Need advice!!!?

Question

My mother and I started a plus size womens clothing store in a small to medium sized town in Kansas. Its on Main st where lots of other retail businesses are. And tho we cater the clothes to plus size women we carry name brand purses, nice jewelry and scarfs and hats and gloves. And we carry sandals in the summer! lots of things other than plus size clothes. we thought it was a great idea because the only place in our town where you can buy plus size is walmart! Our prices are moderate, we dont even mark things up to there retail value! The first year was ok(it kept the bills paid) the second not so hot! and now we are dreading starting the third year! Please help this is my mothers life long dream! i dont want it to fail! We spend around 25% of our monthly income on adverising..we advertise with three newspapers...two radio stations and send out newsletters! and its still not bringing in the customers!Our target age group is 18-60 we carry every thing for every women thats why my mother and i started the business together...im 20 and shes 42 so we get a wide range of style difference from out age! And i dont think our clothes are frumpy i think we sell very nice things and we are small town so we wouldnt sell a thing that we wouldnt wear ourselves or that is damaged! Our customers that do come in are always saying what a great store we have and we have so many cute things but yet they dont buy!

Answer 1

My dad operated a retail store in a town of 25,000 for over 40 years -- it can be tough! It sounds like you're doing so many things right ! Here are some things I would consider...
1. Are people put off by the name of your store? (I am plus size, but I refuse to shop at Catherine's STOUT SHOP, even though now they dropped the Stout Shop and are just Catherine's.)
2. My dad believed that the only way to compete against WalMart was to offer impecable service. Do you offer services such as alterations or free gift wrapping?
3. Do you have "anti-customer" signs up such as "NO RETURNS", "NO PERSONAL CHECKS". If these things are your policy, state them in a positive friendly way.
4. How are your sales skills? Maybe you could just brush up on some sales techniques.
5. I would consider spending less on advertising. I sold newspaper advertising for 15 years and I think 25% is a lot, especially for a small town.

These are just a few areas that came to mind, but really it sounds like you're thinking through things quite thoroughly already. I really wish you the best of luck this year!

Answer 2

I can only think of a few things:

1. Mark up the prices a bit. If they really like the stuff, they need to think it's worth more in order to purchase it. Wal-Mart undercuts prices at the expense of quality. Mark up the prices a small amount, it'll help your bottom line, and your customers won't mind.

2. Advertise online. Use the net to begin advertising mail-order style, in order to reach more customers. Use places like ebay to get attention for your site, and put in plenty of useful keywords so Google will find your site. Don't be afraid to drop the print stuff, since it seems to be having little positive impact on your bottom line (remember, cash flow is the lifeblood of your business).

3. Stop assuming your customers think as you do. Expand a little around your central theme, and understand that no two people have exactly the same sense of style.

4. Hire people who are just okay-sociable, or else people will just come in to check out the place and talk with you. Make your store a place for buying. Ask honest opinions of people, and look around Wal-Mart, in order to get ideas on how to change from storage into a store.

Hope those help. Make the dream a reality.

Answer 3

The business isn't profitable. I gather it's losing money. Get out before it cleans you out. It may be your mother's life-long dream but you can't live on dreams. Wake up and smell the coffee.

If you can afford it, you should consider buying a successful business that is making money and has been around for at least three years. You are much more likely to succeed that way than by building a business from scratch. Work with a business broker. Also contact websites such as BusinessesForSale.com.

Answer 4

most people would look at the prices on the tag, they weather pay cheap prices, you could also try putting a web site online that might help, now day people want cheaper prices, that why they go to Ross, Walmart, outlet stores.