Where the Deals Are Best-Selling Merchandise for Discount, Variety and General Stores

These days, more and more people are looking for a bargain. They’re also looking for a shopping experience where they can find everything that they need without making 10 different stops around town to find items. For this article, store staff members at discount, variety, and general stores described what items are the hottest sellers for them and how they serve an evergrowing cadre of customers.

At Bargain Barn Outlet in Monroe, Wash., Manager Dena Carter described her top sellers as “Really everything you ever needed but didn’t know you needed! While it changes a lot, because we carry items that originally came from Amazon and Sam’s Club, right now hummingbird houses are extremely popular. We carry all sorts of eclectic items,” she laughed. Having unique and random items such as a small bird habitat often boosts sales, Carter said, because her customers enjoy finding something that’s a little bit different and outside the expected. However, along with the uncategorizable, she explained, “We do well with consumable foods, furniture, and electronics, such as televisions, which we have a lot of at present. We also sell a lot of exercise equipment, and linen items for the home. All home items and beauty items do very well for us all year,” Carter explained. “People are always looking for a good bargain, and we have it.”

Seasonal items are also popular, she said, “Right now our top seasonal buys are inflatable pools, BBQs,

““Really everything you ever needed but didn’t know you needed! While it changes a lot, because we carry items that originally came from Amazon and Sam’s Club, right now hummingbird houses are extremely popular. We carry all sorts of eclectic items.” outdoor lighting. Air conditioners are huge sellers, but they go fast, and we don’t have any in stock presently.” Seasonal bargain hunting is especially appealing, since a good portion of the items can only be used for a limited amount of time each year. Carter added, “You never know what you are going to find here. We get a truck a day of items, with products of all kinds in the mix.”

- Dena Carter, Bargain Barn Outlet, Monroe, Wash., describing the store’s top sellers.

When it comes to customer service, Carter focuses on several different areas to benefit customers at her store. “I’m good at suggesting the things people didn’t know they needed. My top tip is to just be very proactive with people. I make sure that everyone here knows what we have in the store. I walk through the store all the

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Where the Deals Are (From page 200)

time to keep up. I can’t sell it if I don’t know we have it,” she stressed. “We also do displays of our items, and we keep them current and attractive, really show off what we have.”

In Sedona, Ariz., at the 3,000-square-foot Earthbound Trading Company, Manager Kristin Annitto said that her best-selling merchandise includes women’s clothing, jewelry, and home goods. “Our rocks and minerals, which change all the time, are very strong sellers for us, at least in part because of our location. Jewelry is always good for us. We had a lot of jewelry featuring mushrooms in the spring, now the back-to-school items are a little bit heavier and darker in jewelry look. Our home goods include bowls, garden gnomes at a really good price point, and glass vases with root wood on the bottom. They all make great gifts or things that people want for their homes.”

Annitto’s top customer services tip is to “practice nomadic selling. What that means is that we are out there on the floor talking to people as they come in. We walk them through here, we don’t just point to things. We become our customer’s buddy when we can.” She noted, “We are sales-driven but driven only in terms of getting to know our guests and turning them into friends. That’s what works best for us, establishing those relationships in order to make sales.” Also in Sedona, at the city’s outpost of the nationwide Tuesday Morning

Going Small Merchandise Items for Small Gifts

Discount and variety stores offer a wide range of smaller merchandise items that sell well for seasonal stocking stuffers and as small gifts all yearround.

At Bargain Barn Outlet in Monroe, Wash., Manager Dena Carter said, “We get that sort of thing in regularly, and people love the small toys, they go after lots of health and beauty items, and they will also purchase small snacky food items. It’s a good variety that people can use for small gifts, or seasonally in holiday stock- ings.”

In Sedona, Ariz., at Earthbound Trading Company, Manager Kristin Annitto related that “We have a good eclectic mix of smaller items, spa and aroma-based products, key chains, little grab and go stickers. Those are the favorites at a really great price point. People enjoy using them as gifts or for stocking stuffers alike.”

At the Sedona location of the nationwide chain Tuesday Morning, discounts abound with a wide variety of choices for small gifts and small holiday items. Ac- cording to Manager Katrina Guaderrama, “We do a lot of sales in food items, such as cookies and candies, chocolates and breads, people come in the store for those things to use for small holiday gifts. In the non-edible area, we always have great small items all year. Tech does very well in that category, small pieces like earbuds for phones,” she said. “Jewelry is another strong seller for us when it comes to smaller gift items, because many of the pieces have such excellent pricing.” ❖ discount chain, Manager Katrina Guaderrama related that choosing any specific type of best-selling merchandise for her 2,000-square-foot store is “a loaded question here. We have so many different things, different types of items that do well. I guess if I had to pin it down, I would say furniture and carpets do best of all. We are lucky though; we really do carry something for everyone. Housewares, bath ware, cosmetics, it all does well.” She related that the reason for the store’s wide-spread bestsellers comes down to simply having “amazing prices in all areas, with furniture and carpeting being particularly amazing for what we have. On top of that, our area has a lot of Bed and Breakfasts, and they are always

““We really do have everything here, clothing, general merchandise, gifts of all kinds. It’s two businesses in one all in one building, a full-service grocery, and a merchandise store with a wide variety of general items. Clothing overall is our best category in merchandise. Visitors and local residents alike come here to purchase that.” looking to update furnishings.” Overall, she says “All of our categories do well because people get a lot for their money here.”

Her customer service tips focus on information and visualization. “Knowing where everything is so that we can point people in the right direction for the types of items they’re looking for, that’s very important,” she said. “Presenting what we call suggestive displays is also a good idea, showing people what kinds of items work together.”

At The Star Store, a general store in Langley, Wash., Owner Gene Felton took a minute out of his busy Whidbey Island fair weekend to describe his best-selling merchandise. “We really do have everything here, clothing, general merchandise, gifts of all kinds. It’s two businesses in one all in one building, a full-service grocery, and a merchandise store with a wide variety of general items. Clothing overall is our best category in merchandise. Visitors and local residents alike come here to purchase that.”

As to customer service tips, he said, “Pay attention to your customers. We walk people through the store, and if they want something specific, we walk them right to the aisle, we don’t just point them in the direction of those items.” He related that “We also suggest items that might go together. For example, if they want a T-shirt, we also point out the hats or sun protection or what have you. We try to coordinate other items for them.”

Overall, stores that have a wide mix of merchandise, whether they are discount stores, general stores such as The Star Store, or a unique variety location, these stores do well with customers due to their price points, an ever-changing array of arriving items, and customer service that really focuses on the customer. Great pricing and variety aside, staff at each store agree that knowing the merchandise that’s available and interacting with customers about it directly is a key tip in terms of getting customers to purchase – and come back to purchase more. ❖