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People who made a Difference plus Fun Stuff #141

People who made a Difference plus Fun Stuff

Blog #140 I talked about key brands we made huge. In this blog I want to talk about people who made a difference plus fun stuff.

 

In any business there are always people who made a difference, these made one for me.  Plus fun stuff I want to talk about.

 

Nora

 

When I first got to Palo Alto I thought Nora was the bomb. She was attractive and confident. I could tell she didn’t take any crap from anyone. She was as strong as it got. Always dressed to the nines.

That was cool at first but… When I didn’t realize what the issue was in our business and it took me longer than I thought to turn it around… That made it not so much fun. Her high expectations didn’t waver, that was the thing. I couldn’t deliver until I had my “defining moment” in Blog #123.

 

 I’ll never forget the meeting in her office where she pretty much said she liked me, but would fire me if it didn’t turn around soon. That lit the proverbial fire to take chances and do what I do best. The problem was our RMM was very cautious and wouldnt  sign off on any aggressive buys. Sometimes when things are tough you have to take chances and be aggressive. It all worked out and in the end made me respect her even more. 

 

Once I figured out the issue was having a great team, it turned around. We actually started having a really nice relationship. I learned from her you have to have high expectations and people that can deliver. It’s not a personality contest or fun and games, it’s a multi-million dollar business in those stores. We get paid by results. I’m glad I left with a great year behind me.

 

Larry

 

When a store is sick, you need people who can make a difference. You can’t have someone just accept the defeat. There needs solution oriented people to make the difference. Larry was that guy. He was in sponge mode just soaking in all the info and then making great decisions. This helped tremendously because it wasn’t all on me, I had a partner now.

 

Larry was great at the managing of the department stuff and I could focus on the buys. He had size ups, stockroom maintenance and people issues dialed. It was refreshing. When we had events, I told him the game plan and the vision and executed it flawlessly.  I had said previously I was looking for another Candice who was my first in Arden Fair. Got him…

 

Bottom line

 

Plus we just really liked each other. It was nice going to work and spending that much time with someone you liked. He was someone I really wanted to help get to the next level even if it meant losing him. We still have a great relationship today. He’s a rep now and a darn good one. Really proud of him.

 

Stacey

 

She kept me organized. I had a pretty good clerical in Arden Fair and Stacey was just as good for me in Palo Alto. She would have everything organized and ready for me each day. We would go through the PO’s and she wasn’t afraid to tell me her opinion which I liked. She also had a great sense of humor and little dry like me. Ok kind of a smartass like me. It was great.

 

When we had the Easy Spirit event she volunteered to help and if the registers ever got jammed she do thew same. She was just looking out for the best interest of the department vs. what her “Job was”. She was awesome and another big reason for our success.

 

Neil

 

Neil was our stock guy. Technically I think he was the Brass Plum Stock guy but helped us too. Especially when we needed it. The big UGG shift and Easy Spirit move was a huge undertaking. He was right there and made it happen. When we did our transfers timing was crucial and he always made it happen. Our stockroom was always organized and between the salespeople doing their sections and Neil doing the heavy stuff we looked good.

 

During the course of my time there I got to know Neil and he was a fascinating guy. He had a large family and very close. There would be large family gatherings and they’d bury a pig in the ground with hot stones to cook it and then dig it up. It was always amazing. He was also a pro soccer player at one time in his life and you could tell as he was really fit.

 

Fun Stuff

 

When business is good all is good. Like the saying goes good business cures all woes. I had been working in a cubby for a while now and didn’t really say anything because I was too busy. It was like a punishment I joked to myself. Jean Claude allowed me and The other shoe buyers in Arden Fair to utilize a nice room for an office. Nora let us have the room we rang up the Easy Spirit items up in. It was large enough for the three women’s footwear buyers so we jumped at the chance.

 

It was nice when reps came in or you just needed to concentrate on writing orders without the loud goings on of a stockroom.

 

Wall Stretcher

 

One joke that never gets old is when a new person comes on board to have them do stock work at first to get acclimated to how we run shoes in the wall. At some point you will run into a space issue. The stockrooms were organized by color then heel height. If you received a ton of black shoes and only have space for a small amount a shift occurs. Sometimes they can be quite extensive.

 

I found out there is a similar joke in construction sites but instead of a wall stretcher its a pipe stretcher

 

The joke goes you ask the new person to go to another shoe store and ask for the manager. Then ask for the “wall Stretcher”. The reason why you have them ask for the manager is most people that have been around know the joke. They in turn say we let this other store borrow it ask the manager over there. Finally they get it.

 

There is no such thing. We did this to someone in Arden Fair and I think it was a record 3 or 4 stores before they figured it out.  The UGGs shift spawned another instance but this person caught on pretty quickly.

 

All of these people made a difference in our success and it helps to have a little fun too.

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Key Brands we made Huge – Blog #140

Key Brands we made Huge

 

Blog #139 I talked about the Reps who helped turn it around. In this blog I want to talk about the key brands we made huge

There are always hot brands that come and go in business. And in our industry reps tend to change companies frequently as well. Every now and then the stars align and we get to enjoy a hot brand for an extended amount of time and the rep that helps drive it. The next two reps and brands prove my point.

 

Steve

 

Sudini was the brand and Steve was the man that drove it. And Steve wasn’t the type of rep to take advantage and load us up. In fact it was quite the opposite. When I first got into the department the first thing Andre told me was we missed Sudini boot sales frequently. The previous buyer didn’t buy enough.

 

The line itself was primarily a boot brand that was made in Italy. They would always try some sandals in the spring but boots were the driving force. They also came in a selection of sizes and widths. The buy could be quite expensive so you really had to plan it out properly. Steve was great at coming in and sizing us up every month.

 

Infamous line

 

One particular month he came in and handed me a reorder that pretty much had ones and twos per size. I said jokingly he had to stop writing shoes like a pussy or we wouldn’t ever reach our potential.  The definition for this word means coward or weakling just so we’re all clear. then proceeded to put ones in front of his numbers so 2 size 7’s turned into 12.

He looked at me and said “are you sure?”. Dude…I’m sure…

 

Our Sudini business blew up from there. Our salespeople weren’t missing sizes anymore. We were smart about what sizes we did reorder so I didn’t put a 1 in front of the sizes we didn’t sell that well but in the guts I sure did. We would usually work the line each time he came in then we’d grab a nice lunch or even dinner on occasion. Our business grew and so did our friendship.

 

Terry

 

Nickels was a pretty big brand for Nordstrom, especially in Palo Alto. When Scott came in the first time when he was the RMM he emphasized it. Again the salespeople told me we missed Nickels sizes frequently. This was a different beast though. There were a lot of styles that we sold but two style in particular were huge. The Nani and the Nona. I decided to put those on a never out basis so my reorders were pretty big with those styles. Narrow and deep…Rob would have been proud.

 

Terry was the rep. he was pretty good at coming in every month but like Steve wasn’t used to my narrow and deep philosophy. Terry wasn’t shy though he went after it so I ended up toning it down a bit. We had two full tables of Nickels product and always up front. The line was pretty extensive and was made by the same group that did Via Spiga another great brand for us.

 

Living room floor

 

We would spend a whole day writing orders for this brand, it was that big. On one occasion Terry had a late start so he asked if we could just do it at my house and order pizza in. We laid out the brand on my living room floor by delivery and wrote orders into the night.

We ordered some good pizza from a local place and knocked it out. I didn’t invite reps over like that too often so my family got a kick out of it. The kids didn’t fully grasp what their dad did for a living so it gave them a pretty good picture. Like Sudini our Nickels business exploded into a huge business.

 

These two key brands we made huge. Mostly in part to these two guys that helped drive it.

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Reps who helped turn it around – Blog #139

Reps who helped turn it around

Blog #138 I talked about my Northern California peeps. In this blog I want to talk about the Reps who helped turn it around.

 

I have always tried my best to treat Reps with respect. They are after all your business partners. It never made sense to me when people treated reps poorly. Some reps deserve it but all in all we all want the same end result. In my whole career there were maybe 3-4 reps that deserved it. They were the type that would just try to sell you instead of build a nice business with you.

 

Fortunately it was only 3-4. The next group of people are the far opposite of the other types. These reps really made a difference and helped me turn Palo Alto around. They moved out poor performers and did their best to keep us in stock in the hot items. These reps came to the store frequently to make sure we were in good shape.

 

Tom

 

I can’t say enough good things about this guy. Not only was he great for me at Nordstrom but also at Zappos years later. Consistency…I met Tom in the Arden Fair store as an Asst. with Steve. Clarks basically had one style that was huge, the “Sunbeat”. There were a lot of other styles that were pretty decent as well. Sunbeat was a monster though. It came in a dozen or so colors and was usually on the Anniversary sale. Tom was great at balancing our inventories and keeping a good flow of merchandise coming to the store each month.

 

David

 

Once we got our table of Munro styles coming in David was our rep that came in and made sure we were stocked. Like Tom, he came in and balanced our inventory and wrote reorders each month. When a new style would pop up as a hot item he would give me a call and we’d figure out to add it to the mix. He was a really good guy to work with and in the beginning phase of our Munro growth he was a great partner.

 

Steve

 

Steve was the rep for Keds. We had a pretty decent business in Palo Alto so he made sure we had the recolors right and in a timely manner. We would do our monthly reorder and then usually head out to lunch. We had a lot of similar interests outside of work too so we always had lots to talk about. Always in a great mood and really funny sense of humor. He was great to work with and enjoyed working with him after Nordstrom too.

 

Joe

 

Shoe Dog…Joe had been in the business for years. He knew his stuff. He had the line Magdesians which had a lot of sizes and widths. It was sometimes hard trying to figure how to order these items as there were around 90 different sizes per style.  Joe was great at sorting it all out and coming up with a great mix of styles for our store. We did pretty good with the super narrow widths too in Palo Alto so we always worked those in too. He helped me launch Size and Width at Zappos many years later.

 

Bob

 

Bob had a fashion line called Adrienne Vittadini. It added a touch of fashion to an otherwise tailored floor. He was a great rep to work with and always a gentleman. His brand did pretty good too so we usually had it up close to the front of the floor to add a little pizzazz. We always had good meetings and adding a hot new style here and there to keep things updated. It was a fun brand to buy for. Years later his sons would follow in his footsteps as great reps to work with.

 

Jimmy

 

Jimmy was our Enzo rep. We basically had one item that was always in the top ten for sales. It was a basic A-line flat with super soft leather. It came in a dozen different colors so you could easily fill up a table of “Lady’s”. As a rep Jimmy was great at suggesting the right color way for our store and he was usually right. We had a lot of fun together growing that business together and enjoyed our relationship further at Zappos with other brands as well.

 

It’s always best to build strong relationships with people so you have “partners” in your business. Plus it’s a lot more fun that way too.

 

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My Northern California Peers- Blog #138

My Northern California Peers

Blog #137 I talked about the Easy Spirit National Sales Event, In this blog I want to talk about my Northern California Peers.

 

Started at Nordstrom in 1989.  Kid’s shoes was a great experience and Brass Plum Shoes was amazing. Next in my career development was Womens Shoes. Most of  my experience was in this area just not as a buyer yet.

 

There were some really great people that were my Northern California peers specific to Women’s shoe.

 

Kiyoko

 

Kiyoko was a great buyer in the Walnut creek store. She was a strong leader too and ran a tight ship. Consistency was her thing. There really wasn’t huge swings in her business unless everyone else experienced it as well. Basics were her focus and always had them in stock. We talked to each other quite frequently, even when I was in Brass Plum shoes. I learned a lot from her and she was a great example in leadership.

 

Claudia

 

Claudia ran the Corte Madera store. This was a combined floor meaning it had Salon, Women’s and Brass Plum shoes (Juniors) all on one floor. I learned a lot from Claudia. She not only was a great role model for me from a buyer perspective but she carried herself well too. Classy comes to mind. Very consistent as well. Never had ups or downs in her business or her demeanor.

 

We worked with each other more than the other buyers.  This was because as I moved to different areas, she was a part of that since her floor was combined. Balance is what I learned from her. Having three departments, this was imperative and she did well. How to keep things aligned especially with the thought process.

 

Jon

 

Jon transferred from Southern California to run The San Francisco Women’s dept. I had worked with Jon in Brass Plum as peers before so I was familiar with him. He was the Buyer in South Coast Plaza I threw the gauntlet down to. It was a friendly competition so we had a great relationship.

 

The thing about Jon was he had great vision, he could spot trends and jump on them like no one I’ve ever seen. Great taste level too and I listened intently to what he had to say in meetings. His floor always looked amazing.

 

Marty

 

Marty was an Icon. He knew everyone in the company top to bottom. The  Pleasanton store was his responsibilty which was combined like Corte Madera. His store customer wasn’t as Fashion Forward as Claudia’s floor. This store was similar to Arden Fair with less volume. Marty’s strength was in story telling. There were so many stories of his experiences in footwear and Nordstrom, it was simply fascinating to me. I would hold on to every word as he was telling it. It was helpful later in my career in devloping buyers.

 

Marty was a character too, very animated and somewhat comical. He had a great sense of humor and I liked being around him. After I left Nordstrom we would always run into each other and still stay in contact today. He is a good friend.

 

Joe

 

Joe was another visionary who had a knack for being right about trends. Fashion or basics he was great at spotting the next big item. He was also a good friend who I chatted with quite frequently. Worked out frequently and kept himself in really great shape.

Plus he had quite a few stories too of his exploits as a single guy.  Being married for so long it was interesting to hear. He had a great sense of humor and we always ended up laughing, talking to each other. I learned a lot from him on balancing your mix of fashion and basics. Valley Fair was a combined Salon/Women’s floor with a fashion edge. 

 

The secret to growing as a merchant is to learn from others. I learned something from all my Northern California Peers which helped me in my career.

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The Easy Spirit National Sales Event- Blog #137

The Easy Spirit National Sales Event- Blog #137

In Blog #136 I talked about how the Ugg Slippers bet Paid Off. In this Blog I want to talk about The Easy Spirit National Sales Event.

 

Easy Spirit was a really big brand for us. We had an older customer base so the comfort type shoes were a big hit. The Motion, which was a “Mall Walking” type lace up was the big item. There were many other popular styles as well. We had a slip on loafer called the Continental that had a super soft upper. The Mach 1 was the heavy duty walking shoe and the comfort pumps.

 

The Basketball pump

 

Back in 1993 Easy Spirit came up with a comfort pump system which was huge. They had a mid heel and a lower heel. there were several colors and materials and were great for the working women that enjoyed extra padding.The commercial they ran that year was a women’s basketball team playing basketball in their mid heel pumps.

 

Easy Spirit started a national Sales Event twice a year after that. It was a really big deal and the only time we could legally “pre-sell” merchandise.  Andre who had the biggest customer base did very well especially the first day. Our Rep Larry was awsome. Plus he was just a great guy. He would help figure out the quantities and deliveries. He was a big help in our success.

 

Pre Sell event

 

Mohana who was another Pacesetter, started developing an Easy Spirit customer list well ahead of time so he could take advantage of the sale events in January and July. For this event in January he had an enormous list for the first day. His stack of customers was pretty amazing. We absolutely killed it the first day.

 

Being organized

 

We had such great results in part by Larry being so organized. He set up a special room with registers we could use to just ring stuff up all day. We had one of the cashiers and our clerical Stacey just ring up the orders while the other cashiers stayed in the department to handle the live customers. I think we converted this same room to a larger office later on for the Buyers to use.

 

Results

 

Nora was really happy with The Easy Spirit National Sales Event results as was our RMM. We had a great day. Part of the planning was working our stockroom in such a way that as we sold the UGGs down we were shifting space to make room for all the Easy Spirits we were getting in. Neil was a big part of this success in the stockroom.

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The Ugg Slippers bet Paid Off – Blog #136

The Ugg Slippers bet Paid Off

So, in Blog #135,  I talked about the Ugg slippers bet I took in Palo Alto. In this blog  I want to talk about how the Ugg slippers  Bet paid off.

 

Miles my Ugg rep told me about the feeling of shock walking away with the largest PO he ever got at that point from a Nordstrom Buyer. I also had that feeling when they hit the store. it was a feeling of excitement and fear. Excitement because I knew in my heart I was right. Fear for what wrath I would incur from my new boss.

 

Stockroom

 

The main thing we needed to focus on now was getting them into the wall. Our calculations were right we were a little short. We decided to stack the excess sizes on the very top of the shelves. 

 

Now keep in mind these were already 12 feet high. We kept them in the cases but had the cases arranged by size. We wrote the size on the outside of the cases in big black numbers. “man we are going to kill it” Larry chuckled. He was cracking up how many Uggs we had.

 

Sales picked up

 

With all the pairs we now had on hand we started selling them like crazy. This got people to notice. “How many Uggs do you have over there?” one person asked. “Enough” was the reply.

 

My RMM however didn’t appreciate it as much as Larry did. He was not happy…Mr. Normart, I don’t remember signing these…”Would you have?” I asked. Not that many was his response. AND….Thats why I did it…

“You will split out these to the other stores then…” Uhhhh, no I’m not doing that. I took the chance, I’m reaping the rewards. You better be right then or you will reap something else if you are wrong…

 

Grey Area

 

Nothing like a little motivation. But truth is I expected it. Nordstrom was fairly rigid about certain things but this was a grey area. Buyers would have their secret drawers and kill the business and get recognized for it. 

 

Everyone knew what they were doing. Trick was not to get in to a situation that you can’t correct. This is when people would get fired. So you can live or die by the Pen. I tried to do it in a smart way.

 

The Ugg Slippers bet Paid Off

 

We absolutely killed it. People from the other stores were always calling for sizes because they sold out. Our reply would be “we would be happy to send to your customer and give you the sale”. We sold most of them and the others were taken by stores that could use them after the holiday rush. 

 

I was right…We ended up having the best year in Palo Alto history…

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The Ugg Slippers bet I took in Palo Alto – Blog #135

The Ugg Slippers bet I took in Palo Alto

So, in Blog #134,  I talked about how you are only as good as your last flash. In this blog  I want to talk about the Ugg slippers bet I took in Palo Alto

 

As I mentioned earlier I was taking a risk by buying so many pairs of Ugg slippers without getting the whole amount signed off by my new RMM. But I knew I was right. I had calculated what we missed and what the opportunity was. I had the basic Classic covered as well as the Ultra.

 

Miles

 

Miles was great at helping me figure out what we actually needed. The goal was sell most everything with just a little left over for exchanges. Given the fact that most of the other stores weren’t doing this I was confident we would come out in really great shape.

We started shifting the stockroom to make room for the 1,000 pairs of the slippers. Given the tight space in the back we would come up a little short still but could store some excess at the very top of the stockroom shelves.

 

Slipper season

 

October was usually the month to start your flow of slippers. You would sell some in October but minimal numbers.When November Half Yearly started in the first week, we would start selling slippers fast. This is because of the excess traffic in the store.

 

The Ugg Slippers bet I took in Palo Alto was really the following.  I felt the other stores wouldn’t buy enough and if we had too many I could send some to stores in need. My gut told me we still wouldn’t have enough this year but without the proper history it was just my gut telling me so.

 

We would place the Ugg display right up front and watch them fly. For now though it was a waiting game. They were due to hit any day now…

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You are Only as Good as Your Last Flash – Blog #134

You are Only as Good as Your Last Flash

So, in Blog #133, I talked about Our First Family Dog was Muttley. In this blog  I want to talk about how you are only as good as your last flash

 

At Nordstrom you would start your day by looking at your numbers. The previous closer would usually write out the floor watcher pad for the next day. This document we would attach to a small clipboard and carry it with us as we watched the floor.

 

Floor watcher pad

 

On the document we would have the sales figures for each hour from last year. This would give us a gauge on how our day was going. We would also have everyones schedule on it so we knew when people would arrive to the floor and when they would take lunches.

The floor watcher that opened in the morning would write out the stock assignments for each salesperson to get stuff done. It was always either the Buyer/Manager or an Asst. Tasks could be taking size ups, Mark-ups/Mark downs, transfers, sections shifts to get a shipment in and much more. The floor watcher could make notes on the pad for closers too.

 

 Closers

 

During the course of the day things come up. Someone might call for a trade of merchandise,  or the Wood pile might grow. Usually we would say do 10 sticks. This meant put away 10 pairs of shoes from the wood pile. Wood could be returns that came back or shoes people would leave out and not own up to.

 

This made us pretty organized and the day would be great as long as you were beating last years numbers. If not, you could expect a call from your RMM… All  of them did it too so they were probably getting a call from Jack. “Is everyone bringing out 4 pairs?” was the typical line. Rob would be a smart ass usually and say “Did you forgot what I taught you?”

 

The new RMM would start off with “Mr Normart…” then end with something obvious that would “fix the hourly decline”. They never worked. We made sure our people were doing the right thing, usually it was just traffic.

 

Call Personals

 

“You can’t use bad traffic as an excuse” they would say. Typical…But if there was no traffic there wasn’t too much you could do. We would have our salespeople call personals to drum up some sales, or I’d look at the floor to see if our best items were up front. Solutions driven. 

 

Walks

 

I’d see how many people were “walking” too. A walk is when a salesperson doesn’t sell the customer and they walk out without buying anything. This would inspire stock walks and size ups to see if we were missing anything.

 

If business would go south, I’d also look at hot sellers around women’s shoe floors to see if I had all the hot sellers. This is how I discovered the “Reseda” in Brass Plum shoes.

 

You are only as good as your last flash

 

This was a common Nordstrom phrase. It kept us on our toes. Some RMM’s were better than others on motivating you or not. Some just passed you off. The quote from Christopher McDougall hit the nail on the head:

 

“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up, it knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa a Lion wakes up.  It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It doesn’t matter whether you are a Gazelle or the Lion, when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.”

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Our First Family Dog was Muttley #133

Our First Family Dog was Muttley

So, in Blog #132,  I talked about how we worked inventory down successfully. In this blog  I want to talk about Our First Family Dog was Muttley.

 

My job was getting really stressful. My mom calls me one day as I was coming back from San Francisco. “Mike Muttley, died.” I was crushed, I had to pull over to have a good cry. “I’m sorry I had to put her down she was suffering the poor thing.” She had cancer. 16 years old, I went off in a daydream about our first family dog. 

 

My Aunt and Uncle had a place out in Clovis in the Countryside. They had several animals and my Uncles hunting dog Duke. They also had a dog named Queenie that was rescued. My parents wanted a family dog so we all agreed we would adopt “Queenie, with one stipulation, we are changing the name…

 

At this moment in time, My brothers and I watched “Dick Dastardly and Muttley”. Muttley had this funny laugh that oddly enough sounded like my Grandpas laugh. “Muttley” we all sang in chorus. We want to name her Muttley. Since she was a poodle terrier mix she was kind of a mutt. I was probably 12 at the time and we were all 3 years apart me being the oldest.

 

Playful plus tricks

 

This dog was really playful running around our backyard at top speed. She was so fun to play with, tossing balls and teaching her tricks. We taught her how to sit, beg and shake. Of course a treat was involved as a reward. One treat she really liked was carrots. So a biscuit or a carrot is all it took. She would always look like she was smiling too when she got her treat.

 

My grandparents had a cabin at Huntington Lake and we took her up there a few times. She loved the outdoors. My mom would stay at the cabin with her while us boys would hike or go fishing with Grandpa. This is until she got a tick up there. That ended her Mountain days. She was ok though it came out easy enough.

 

Holidays

 

Holidays were always fun with our dog. Easter especially during the egg hunts. She would always want to participate. At Christmas time she was always in the middle of it all, We’d open our presents and she would plop down in the action. We would always include her with a toy or a new bone. She liked the gelatin bones the best.

 

My Mom and Muttley were very close. She would follow my my Mom everywhere. My mom was heartbroken that day when she told me, I could hear it in her voice. A loyal companion for 16 years. Our first family dog was muttley and she was one of the best…

 

So why this story. I think pets bring out the best in us. They put things in perspective. Unconditional love. Work was really stressful. Maybe it was time for us to get a family dog…

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How we worked Inventory down Successfully #132

How we worked Inventory down Successfully

In Blog #131 I talked about why it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission. In this blog I want to talk How we worked iInventory down Successfully.

 

There was a buyer in Southern Calif. That was famous for working his inventory efficiently. Word had it he had a secret drawer. Inventory cut was the 21st of each month and he would hold his excess PO’s in this drawer and put them on the system on the 23rd. 

 

This gave him 30 days to work his inventory down. Phone calls were made and deals were struck.His business was usually pretty good so there must have been something to it. I needed to find space in my stockroom for 1,000 pairs of UGGS that were arriving in October.

 

How we worked inventory down Successfully

 

I started making phone calls and striking deals. We were moving our slow sellers out to other stores that were having success with them. It was a win for both stores. We started dropping the boxes down from the top as we sent shoes out. Because of space constraints the Palo Alto store had really high stock shelves. 

 

In fact they were so high we had to use reach sticks to get down shoes from the top. They were long poles that had an attachment at the end. The attachment would fit into the top of the lid and slide underneath the box. It was an art sometimes to retrieve shoes.

 

Other ways

 

We also requested return authorizations from the brands or would swap out slow sellers for hot items. Nordstrom only had sales 3 times a year, June Half Yearly, July Anniversary sale and November Half Yearly. This made it more difficult to move slow sellers through markdowns, but if I had that opportunity I certainly would have used that too.

 

After a few weeks, we were looking pretty good. This was going to be very interesting to say the least. 

SIZES... SIZES... SIZES... SIZES...

…just sharing my story and tips from my footwear career. 

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