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Hello Fall

Pet Age Staff//October 1, 2014//

Hello Fall

Pet Age Staff //October 1, 2014//

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Summer is now a pleasant memory and the fall is upon us. It’s time to start gearing up for the increased traffic after the post-summer slowdown that many stores experience. Retailers need to get themselves out of vacation mode and get ready to get into high gear.

The cavalcade of holidays starts with Halloween and marches on through New Year’s. You should be planning for all of them now, especially the Big One: Christmas. And don’t forget Jewish holidays and other celebrations that may pertain to your community.

Have you thought about your holiday displays? About the sales, specials and promotions you may want to do? Have you done any research to see what the big trends this season will likely be? Have you considered hiring some temp staff? Now’s the time to get all this done.

Don’t depend on the holidays themselves to draw people in. Reach out to your customers with email or a newsletter featuring your holiday promotions. If you don’t have a customer email database or a regular newsletter, why not? As Dave Ratner says in his column, your customers will want to know when their regular brands are on sale. It will bring people in beyond what you would normally see in the holiday rush.

It’s also a good time to think about how your store looks. Do some sprucing up. No one wants to shop in a store with dusty shelves and dirty floors. Maybe it’s time for a reset or a rearrangement. Consider some new signage. For some thoughts on signage, read Dan Calabrese’s column this month.

If you want to sell some fish and reptiles with setups this season, set up display tanks now and make sure you keep all the components in stock. Or, set up a bird play stand with lots of new bird toys on it.

Basically, the busy holiday season is coming; with some advance prep you can make it even busier – and more successful.

-Craig Rexford