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*

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?

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.

• 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).
  • Disadvantages
• Satellites with a different stock
  • Advantages
  • Disadvantages
• Considerations for a store/drop-off site (this might be better as a separate page if it seems like we are going this direction)
• Type of store might be impacted by the neighborhood/suburb it is located in.

Two Different 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
• Disadvantages

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)
• Size goes up, quality goes up
• Size mainly unchanged, quality goes up
• Size mainly unchanged, quality goes down
• Size goes down, quality goes up
• Size goes down, quality goes down

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.