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2005 Best Of Winners

Discover Mid-America — September 2005

Softening the blow
by Bruce Rodgers, Editor/Publisher

There’s no way of getting around it. Gas prices affect retail sales, and that includes sales at antique shops and malls, craft and specialty gift stores. The effect varies; shops with repeat customers, lots of dealer activity and located in areas where other retail outlets feed off one another, may be insulated somewhat.

But destination places and shops that seek to capture the traveling public, and with it our nature of impulse buying, can feel a pitch when the price of a gallon of gas goes up.

Though the government has put a happy face on retail sales for July — up 1.8% from June’s increase of 1.7% — a closer look lessens the smile. Exclude auto sales — fueled by “employee” price incentives — and the increase in July was only 0.3 %. Durable goods sales such as furniture were down 1.3% after a 2.2% jump in June.

Most economists say that consumers are continuing to buy and it’s only stores catering to the lower-income customer (i.e. Wal-Mart and Family Dollar) that are seeing sales slide.

However, studies show that shopping continues to be the most favorite trip activity and that 63% of travelers list shopping as their activity.
In the face of high gas prices, owners and managers of antique shops and malls need to continue to advertise and market their business, particularly in helping people plan a trip to your business and getting them there without much of a hassle. Here are a few tips:

• If you use print advertising, consider including a map of how to get to your shop and/or a phrase along the lines of “just minutes from…”

• In the print ad list what your shop specializes in, either in items sold and/or services given, and always include the phone number and days/hours of operation

• If you use a billboard, consider traffic patterns and the distance and route from that billboard to your business

• If you use radio or TV, make sure to mention tips in how to get to your business in the ad copy, and then mention it again

• Know your customers, gather information — at the least names and addresses in a loose-leaf notebook so you can communicate with them — the personal touch goes a long way in bringing someone back to shop

• If your business doesn’t have a Web site, get one. One study showed that 63% of travelers use the Internet to make travel plans. (As a self-serving reminder: Discovery Publications creates Web sites — go to www.discoverypub.com and click on DMA Marketplace)

Commonsense says that high gas prices will have people more studiously noting their driving and traveling habits. The key to making sure those people come, and come back, to your shop or mall remains the same as it always has: fair pricing, quality merchandise and good customer service.

Contact Bruce Rodgers at
publisher@discoverypub.com

> Editor’s Notebook Archive — past columns