Monday, June 11, 2007

Answering Shirl's question....

We don't have many new books. I tend to buy them only when specifically ordered by a customer. There's a K-Mart nearby which sells new books at cost - we can't compete with that. They get 40% discount from the distributers, we only get 30%. I sell them a bit below recommended retail but can't do it cheaper than K-Mart. They rely on people buying other stuff as well to make their profits. We only have books.
We have advertised in the local paper but it's horribly expensive and really didn't increase trade enough to warrant the cost. We do have a listing in the Yellow Pages and that brings in quite a few phone enquiries - some which result in sales.
The main problem, I think, is location. This used to be a busy street but since the post office and banks moved it's died. There's no other retail here to draw people. There is the gun shop but that's more of a deterrent to many people. The paint shop mainly deals with trade orders. Otherwise, there's a laundrette and real estate agencies. Plus there's very limited parking out the front here.
I really think that if we can find a place in a better location we can resurrect the business.

3 comments:

Shirl said...

Direct mail has worked wonderfully for us. We started with our own customers (30,000) and have now added 17,000 non-customers. The first mailing that people get from us is always hand-addressed, hand-stamped. It has an offer for seasonal service, plus some information about what is new in either teh furnace or a/c world. If you could come up with an offer, or a reason for them to visit, it might work for you.

Julie said...

I'm having a sale this week - see if that generates some cash flow.

Shirl said...

how about book signings?

Hosting a writer's group?

Open mic Poetry night?

**grin**

Do you have a good coffee machine, and comfy chairs to sit in?