Set Yourself Apart From Competition
Iris Fuller, founder and president of Fillamento in San Francisco, cried for two hours after attending a retailing seminar by Peter Glen. They were tears of joy and inspiration.
“He made such a difference in the way we do what we do,” said Fuller, whose 10,000-square foot, upscale home-accents store is a Pacific Heights landmark. The spacious store features dinnerware, lamps, pillows, candles, glassware and unique gifts.
Fuller subsequently hired Glen, a former actor turned retail guru, to meet with her staff and push them to new heights in visual merchandising. Glen also inspired her to surprise her employees with an overnight trip to Las Vegas so they could collect ideas from Cirque du Soleil’s magical performance.
The magic appears to be working: Fillamento is posting double-digit sales increases and expects to hit $5 million this year.
“For 16 years, I’ve kept a customer’s point of view,” said Fuller. “The store is crispy clean, we have fresh flowers - it feels good and it smells good.”
Fuller, who does all the buying for the store, is one of thousands of small retailers who relies on Glen’s advice and zany ideas to get out of a rut. Glen, who is appearing April 17 and 18 at the International Collectible Exposition at the Long Beach Convention Center in California, said smart retailers not only survive but flourish if they work to set themselves apart from the competition.
Small retailers must create “cheap miracles” to attract shoppers. For example, Glen suggests spending $40 to tie a big ribbon around your store. Put a pig in the window - or a bull in your china shop, as one New Zealand store owner did. Do whatever you can to create a stir.
“The retail business is routine and can kill you one day at a time,” said Glen, author of “It’s Not My Department!” (Berkley Publishing Group, 1992). “Retailers have to face the competition instead of whining about it,” he said. “Most are waiting for Wal-Mart to kill them.”
He urges small retailers to sell merchandise at regular prices.
“Don’t discount it and don’t give it away,” he said. “You have the unique ability to provide real customer service - and keep a customer for life.”
Glen contends that retailing is splitting into two distinct camps: giants like Home Depot and small, specialty shops where “it’s clear what the store sells.” He predicts department stores, which are going bankrupt and merging at record speed, will eventually disappear.
He also predicts Americans will soon be buying groceries and other staples via the Internet, while shopping in small boutiques for luxury items like collectibles.
“We are becoming a nation of rich and poor,” he said. “Wal-Mart and Tiffany were the most successful stores last year.”
Small retailers also have to face the fact that people are spending less time shopping. A recent shopping-center industry survey revealed that five years ago, Americans spent 142 hours a year out shopping. Last year, it fell to about 40 hours, according to Glen.
“And last Christmas, people bought entertainment and adventure, not things that came in boxes,” said Glen.
He warns small retailers to pay attention to customers when they do stop in to the store. “If you don’t want someone to interrupt your discussion of who’s in the hospital, why not just shut down?”
Glen urges retailers to “love your business again.”
“Retailing is a terrible job. Nobody is in it for the hours or the money,” said Glen. “Concentrate on what you do best and go in that direction … furiously.”
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