Do You Know What Merchandise on Wheels Means?

In conversation the other day my friend Brian taught me a new "retailer's phrase":  Merchandise on wheels.
I have never heard that phrase and when I found out the meaning from Brian, I also realized that we have rarely experienced "merchandise on wheels".
Brian learned the phrase from his father.  It means that a manufacturer will guarantee the product and if it is not working in your store, the manufacturer will take it back.
So the merchandise is "on wheels"...going out the manufacturer's warehouse and coming back to the warehouse if necessary.
Very few manufacturers offer retailers a guarantee like that.  When you order a merchandise line, you are taking the chance that it will "sell through"....another phrase meaning you will never have to discount it or put it in your Sidewalk Sale!!
Ah, that is a retailer's dream.
In an earlier blog, I wrote about merchandise "flying out of the store".  Sell through merchandise is probably merchandise that is flying out of the store.
It seems that larger retailers, department stores for example, know ahead of time that they are going to have to put a great deal of merchandise on sale.  And the consumer has learned to wait for that moment when the store offers a discount.  In fact we are now in the season of department stores and other large retailers putting summer mechandise on sale in order to make space for fall and winter merchandise.
One would think that a small store like Sweet Tooth can do the same thing, when in fact it doesn't always work that way.  Thus, the Summer Sidewalk Sale.
Our Sidewalk Sale is coming up on Friday and Saturday, July 18 and 19.  We began that practice when we were in The Farm Shopping Center which annually sponsored a Sidewalk Sale in July.  When we moved to our current location, we continued the practice.
Summer Sidewalk Sales are good for customers to begin their holiday shopping.  There is always a lot of great stuff at the sale, discounted to 50% or 75% off the retail price.  Some consumers like to get ahead of the holiday shopping season and feel some relief when they get a great price on upcoming gifts.
So we hope our Sidewalk Sale merchandise will Fly Out Of The Store, cuz there are no wheels on that stuff!!