no cost for you to use.
When initially publicizing your event, use an invitation style card, don’t forget to note there’s plenty of free parking and if your event is “dry” note that families are welcome.
Having a consistent day and time makes it easy for people to find you and to “schedule” attending. Be prepared to be persistent — sometimes it takes a while for you to build a following.
Once your shop becomes the destination to go to each week, you’ll be surprised by the level of excitement that your guests will bring each week.
How about setting up a promotional evening where people are invited to come and browse and have some cheese and wine. Maybe it could be branded as a VIP event on an invite only basis with limited places to encourage people to come along. You might even offer those who come along a small gift with all of your branding.
I think that Ted Fuller’s friend’s greatest challenge may be swaying Antioch business leaders to support not just her enterprise, but flourishing business in general. I have a client with a similar challenge. He built upscale condominiums in a community where the Chamber of Commerce hasn’t supported growth (dumbfounding, because after all, that is what a Chamber is for). The city’s downtown, what is left of it, closed its doors at 5 p.m. After months of challenging the old guard, new leadership has been put in place at the Chamber of Commerce and retail closing time has been extended to 6 p.m. It’s not much, but it’s a start. A small town must encourage its leadership to spur growth or face extinction. I don’t believe that the California-based gift shop owner should stop trying to campaign for her city’s support. Even if she creates the most entertaining events, attraction to the store may be short lived and in the long run, not profitable — it’s not a business that people have a need to visit everyday. While we suggested buzz-generating attractions to the condo complex as Joan did to Fuller for his friend, it became apparent to me little will happen until the city supports and promotes long-term improvement and a customer-inviting area.
What about looking for other ways to capture revenue? Though she can focus on hosting events and drawing in crowds, it could be a major uphill battle if none of the other neighborhood businesses are on board.
I suggest taking a cue from seasonal businesses. Gift shops located in tourist towns are forced to find creative ways to generate revenues during off-season. Instead of putting so much energy into expanding hours in an area that isn’t supportive, she could refocus her attention to opportunities that have more long-term staying power.
Is your friend selling items online? If it were my store, I would use those evening hours to focus on building online sales. There are many opportunities for selling gift items online and over time this could result in generating a tremendous percentage of her company revenue!
Good luck!
I agree with several of the comments above. The closest little town to me has had this issue for years, much of it due to the same business owners having the same opinion and not playing along with those who want to try something different.
Besides building an online business, what about partnering with other complimentary shops in another area? Could be down the road, could be across the country. If she carries (or could create) a specialty product that could be distributed by a few select partners, maybe it would expand her reach and increase sales.
Don’t give up!
Many thanks, Joan, to you and Stephanie Chandler,
Cheryl Pickett, Michael Carr, Duncan Brodie and Gail Sideman for their splendid ideas. I know my friend in Antioch will be grateful.
You’re doing a splendid job in smoothing the often bumpy path to effective publicity, marketing and overall performance.
Ted
Have you considered the addition of Gift Baskets? Regardless of your business, items enhanced with ribbon, cellophane and place attractively in baskets, gift boxes and gift bags are eye cathching. You can also have demostrations of bow making and how to enhance anything, for, every holiday.Or invite someone in to do demo’s. After owning Martha’s Vineyard Gift Baskets, I have just written a book called “Wrap It Up and Ring Up Profits” . Much success to you.