ASD Gifts and General Merchandise Special Report

Selling Gifts at Variety (From page 56)

When it comes to stocking new gifts items that will sell, Pawlowski suggested talking to customers and spending time on social media to learn what’s trending and what people are looking for and why.

Dick’s 5 & 10 just celebrated their 60th anniversary in business. “We’re humble and grateful and give the Lord all the glory for richly blessing us all these years,” said Steve Hartley , co-owner of the 9,500-square-foot shop.

They always keep their counter fresh. “It’s ever changing with the latest trends,” Hartley said.

They also create themed statements throughout the store. For instance, in the spring and summer of this year, they’re changing their end caps into sunflower, lemons and bee statement, which they think will perform well.

“We work really hard at making complete statements of the merchandise,” said Donna Knulty , manager. “That way customers can come to any one of our counters and see an entire assortment, where they’re

Trends in Decorative Signs

At Liberty & Vine, Co-Owner Amy Pawlowski said they’re moving away from signs with phrases and towards more signs featuring landscapes.

And at Paint Bank General, they’re noticing that tin signs are trending.

going to pick up two or three items – Items they didn’t even know that they wanted.”

They attend markets and use what they learn there to compile merchandise from various vendors to make a full statement. If you’re only buying from one or two companies, your assortment is not very wide –the customer wants to see a wide variety of merchandise that needs to come from many different vendors, Knulty said.

They carry approximately 7,000 to 8,000 different SKUs from 75-80 vendors in their gift department alone. “We are selling statements in most cases,” said Hartley. “And when someone comes in, they are buying two, three and four of that statement.”

So, for example, Jurassic Park will be huge this year, so their dinosaur section will not only have toy dinosaurs. It will also have backpacks, socks and books. And furthermore, it will also have dinosaur themed merchandise that could be purchased for a grown man, including dinosaur themed tape dispensers and

Lastly, at the Ogle Brother’s General Store, signs mimicking the trail signs marking each hiking trail at the nearby Great Smoky Mountains National Park made locally and retailing for $159.99 sell well. Otherwise, signs at a low price point between $8.99 and

$14.99 have always sold quickly. It’s usually the simple signs that sell best, said Partner Chesleigh Gore. For instance: signs with one sentence like “Love you more” draw buyers. ❖