thestorewhisperer.com

I’ll never forget a year and a half ago when Chris my store manager started working with me.  When we opened up for what we call our “Barn Sale” it gets a bit crazy. Please note that nothing is “on sale” for a reduced price, we are just open with food tastings and brand new merchandise to kick off the season.

She was shocked at the amount of ladies in line at the door at 9:45 waiting for us to open. Once the floodgates opened, she just gave me this look that I will never forget.  Eight hours later she approached me horrified that we wouldn’t have enough inventory to last the weekend. If you don’t believe me, which I sometimes can’t believe myself, look on our Facebook page and see for yourself. The photos were posted live during our last open house the first week of December.

One of my biggest challenges during our open house events is keeping the store looking great while the customers “pick us clean”.  This phrase of course, comes from Chris, which we still laugh about. I explained that this was actually a good thing, and  the ladies obviously liked what I chose for them when I went to market!  Yes, the store was a mess. In fact, at the end of the long day, our meticulously merchandised store was indeed trashed.

This leads me to write this article as I get ready for my upcoming Open House or Barn Sale the first week of May.

One strategy is to “bulk up” your displays. Here we’ve kept the display looking clean, yet chock full of inventory. It’s important to understand that you are not trying to look like a box store with items lined up on long shelving units. This of course is death. You can bulk up a display and still make it look attractive if you use great accents pieces and keep it interesting by adding height. I’ve used these painted shutters to create height and a focal point. Did you notice how they mimick the shape of the arbor? Placing a sectioned off piece on top of the bench helps keep everything organized and neat. Adding baskets from Skalney  filled with flowers from Sullivans in the same color scheme helps soften the base and provides a great place to hide extra stock so the display can be easily replenished throughout the day.

This is part of the reason why it is so important to buy at least six of something. Especially if they retail for $15.00 or less like this crackles pottery from Raz. Otherwise, you will never get the strong visual effect you are looking for. Granted there are some statement pieces that you only have to buy a few, like these painted shutters. They are more expensive and may take a bit longer to sell, but they make everything around them look more desirable.

So go ahead and bulk up. But please, use caution when applying this theory to anything else than putting together a display. Afterall, it’s only few weeks until we have to start torturing ourselves trying on bathing suits.

I recently had a store owner ask me, “How do I sell my floral stems?” They just sit there without anyone knowing what to do with them, including me!

Just as I try my best to inspire creativity with my readers, you can get  your customers creative juices going too. How, you ask?

Wall pockets are easy to fill. They come in so many shapes and sizes that your customer can easily find one she likes to fit her space and budget. You see, all you have to do is put bushes or stems without really securing them. That way you can work with your customer to modify it to fit a specific color scheme in their home. Your customer will be so grateful that she has a custom arrangement without paying a premium price. I like to keep galvanized buckets of flowers in different sizes, arranged by color. Merchandise these around the store to match the color of your other displays. They dress up the store and it allows you to grab them easily while you let your customer play a role in designing her special piece. It’s amazing when a customer feels part of the process, they tend not to mind the price as much. How can they not like what they bought? They created it with you! You will be surprised how they will turn to you to solve other decorating challenges they have because you have gone from salesperson to a trusted resource.

I also like to make a “grand“ arrangement to create drama. I know I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s just so effective. This arrangement is just stems, all priced separately so I can easily grab what I need for my customer for what ever they need to make their creation perfect.

Usually what works well is to invite them to look around for 10 minutes or so, while  you fill the wall pocket with floral foam and secure the flower stems so they don’t move once she leaves the store. I also like to tuck Spanish moss around the edges for a finished look.

The other way I display stems is to fill a window box with floral foam and create a scene around something to anchor it. Here I’ve put our store mascot “Barney” on a bike riding through a field of flowers. They are easy to access and just look great.

Hopefully these are a couple of ideas to help you with this common challenge with floral stems. So just stay loose, have fun and be glad you never have to water them.