Posts Tagged “retail”

No. I didn’t see any signs like that today. But I might just as well have.

“All Merchandise 60% Off!” 

“Storewide Savings! Up to 80% Off!”

“Everything Must Go!”

“Save Big! Save Now!”

“Everything marked down today through Jan. 12th!”

Um. Yeah. Like I believe THAT.

Here’s the problem(s)…since desperate retailers already marked down their merch before Christmas, they didn’t have much in the way of margin to deal with after Christmas. No problem…now they’re simply taking a loss on everything, just in order to move out the old merch to make way for the new. 

“Collosally stupid” doesn’t begin to describe this. Read the rest of this entry »

I grew up working for my Dad. He owns a music studio (a teaching studio) that had a small counter, where he’d sell strings, drumsticks, picks and a few books. No big deal. When I came along, I had visions of turning his operation into a “real” music store, complete with lots of stock, drumsets, keyboards, synths, guitars, amps – the works. My Dad was somewhat indulgent, but quite a bit less enthusiastic when it came to opening the wallet to buy stock. He was a child of the Great Depression, and believed that caution and prudence were rules to live by. No floor plans and going into debt for him, certainly not on the hopes and dreams of some kid who thought he knew everything. Turns out the Old Man was pretty sharp, for in the intervening years, I’ve seen more music stores than I care to think about asume room temperature when faced with recessions, big store competition, and lack of forecasting the fickle tastes of John Q. Public. 

What I learned, working retail for my Dad, could fill a book (and perhaps, someday will). One lesson that was brought back to mind today was what it was like working retail for Christmas. In many ways, they are some memories I’d rather forget. Read the rest of this entry »