Less Grinch, More Giving

Now that we're deep into the fourth quarter, you know, the season formerly known as Christmas, I am forced to reflect on my own somewhat precarious relationship to the holiday. It started out okay. My memories of Christmas morning are all good, waking up to the excitement of knowing that Santa had come during the night and that there would be alll sorts of wonderful toys under the tree (my apologies to all our Jewish, Muslim, and other non-Christian friends, you'll just have to bear with me a moment). Even as I got older and no longer believed in Santa Claus, the morning of Christmas lost none of its appeal. Part of what made the day special was my father's talent for putting together stockings. We weren't wealthy by any stretch of the imagination but Mom and Dad always managed to make the holiday very special and there would always be that one great gift that was exactly what we wanted - even if we hadn't even thought of it. But it is my dad's stockings that are the highlight reels of my Christmas memories. He would fill them with all kinds of silly things - note pads, pens, candy, little games, small books, and any number of other stationery items and toys and it was always the first thing my brother, sister and I would go for. One of the items he would usually include was a "book" of Lifesavers, the little ring-shaped candies. It was a set of several flavors inside a package that opened just like a book to reveal the wondrous assortment inside. Anyway, every memory I hold of Christmas past - that is my pre-retail existence - are as glowing as the sappiest Christmas movie.

A dozen years in retail later and my Christmas spirit was all but exhausted. Oh sure, I wished customers a Merry Christmas, but in reality, Christmas to me came to mean a month of 14-hour days, crowds, pushy people and all too often rude and angry customers. Let's face it, retailers often see the worst side of shoppers at this time of year. I would look forward to Christmas day as merely a day off after working myself to the bone. As a manager I was the first one in and the last one out every day during December, sneaking out for an hour here and a half hour there to do my own shopping. For years, if I couldn't find the right gift in Soho within a couple of blocks of the store, or in the store itself, I didn't get it. The fact is I did very little Christmas shopping at all. My then wife and I would spend Christmas day at home eating our favorite foods whether they went together or not - shrimp cooked with butter and garlic, chicken liver pate, and so on - and then go to the movies. Not exactly "It's a Wonderful Life."

My life changed in the following years. I left retail, I left that marriage, and I left New York. When my current wife and I got together I inherited 4 step-children, only one of which still believed in Mr. Claus during our first couple of Christmases together. The very first one had me in a conundrum. Suddenly I was going to be a part of a family Christmas and my Christmas spirit was almost on a par with Scrooge and the Grinch. I say almost because I didn't actually go as far as stealing the presents from Whoville, and no, I was never visited by any ghosts of Christmases past. I helped buy some gifts but my main job became putting together the stockings. I must have found a small glimmer of old spirit somewhere deep down inside of me because I started to get into it. Each year the stockings would have a theme and I would carefully hang them on the fireplace so that things seemed to burst out of the top of the brightly colored stockings (maybe that was the problem before - I had no fireplace in New York!). The kids are all grown now, and one of them has a nine-year old son, my grandson (when you start a new generation there is no more "step") who is just beginning to question the existence of Santa Claus but is still clinging to the belief. This year my wife and I decided to pare down the gift giving, to be a bit more conservative, especially in light of the fact that we went to England for three weeks this fall and spent a small fortune. I decided though that the stockings would be as grand as ever and have been slowly, methodically assembling the components - small books, CDs, candy, and other little gifts. As I was buying the last of the traditional candy for the stockings - Hershey's Kisses, M & Ms, etc. - I saw on a display something I hadn't seen in many years, since I was a child actually, a "book" of Lifesaver candy. Of course, this modern version is festooned with a picture of Spongebob Squarepants holding a giant wreath, but it was essentially the same. Now I don't know if Lifesavers have been doing this every year or whether they just brought it back, but it sent me reeling in much the same way Proust must have felt when he bite into his Auntie's madeleine. Needless to say, my grandson will find one inside his stocking Friday morning when he comes over. I'll bet somewhere my dad is smiling. Happy holidays everyone.  

No More Discounting!

Lately many business owners are telling me they are tired of discounting their wares.  The “sale” ploy has run it’s course and by now I hope most retailers have the right merchandise mix and the right level of inventory of goods that people want to buy without having to cut prices as the primary step to build traffic and cash flow. 

 The risk of sale pricing is that you are subject to commodity pricing rules- the low priced goods prevail.  I’m starting to see a new trend of limiting the quantity of merchandise  (primarily in the soft goods market but equally applicable to specialty retailing) to get full prices for goods that are considered valuable.

 The door busters used to draw holiday shoppers this season had some interesting conditions… one national chain had a limit of 500 items at the low price but spread that limit across the country at all their stores rather than having a per location limit.  With 136 stores only 3-4 items were available per location.  And...  sorry no rainchecks! 

Actually that's good for specialty retailing... consumers will start to migrate to quality having been subjected to such tactics.

What about value?  It’s something customers used to trust you with.  If the product is fairly priced and will met their needs then it has value to them and will help you build repeat business.  However the word “value” has been promoted interchangeably with “sale” nowadays so I caution using that term in promotion.  Improving service, creating events and fun tastings and cooking demos will improve your value more than advertising a sale.

Ron Jakubisin

Jakbisin.com

 

Our Friend Bill

I’ve been staring at this blank computer screen for a while now since I got the call. A friend in the industry let me know that we lost a superstar this week - Bill Snyder of William Glen in Sacramento, Calif. passed away on Tuesday.

When I think of Bill all I can do is smile – if he were here right now, he’d be giving me a big hug, teasing with a playful joke and telling me with perfect Irish brogue that everything would be all right.

For those of us who were blessed to know Bill, well, it was like getting to know joy. Bill embodied joy. When he walked into a room, happiness and laughter were his companions.

I’ve been speaking with lots of people today about Bill, reminiscing, sharing our gratitude that we were able to spend time with him in San Francisco this past August. 

And no matter who I spoke with – above the sadness – the joy of knowing Bill is what resounds. He was a gentlemen’s gentleman, a businessman ahead of his time, a father, a husband, a grandfather, and a friend.

Someone said to me that to see him in his natural habitat – on the sales floor- was something to witness. He had an instant rapport with customers, with anyone. 

Bill’s passion for retail is evident in his store. William Glen has been at the cutting edge of retail for decades. The store was founded in 1963 by William Snyder and Glen Forbes as a decorating studio and candle shop. William Glen was one of the first cooperative independent retailer catalog services. Beginning in 1976, the company offered services to independents across the country, printing catalogs as a collaborative effort.

Although the catalog service stopped in 1999, it's just one example of Bill’s innovation and forward-thinking business sense. 

Bill embraced technology. At William Glen, gift registries have been in use since the 1970s. In 2003, William Glen launched a proprietary registry link that serves as a bridge between the point-of-sale system and the web-based gift registry itself. 

When Bill began venturing into cyberspace, he again relied on his own inventiveness to create a site deserving of his customers. He launched “Bill’s World” blog – [http://www.williamglen.com/billsworld/default.asp] a place, he told me this summer, he created to live on long after he was gone. I recall responding to him that nothing could ever go on without him.

He said only, “Ah but it will.” And he smiled that great grin that always made whoever was so lucky to be there to see it smile right back.

And he gave me a squeeze that let me know all was right with the world.

Bill will be missed by us all, by grateful individuals and a grateful industry. And most of all by his family, who we send our most heartfelt condolences and thanks for letting us all share in his life.

[William Glen was selected as the Global Innovator Awards with the International Home + Housewares Association. You can read about this fantastic store and retailer here.

http://www.gourmetretailer.com/gourmetretailer/esearch/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002276460]

Showtime!

Before I was an editor and before I was in retail, I was in the theatre. I began as an actor (doesn't everyone?) and then turned my focus to directing when I discovered it was far more interesting. My influences were a couple of very good directors and teachers I worked with, and perhaps more importantly, some very bad directors I worked with. In any case, it was a hugely fullfilling endeavor and a very special and memorable time of my life. Recently, while hanging up some theatre stills of productions I was in (you can take the actor out of the theatre but you can't take the ego out of the actor) to spruce up my office walls. Not everyone would agree, I'm sure, that the pictures were an improvement to the walls, but it's my past and my walls so up they go. As I was musing on my days treading the boards and trying not to tread to heavily on the Bard, I was once again reminded how like theatre is retail. In fact, at the beginning of my retail career, working in an upscale and rather cutting edge housewares emporium, we used to have a brief staff meeting every Saturday morning after we dusted, swept and generally readied the store for business, and before we opened the doors. As customers would begin to line up out on West Broadway, we would hear from the buyers about new products or from the store manager about new developments in the store and so on. When we would finish our meeting, and they were always very short, the owner would say, "OK, it's showtime!" 

It was actually a reference to a film we had all seen called "All That Jazz" by Bob Fosse, in which the lead character (who was playing Fosse's alter ego), everytime he is about to go out to either perform or to direct his cast, says to himself in the makeup mirror, "It's Showtime!" We all understood what Gregory meant when he said. Of course, half the staff was connected to the theatre in some way, but nevertheless we knew it meant it was time to leave personal baggage at the door, focus on the customers, and really give them a show. If you are a store owner, especially in the specialty food or housewares business, you are the producer, director, set designer, and prop master (or mistress). Your staff is your cast, the merchandise accounts for the set pieces, and the script is your product knowledge and your ability to inform and inspire both your staff and your customers. This is especially true during the fourth quarter when stores typically do a majority of their business for the year, but it should be standard operating procedure throughout the year. Set the scene by displaying your goods in a thoughtful and compelling way, and not just at Christmas. Continually re-evaluate your signage and general merchandising. Is everything up to date? Is the information clear and easy to understand? Are your signs concise so that shoppers can digest the information quickly and easily? How about the lighting, the music, and your staff uniforms? No matter how long a play runs on Broadway - 2 days or 2 years - the preparations each night before the curtain goes up are exactly the same. The stage manager goes through an exhaustive checklist to make sure everything and everyone is ready before finally letting everyone know it's showtime. This holiday season, especially in light of the current economic situation, get your staff motivated like a good stage manager and go out there and put on a great show. Then you can stay up and wait for the reviews to come out.

Cheese & Beer

This week's fabulously delicious segment on TGRTalk.com focuses on cheese and beer pairings. Join Gourmet Retailer Senior Editor James Mellgren and his guest, Anheuser Busch Brewmaster George Reisch, as they sit down to talk about beer and cheese pairings. This is the second segment in a series of live discussions on TGR Talk Radio so tune in and be sure and send us your comments and suggestions.

We've really had a great time pulling these conversations together - it's simply another element in our mission of reporting great stories and research to you in a new and innovative format. Next week you can tune in to hear 2010 predictions for gourmet retailers from industry expert and TGR columnist Phil Lempert! So visit tune in and turn on to TGRtalk.com

http://www.tgrtalk.com/2009/12/beer-and-the-cheeseboard/