Products & Strategies for Consumer Technology Retailing
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July 2, 2009 From Contacts
They've got Energy Star stickers on their showroom TVs, sustainability messaging in their e-mail blasts, and have even reserved a corner of their warehouse for recycled CE products, so you can't blame Greg and Sible Hager, owners of the Tri-City Electronics chain in North Carolina, for not at least trying to go green. After all that effort, though, Mr. Hager would be happy if even one customer would take notice.
May 28, 2009 From Contacts
Michelle Troupe, a true Jane-of-all-trades, put herself through college nearly two decades ago while simultaneously holding down a full-time accounting position at a fast-growing Washington CE retail operation, Definitive Audio. Dabbling in the inventory and human resources departments back then, Troupe found herself becoming increasingly interested in the store's products themselves. At age 20, she purchased a 35-inch Mitshubishi TV. "My boyfriend was really jealous," she laughed. "I love video, and I bought a great digital camera too. During my years on the business side, I was slowly getting to know our manufacturer reps and more importantly, our credit managers."
Troupe's business business acument and her relationships with vendors were catching the attention of the Definitive Audio management. When one of their buyers left the business, they gave Troupe a shot at the position. That internal promotion in 2000 was all the incentive Troupe needed to throw herself into all aspects of the company, from writing most of the store's procedural manuals to implementing a barcoding system which decreased inventory shrinkage by over 50%. "I've grown right along with the company," said Troupe. "I found I could do a little bit of everything."
This month, Troupe's turns her attention toward event marketing, working hard on the company's annual "Home Theater Experience," a 2-day display of the latest in AV technologies. She says the goal is to generate excitement about new products and to highlight new possibilities for all budgets, all part of Definitive Audio's lean-times sales strategy.
"With this recession, we've gone back to the basics. We're getting on the phone, connecting with our existing and non-active customers. We're trying hard to get back into the customer's home," said Troupe. "Business isn't what we'd like it to be right now, but whoever can weather this horrific storm is going to come out really strong in the end."
April 16, 2009 From Contacts
Nearly three months ago now, Nicole Bogatitus hosted an opening-night party in the heart of Greenwich village which was flooded with creative, under-30 enthusiasts. It wasn't theater or alt rock which drew the "youngs," but, remarkably, film cameras...and film prints too.
April 2, 2009 From Contacts
Forget sales gurus, showy spec sheets, or a big, fat spiff. For Lee Sherman and Mike Walker, partners at Hahn Appliance Warehouse in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the most motivational two words in retail sales this year are these: Scratch and Dent.
"Average tickets are down, but the volume is still there if you work harder to get it," said Walker on the phone recently, having just taken out more deep-discount ads in the local paper. "We run these 'Scratch and Dent, Up to 50% Off' ads and it gets people in the building, and then 60-70% of them end up buying something new."
February 19, 2009 From Contacts
For all his self-deprecating humor and understated, workmanlike charm, Ed Kasza is, quantifiably, one hell of a salesman. In fact, just this past January, he was honored by Monster Cable as the nation's "Most Monsterous Retail Salesperson" of 2008. The man can move product, an even more amazing accomplishment when you consider that his market, though spanning a fairly wide footprint, is not especially affluent.
"If a guy comes in to by a $50 DVD player, Ed treats him the same as the guy who's spending $500 thousand with us," said Wexler. "I think that's what keeps people coming back over and over and over. He fights for them. Frankly, sometimes he fights too much for them, heh. But he's their advocate and they know it."
January 22, 2009 From Contacts
For the last 13 years, Enas Raynor has achieved something rare in modern retail: she's stayed with one company, working her way up from a Christmas-help salesperson to a Territory Business Manager in charge of the East Coast. That company, however, was Circuit City, and last week, Raynor, along with 34,000 of her colleagues, learned that the chain's remaining 567 stores will be liquidated and shuttered over the next 60 days.
January 15, 2009 From Contacts
Ever heard of "National Photo Preservation Month"? Don't worry if you missed it this January, it's still a new concept, but proof of a rare form of retail audacity: make-it-up-as-you-go-along marketing.
December 18, 2008 From Contacts
According to a recent Prince & Associates survey, 34.9% of the uber-wealthy (households with a net worth of $30 million or more) estimated they'd spend $42,000 on A/V equipment and services during Q4 of 2008. In a season of dismal numbers, dealers who work with high-end clients could finally take some comfort.
"I deal with the upper echelon of the entertainment industry and my clients aren't changing," said Joe Cali, CEO of Joseph Cali Systems Design Inc. in L.A. and Santa Monica. "I'm charging my regular fees for design and engineering. My labor hours and charges even went up this year and no one said a hoot about it. What I think we might see, however, is that the number of projects may go down. They might not build that Malibu beach house right now, but decide to wait and look at it again next year."
December 11, 2008 From Contacts
What's the best business to be in during a recession? Bar-tending or debt collection are decent bets, but Marlene Jones, an entrepreneur in Webster, TX, is thinking it's a good time for repair services too. Marlene and her husband Ron purchased a Friendly Computers franchise in 2006 and have been hard at work since selling at-home (or business) computer repair and networking services to their target market, the suburbs of Houston. She says they are busier this year than ever.
December 4, 2008 From Contacts
Three years ago, Rikki Huffman was a 23-year-old with a nursing degree, a brand new baby girl, and absolutely no business experience. Her husband Jimmy was on the road a good bit, working at the many oil fields within driving distance of their home in Hobbs, New Mexico. So when Jimmy's brother suggested that the three of them team up and purchase a car audio retail operation that had come on the market in Hobbs, Rikki saw herself as a minor player in the deal.
"I guess I thought I'd work part time, just shadow my brother-in-law and maybe handle some of the management stuff," said Huffman. "Ha!"
