Store Meta Question

Here is where proposed ideas for the future of the store. In other words, How Should The Store Grow?

Current Planned Improvements Timeline

• Before Thanksgiving (date pending) - Carpet removed. Floor looks like rest of building (old fir).
• Before Christmas - shelving replaced with either wire racks and/or custom shelving a la shop people.
• After Christmas - Possible refinish of floors to make them *nice*
• Also after christmas - Strong movement towards triaging important store actions and experimenting with waaaaaaaaaaaay more volunteerism.

Boutique Thrift Store

Make the thrift store into a "boutique." They are (from about.com): A small retail shop that specializes in gifts, fashionable clothes, accessories, or food, for example. A small shop located within a large department store or supermarket.A small business offering specialized products and services: an investment boutique; a health-care boutique. So basically, something cool, something niche, a destination as well as a place so solve a problem. Think Hawthorne, N. Mississippi or Alberta, NW 21/23.

• Advantages (Reasons for doing this): Make more money per transaction. Make the store more appealing so people are more comfortable spending larger sums of money on stuff. Make the store environment nicer to encourage volunteering.
• Disadvantages - We have a niche. Does making the store nice mean that we will develop a new one or are we spinning our wheels trying to attract customers that will not shop here?
• Current - Slowly moving in this direction with the main justification being : 1) Volunteer retention (the store is nice!) and 2) increase in whole system sales.

Multiple Locations

Having more locations has one obvious benefit: We will have more customers to sell stuff to. This is not yet possible because we can't keep stuff stocked in out current store that people really want. Its important to start estimating how much additional rent and staffing various satellite structures would cost now so we can move quickly if an opportunity presents itself.

• Satellites with same basic stock
  • Advantages - Easy to set up, easier to restock (pack-in and out lists reflect what is in the existing store). Easier to run (just repeat). The fact that this stock is doing well here might mean that there is a general need for it.
  • Disadvantages - We take on a lease... if we don't make enough money to cover the lease we lose. We take on more paid staff hours. Lots of planning would need to be in place. Some aspects of our existing store are very hard to make portable, especially Tech Support.

• Satellites with a different stock - Could be tailored towards a specific neighborhood more. Theoretical example: Small whole-system sales store on westside, more parts-oriented store on the eastside or north. Could work around problems like Tech Support by selling the products in a different way.
  • Advantages - Flexibility
  • Disadvantages - We potentially would have to come up with a variety of new systems to make it work. Same money disadvantages as above.
• Considerations for a store/drop-off site (this might be better as a separate page if it seems like we are going this direction)
• W
• Type of store might be impacted by the neighborhood/suburb it is located in.

Two Different Types of Stores

Perhaps using Goodwill as a model. That is, a "retail" store and a "bins" store. There are two reasons to do this 1) Increase reuse and 2) separate "bins"-style customers from "retail"-style customers (this also means separating parts geeks from whole-system buyers).

• Advantages - We have a physical separation between as is and backed merchandise. We have a store environment were few categories can be priced by-the-pound, thus are easy to staff and volunteer. We make a huge premium on the amount we get for these items in a the commodity stream. It would give us an alternative way to deal with things we now universally recycle. It would support part of our mission (reuse).
• Disadvantages - In our existing building this would problably happen in the warehouse. This would obviously impact the existing operations in the warehouse, and would require very careful planning to not be disruptive.

Brainstorming Impact of the Weirdness

The weirdness will have an unknown effect on the size and composition of our stream. Here are some possibilities:

• Size of stream goes up, quality goes down (more stuff that no one wants) - Might be a good situation for a two-store solution
• Size goes up, quality goes up - Multiple stores
• Size mainly unchanged, quality goes up - Strong movement towards boutiquing existing store, perhaps other stores opened
• Size mainly unchanged, quality goes down - Move single store towards more cheap fast-moving goods
• Size goes down, quality goes up - ?
• Size goes down, quality goes down - help!

And it's the economy stupid

• The economy is a likely basket case. What kind of impact will this have on our customer base?
• If this is merely a recession then people will probably substitute whole system purchases for parts to upgrade
• If this is a second great depression then the sales will likely go down (!). We would have to have a plan in place to deal with the change in revenue if this occurs.