Easter is an interesting holiday for stores like ours.
If Easter is in March, it is usually a slow holiday and does not attract as much retail attention as Easter in April. The further into April, the more time people have to plan and think about how they are going to commemorate the holiday.
Just today I received some statistics from the National Retail Federation concerning projections for Easter.
80% of Americans are expected to spend $140.62 each on Easter purchases, as compared to 2014 Easter purchases of $137.46 each.
Frankly I can't understand that number since a new pair of shoes for Easter might very well be at least 1/2 of the $140.62!! or take the whole amount!!
The total projection for Easter purchases is projected to be $16.4 billion. Holy cow! that sounds like a really big number, until you consider that it takes into account sprucing up wardrobes, buying those ever important Easter shoes, food, candy, decorations, etc.
It is projected that people will spend more this year on food. 85.7% will purchase more food for a total of $5.3 billion. So we are talking Easter dinner and perhaps other Easter meals.
$2.2 billion will be spent on jelly beans, chocolate Peeps and other festive candy. Sweet Tooth has all of that!
$2.4 billion will be spent on gifts and $1.1 billion on flowers. $998 million will go to decorations and $695 million to greeting cards.
So there you have the story, as it affects retailers. 58.6% of shoppers will make purchases in discount stores. Technology will impact purchases as well as 13.5% of shoppers will make purchases on their Smart Phones.
I've always noticed that some parents don't want to bring their kids into our store right before Easter. It seems that those kids who still believe in the Easter bunny might begin to wonder if the candy they get in their Easter baskets looks a whole lot like what they saw at Sweet Tooth.
Like Gilda Radner used to say: "It's always something!"
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Thursday, March 5, 2015
I Have Several Things On My Mind...
I have several things on my mind today.
One is the weather which is definitely interfering with sales.
One is the dock workers strike on the West Coast which has held up deliveries of all sorts of vendors' lines. Apparently some of the issues are resolved and the dock workers are beginning to allow crates of all sorts of shipments to go through the docks. I did hear on NPR that some manufacturers are re-considering having their merchandise, even food items, come through the West Coast docks. That will certainly hurt the economy for all those people.
Another is Easter which is coming up on April 5. I just have to point out my favorite Easter candy, an item which we have had every single year for 22 years at Easter time. That item is Duck In A Hat. You really have to come and get that Duck. The art work on the foil has not changed in 22 years. He is still a golden yellow duck, dressed and wearing a hat ... I'd say like a beret or a yarmulke. My hope for Duck In A Hat is that he continues to sell out every year. And by the way, the chocolate is very good.
Here's some other good news. I am a part of an advisory group for a trade publication called GIFTBEAT. Every month GiftBeat sends me a questionnaire re: what's selling, what's new, what's a big deal at your store, what are the top 3 vendors for the month, etc.
Apparently Joyce at GiftBeat is following our Facebook page because she wrote to ask us about the Facebook post which said "Nobody knows the Truffles I've seen" with a photo of our Sweet Shop Truffles.
That post had over 9,000 hits and Joyce was curious as to what we did to get that much attention.
Well, all Jeff did was post the picture and the saying and then watch with surprise the number of hits his post was getting.
This month's GiftBeat magazine tells our story about that post (minus our name....we are an Oklahoma retailer) and we have had a very nice chuckle and a bit of excitement over that story.
Our latest and greatest idea for a store party is coming up next week. March 13 is the release of the live action Cinderella movie, along with a Frozen short. So next week we are having a Cinderella/Frozen promotion. Doris has designed a favor bag for kids ages 3-12 and on Saturday March 14 we are having a party in our store for those kids. Among other things, they can sign up for tickets to see the movie.
Jesse and Lisa will be in period costume, posing for pictures with the kids.
So if you are wondering what we do all week at Sweet Tooth, you've had a sneak peek at our Retailer's Life.
Live long and prosper!!
One is the weather which is definitely interfering with sales.
One is the dock workers strike on the West Coast which has held up deliveries of all sorts of vendors' lines. Apparently some of the issues are resolved and the dock workers are beginning to allow crates of all sorts of shipments to go through the docks. I did hear on NPR that some manufacturers are re-considering having their merchandise, even food items, come through the West Coast docks. That will certainly hurt the economy for all those people.
Another is Easter which is coming up on April 5. I just have to point out my favorite Easter candy, an item which we have had every single year for 22 years at Easter time. That item is Duck In A Hat. You really have to come and get that Duck. The art work on the foil has not changed in 22 years. He is still a golden yellow duck, dressed and wearing a hat ... I'd say like a beret or a yarmulke. My hope for Duck In A Hat is that he continues to sell out every year. And by the way, the chocolate is very good.
Here's some other good news. I am a part of an advisory group for a trade publication called GIFTBEAT. Every month GiftBeat sends me a questionnaire re: what's selling, what's new, what's a big deal at your store, what are the top 3 vendors for the month, etc.
Apparently Joyce at GiftBeat is following our Facebook page because she wrote to ask us about the Facebook post which said "Nobody knows the Truffles I've seen" with a photo of our Sweet Shop Truffles.
That post had over 9,000 hits and Joyce was curious as to what we did to get that much attention.
Well, all Jeff did was post the picture and the saying and then watch with surprise the number of hits his post was getting.
This month's GiftBeat magazine tells our story about that post (minus our name....we are an Oklahoma retailer) and we have had a very nice chuckle and a bit of excitement over that story.
Our latest and greatest idea for a store party is coming up next week. March 13 is the release of the live action Cinderella movie, along with a Frozen short. So next week we are having a Cinderella/Frozen promotion. Doris has designed a favor bag for kids ages 3-12 and on Saturday March 14 we are having a party in our store for those kids. Among other things, they can sign up for tickets to see the movie.
Jesse and Lisa will be in period costume, posing for pictures with the kids.
So if you are wondering what we do all week at Sweet Tooth, you've had a sneak peek at our Retailer's Life.
Live long and prosper!!
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