Sunday, February 23, 2014

The Next Corner..Oh Me Oh My!!

Well, Sweet Tooth is becoming a nationally recognized store.  After 20+ years it has finally happened...a national gift publication has noticed that in Tulsa we can do some interesting and fun things with a gift store.
The March issue of GiftBeat magazine is featuring a story about Sweet Tooth, me and Jeff.  We haven't seen it yet, but we were interviewed over speaker phone a few weeks ago by the editor, Joyce and to tell you the truth, it was a great conversation.
She asked us how we went from owning laundromats to owning a gift store.  The truth is we never really thought anything odd about that.  My sister and brother-in-law owned the laundries with us.  One day we just decided that we should try being business owners...although we all had other jobs.
One thing led to another and we found ourselves owning 2 laundromats, a dry cleaners with 2 pick up stations and...odd man out....Sweet Tooth Candy & Gift Co.
We were fearless....that comes from not knowing any difference.  I also think it comes from my sister and I growing up with a immigrant father who set the example for us of starting out with nothing but ambition and owning his own company.
I suppose we wanted to be a little bit like our Dad.
Fortunately our husbands went along with us.  We established procedures and policies.  We felt like a team, which included employees we trusted and helped along the way.  Our belief in customer service came from thinking how we would like to be treated when we shopped or used a service...and then we applied our beliefs to our 2 businesses.
It is actually a fairly simple philosophy...the "do unto others....." belief that when you treat others well, they will give back the same.
The laundromats are no longer under our ownership and my sister and brother-in-law are on to another business; however I think all of us still operate with the same attitude.
It is a lot of fun to think that what we had to say to the editor of GiftBeat will be read by other retailers in other places.  And in a way it is a bit of a fantasy. 
It just goes to show us that we never know what is around the next corner. 

Monday, February 10, 2014

What's This Thing Called Love?

Have you ever looked around while shopping on Valentine's Day and noticed how many men are also shopping that day?
After 21 years of being in retail, we are fully aware that Valentine's Day is the one holiday every year, occurring on the same date, when men seem to feel most comfortable waiting until the day-of to purchase their gifts for loved ones and friends. For those men, price is no problem.
That is why last Saturday we were so surprised at the number of men shopping in our store.  We joked with some of them who were completely aware of the fact that they were "out early" selecting their gifts.
Are behaviors changing?  Is this because Valentine's Day is on  Friday this year? Is that what people refer to as "date night"...a term this married person has puzzled over for quite some time.  Do retailers need to plan for different behaviors in 2015?
Thinking about this question has also brought to mind other different behaviors concerning Valentine's Day.
When we first got in the retail biz, Valentine's Day meant pink for young girls and red for adults.  Our experience recently is that pink is not as popular for young girls anymore.  And we don't see as many Dads out buying gifts for their daughters.
Don't get me wrong.  Pink is hugely popular...no longer the color for Valentine's day girls, pink is now a year-round color.  It's purpose as a Valentine's gift is no longer relevant.
This thought is coming from a person who shared a pink bedroom with her sister.  I guess our Mom was way ahead of the times.
We also observed that the holiday associated most with LOVE is the holiday where lots of people shy away from putting that word on their gifts.  Strange.
Funny greeting cards have taken the place of serious, poetic cards.  Older men are most likely to purchase the frilly cards....younger people go straight for the quick sentiment inside the card.  "Hugs and Kisses" or some such greeting.
Moms and Grandmas still buy gifts for kids and are more tuned into what their kids like in terms of candy.  My Mom always bought us a box of Cherry Cordials, something I don't see these days as  a kids gift.  Now it is sours and "jar" candy which we put in Valentine cellophane bags.
And of course the candy business is a lot different than it was when I was a kid.  More choices, more color, more unusual combinations of flavors (just try Jelly Belly's Harry Potter beans!!).
Yet Valentine's Day remains a sentimental and lovely occasion...somehow "love" still shines through.

Sunday, February 2, 2014

January: The Sluggish Month

I have to tell you January is a sluggish month for retailers...at least retailers like Sweet Tooth.
We attempt to have our After Christmas sale; however no matter how careful and knowledgeable a retailer you are, there are always items left over after the holidays.
And if you put up your Clearance Sale banner you will always have some customers ask if you are going out of business.  Do those same people think that Dillard's is going out of business because the entire month of January is devoted to Dillard's sales?
Pretty soon though the Sale Corner begins to look a bit sad and even our staff and us owners get tired of watching it shrink slowly during the month.
We too are anxious to see new merchandise, something with different colors, exciting possiblities.  When the red, pink and white candy arrives, we are very excited.  And this year with new kinds of candy (check out the Duck Dynasty boxed hearts and the gorgeous Sweet Shop boxed truffles) our weary faces brighten up.  At last we have something new to talk to our customers about.
Little known fact:  if you aren't in retail, you might not know that January is Gift Market time and there are hundreds and hundreds of orders ahead of the ones you put in. The wait for new merchandise is understandable when you realize that it takes time for manufacturers to gather the orders, get them to the shipping department, boxed up, picked up by UPS or Fedex, loaded onto trucks, and finally arriving at our door.
21 years ago when we started in retail, most owners and managers went to the Gift Markets and most big manufacturers had a presence in showrooms at the Market. Now days less people make the trip to the Market, preferring to order online or wait for a catalogue or a sales rep to come to the store.  We prefer to actually touch, see and ask about the merchandise while we walk who knows how many miles down the corridors of the Gift Market.  A picture on a lap top or in a catalogue does nothing for us.
Thank goodness it is now February and we are coming out of the doldrums of January. We have donated the Christmas candy to the Homeless Shelter and Western Neighbors, replacing it with hearts and chocolates.  We are slowly packing away the left over merchandise for our annual Sidewalk Sale in July.  We are putting up new displays,with new gift and jewelry items. 
No matter how cold it gets, our hearts are warmed  by the opportunity to start over again in 2014.