Whats in the future

[John Ranes II, CPF, GCF]

Originally Posted by PaulSF

I'm in the same boat as Kirstie. I simply can't sell giftware and home decor items in this location....

I totally recognize that what our shop has done is not for everyone - and that the ability to evolve into gifts/home decor has much to do with space, $ for inventory, owners attitude towards the subject, passion, location and other small intangibles.

On the other hand your comment below made me think about this....

Originally Posted by PaulSF

... Almost as rare is the sale of a photo frame, something that is so closely related to framing that it should be a no-brainer. But for whatever reason, people do not come to this street to buy "things." They come to this street to get something done, whether its dry-cleaning, dogwashing, nails, hair, or framing...

Are these two different things? Broad based shopping at a destination of choice Vs. Service oriented shopping? Isn't one simply an expansion of the other?

I guess in the hay days of custom framing growth (1972-1990), we would all have dramatic ads in the Yellow Pages under Picture Frames - Dealers as we were "Service" oriented - as in your example, Paul, get the dry-cleaning, go to the beauty salon, get the TV fixed, go get something custom framed. People would seek us out for a VERY specific reason. (Hardware stores often filled this need prior to the 1970's)

Today customers might be thinking more like "I need something for my walls"; "I need to do some decorating"; "I need to shop for a lamp and a picture to go over here". We as retailers, need to adapt to those changes in some measure to survive, IMO.

Kirstie's business model has perhaps evolved the most in her 30+ years in broadening her image while still remaining "Framing Focused" - just an observation.

John

[Kirstie]

I agree, John. We always need to adapt to survive. Basic evolution. Knowing how to adapt is what is somewhat stymieing. I think we are doing a good job on site, in the shop. We have adopted a new signage program, new price points, and so on. We are serving walk by traffic and the existing customer base quite well. We also see new customers on a daily basis, but not in the numbers we are used to. We need to get better at attracting new business in cost effective ways. And that's a challenge, as is for most of us, a budget for diversification.

Now here's a question for you. Many framers are seeing a much lower average ticket, and this is one contributor to lack of sales growth. If we adapt with lower priced programs for the budged-minded customer, the one who has no other choice, how will we build our sales numbers in the future? Framing volume? Is the budget customer here to stay (I think so) and if so how will we as an industry adapt to what may well be a trend that is permanent?

[Jeff Rodier]

Kirstie, pricing flexability is a two way street. It took a decade of price run ups to get as high as prices had become. The run up occured during a decade of inflationary economic periods and the economy is experiencing a deflationary period. After this deflationary period we will once again experience an infltionary period where prices will once again trend upward just not to the point of insanity again. We can expect stagnant if not further falling prices for years to come and those that are able to adapt will become the most profitable when it ends.

Prior to the chop shop model many framers were stocking dealers or length buyers and those shops enjoyed much higher margins than chop shops during this past decade. Entering this industry became as simple as finding a store front and contacting a handful of vendors for corner samples. That is why the industry has lost at least 75% of its storefronts.

The next run up in the industry will be much more difficult for entries into the business because those that survived this bloodbath will be a much hardier bunch willing to claw onto every existing customer and the stocking businesses will be able to maintain much higher margins than the new entrants. The surviving group will remember this lesson for much longer than the last housing recession and new entrants will be much less inclined to make the full investment that will be required to compete.

[Myrna]

After reading all of the posts in this thread it made me think of the latest issue of PFM specifically the last article submitted by Vivian Kistler.
The part of her article under the caption "Diversity." She talks about how her frame shop has had to change and develop throughout the years. Noticing when the trends and times change and adapting to them. It truly speaks to this thread and the last paragraph says it all.

"Expect your business to grow and change, and do not be afraid to take a fresh look at the different services and products your shop could offer. Stay true to the identity you have established for your business, but remember that change is a part of any business that stays successful for many years", Vivian Kistler.

[Kirstie]

This is an important and interesting thread. Any chance of moving it to Business or Grumble so that more people might see it and participate?

[Kirstie]

Originally Posted by Myrna

"Expect your business to grow and change, and do not be afraid to take a fresh look at the different services and products your shop could offer. Stay true to the identity you have established for your business, but remember that change is a part of any business that stays successful for many years", Vivian Kistler.

Thanks Myrna. Vivian had her finger on the pulse of this business.

[Myrna]

We moved to a new location in April of 2009. Soon after all of our tenant improvements and move in were complete, we were informed that our landlord was loosing the building.......bummer. There is a new owner but we do not seem to have the same vision for the building. Long story short, we are moving to a new (better) location at the end of this April. I am strongly considering incorporating additional product into the mix with the emphasis on our custom framing. We have seen a strong influx of individuals willing to spend to have their pieces professionally framed but in our new location we will have additional traffic and I believe that fine craft items might to well. This has always been something lurking in the back of my mind and it seems like a good time to give it a go.

[PaulSF]

John, if I had to list one thing I've learned over the past 4 years, it's that you cannot change consumer behavior. Or at least, one small shop like mine cannot change consumer behavior. And consumer behavior varies from location to location. They view different areas as places to go for different purposes. If over 20 or 30 or 40 years, consumers view 25th Avenue as a place to eat and to get something done, and 3rd Street or Hillsdale Mall as a place to buy things, I'm not going to be able to change that. Every day, I see someone stop in front of the photo frame display in my front window, and they will look at the frames, and maybe even point to a couple of them. And then continue on their way. These aren't ugly frames, either. Brushed silver from GWI, hand-painted from Roma, etc. Or someone will bluster into my shop, pass the table near the front door that has 2 dozen photo frames on it, and stand next to another table with another dozen photo frames on it, and say, "you don't have photo frames, do you?" And I'll point out all the frames on display, and they will take a few glances at them, never once picking one up and looking at the price tag on the back (so price is NOT an issue), say "thank you" and walk out.

As for giftware, I've had the colorful Ritzenhoff glassware and such on display. I know use it at home, because it didn't sell.

As for home decor, I started out with a lot of ready-to-hang artwork. The influx of really cheap sh!t from China being sold at Bed Bath, Homegoods, Target, and the local car wash has destroyed that market over the past 4 years. I've been breaking down whatever is left and throwing it out, because it won't sell at any price.

You know what I could probably sell the heck out of, day in and day out? Window blinds. Because I'm next to a window blinds store, and every day someone will stumble in to my store, look around, puzzled, confused, and ask about window blinds. So maybe I should just carry a selection of window blinds.

Yesterday, some older guy came in to browse, naturally he had no artwork to frame. He asked the obligatory questions "are you new? How long have you been here?" Then he mentioned that there seemed to be a lot of empty storefronts on the street (8 at last count), and confessed that he hadn't really come to 25th Avenue to shop for 10 or 20 years. I gave him one of those looks, and said "multiply that by 100 or a 1000, and you can understand why all the empty storefronts." He looked at me like I had started speaking in some obscure Central Asian language, backwards.

Last month I fell several thousand dollars short of breakeven. If anyone has any other ideas for making a go of this given my environment, I'm all ears.