%20(1)%20(1).png)
Main Street Reimagined Podcast
This is a podcast for dreamers, creators, developers, and entrepreneurs to learn, share, and be inspired to change your community through small business.
Main Street Reimagined Podcast
Episode 20: Ten Things Boutique Retailers Can Do Through the Holidays & Beyond with Lindsey Henry
The 20th episode of the Main Street Reimagined Podcast features our most popular guest, Lindsey Henry, the innovative mind behind Lulu's Toy Co. and Luke’s amazing wife. Luke and Lindsey share insights on navigating economic uncertainties in the world of boutique retail, starting with some insights on the current market, then shifting to 10 strategies to help retailers recover this holiday season, and beyond!
The 10 strategies include insights on crucial topics like inventory, store hours, marketing, collaboration, events, hospitality, and more. Learn how to stock those must-have items while optimizing your cash flow. Lindsey discusses the power of extending store hours and teaming up with local restaurants to enhance customer experience and boost sales, as well as what you need to keep the same, and what you want to consider changing up. This episode is packed with practical advice to help you capture more customer traffic during this bustling time of year, then carry that momentum into a successful 2025!
Guest Links:
Facebook: facebook.com/LuLusToyCo
Main Street Reimagined:
Facebook: facebook.com/MainStreetReimagined
The Main Street Reimagined Podcast, Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqfkmF5bRH0od1d3iiYKs3oEn_gvMYk7N
Henry Development Group:
Facebook: facebook.com/henrydevelopmentgroup
Website: www.henrydevelopmentgroup.com
Developing News Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/33110524eb5c/developing-news
Luke Henry:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/luhenry
Facebook: facebook.com/luke.henry.148
#LulusToyCo #BoutiqueRetailTips #RetailRecovery #HolidaySalesStrategies #SmallBusinessGrowth #EconomicUncertainty #RetailInsights #ShopLocal #InventoryManagement #BoostSales #CustomerExperience #RetailCollaboration #2025Success #BoutiqueBusiness #HolidayShoppingTips #LocalBusinessStrategies #RetailPodcast #MarionOhio
It's our time to shine. It's the best opportunity for us to win over customers and if we're doing hospitality the way that we should be doing, then you know. The other 10 months of the year, then November and December, aren't that hard, but we definitely need to be staying consistent with being hospitable to our customers.
Speaker 2:This is the Main Street Reimagined Podcast, a show for people ready to turn visions into realities and ideas into businesses. Hey, I'm Luke Henry and each week I lead conversations with Main Street dreamers who took the leap to launch a business, renovate a building or start a movement, their ideas, their mindsets and their inspirations, as well as some of the highs and lows along the way. This is a place for dreamers, creators, developers and entrepreneurs to learn, share and be inspired to change your community through small business. Enjoy the show. Hey everyone, luke Henry here. This is the Main Street Reimagined Podcast. I am so grateful that you are joining us for our much-anticipated 20th episode. 20th episode. I am excited to be bringing it to you here and even more excited to have my most popular guest from the first 20 back on the podcast, the one and only Lindsay Henry.
Speaker 1:Hello.
Speaker 2:Thank you for being back, dear.
Speaker 1:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Lindsay is the COO of the Henry household as well as the owner of Lulu's Toy Co and my chief wrangler. I can't remember if we shared this in the first episode, but it's worth repeating if we did that we say that I am the kite and Lindsay is the string, and so we compliment each other. There's like a healthy tension there, and without the string the kite may just float away with all kinds of new and crazy ideas, but without the kite the string might just be laying on the ground and not doing very exciting things exciting things. And so she keeps attention. You know, just like a kite will go higher and better and under more control with a little bit of tension on it. That's what Lindsay does for me, and so we are a good team.
Speaker 1:Yes, we are.
Speaker 2:Now almost 20 years into marriage, a few years into her journey as an entrepreneur, and really for our entire marriage and relationship, though, I've been a small business owner, so we've been taking this ride together. If you missed our first episode, I'd encourage you to go back and listen to it. It's chock full of all kinds of gems and our best advice and stories and reflections from some of our family business and lessons learned and everything. So today we're going to take a different direction here and I'm excited to be having this conversation with Lindsay, and so we are going to talk about the status of the retail status of the retail market, the boutique retail market and then go into 10 things that retailers can do to recover through the holiday season and beyond. So we're excited to be compiling this. This is something we've been kind of rattling around through some travels and through some conversations that we've had, and we decided to spend a little bit of time on the couch thinking and talking about how we could bring this to make it useful to our listeners. So, the status of the retail market so many of you know, this has been just a kind of a crazy year in a lot of senses. I mean, we're recording this just a few days before it drops and that means it's a few days after the election, and so we're kind of on the other side of that. But really most of the year, and certainly the last few months, has been that's been what's leading the headlines. The last few months has been that's been what's leading the headlines.
Speaker 2:No matter which candidates you're supporting, everyone has a sense of just kind of angst and uncertainty about the future and that comes out in people's purchasing habits and consumer spending, you know, and that's really on the heels of what's been a tougher economy here the last year or two. Obviously there was COVID there. There was then kind of like a boomtown effect with all of the stimulus money and all the different incentive programs meant to stimulate the economy, and then that kind of tapered off and then, you know, went into arguably a recessionary time and really kind of the last year has been, you know, very sluggish, and so I think that a lot of businesses have been feeling that. Of course some sectors not so much. Just like during COVID, some sectors were not affected, hardly at all, or they had positive growth. Others were completely devastated and you know you get different sectors on the market moving in different directions, but what we have found, really we've done some traveling, been able to actually have a few kid-free days for the most part, and so the last month we've traveled to like six different small towns and while we're there you know I mentioned that's like our hobby and we love to just connect with small business owners in those towns, especially retail and restaurant, and we've heard some kind of interesting themes.
Speaker 2:So, lindsay, maybe you would share what some of those themes have been as we've traveled around and talked to some of these small business owners.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so we've pretty consistently, through these towns, heard from many different types of stores and different sizes of towns that sales are definitely down by quite a bit from last year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so yeah, we have heard that message and you know, and I think that everyone has had, like you know, they've been, you know, kind of disappointed, but I think everyone still has that hopeful, you know camber to their voice where it's like, hey, we, you know it has been a dip, but we see, you know, some light coming.
Speaker 1:Or they're, they recognize the dip and then, and so they're like so we're, you know we're coffee, we do coffee, and so we're going to start selling our coffee in different retail stores in town or, you know, wholesaling it somehow, or something like that. So they're, they're getting creative.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Looking to to make some pivots or expanding, and you know the saying is that necessity is the mother of invention. We talked about during COVID, when, you know, we were running food establishments and venue places that you know were deeply impacted by the pandemic. We had to pivot, we had to make a change in order to be able to survive. And so I think that there are some that have kind of you know, not to that dramatic extent, but have are looking around and saying, okay, I'm seeing a little bit of slowing, maybe in this sector of my business or across my entire business, and so I'm looking to make some shifts, although I want to stay true to my core business, and I do see that I believe that the economy is going to shift in a positive direction, yeah.
Speaker 1:Because I mean people that I've talked to in the toy world, you know, sales reps or vendors that have that are long time been in the in the retail world. This is not their first election cycle. They've been through maybe four election cycles or more, and it's it's the same thing, you know. I mean I I heard it at Atlanta market in January Okay, hold on, like it's election year. So this is, this is, you know, fairly typical. So I think that that message is what keeps us, as retail and boutique store owners, hopeful. That cause they say then, once the election is over, you know, everything's pretty much back to normal. Well, you know, it's like, do we really know what our normal is?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, but recognizing that there are these cycles and it's just like some of the other seasonal cycles that we see within the course of a single year, when you know when we're talking with retailers that have been in business for 20 years and year. When you know when we're talking with retailers that have been in business for 20 years and they're saying, hey, every four years, like we feel this dip, and then, no matter who wins, it does kind of uptick thereafter, and so, you know, I think we have hope for that.
Speaker 2:And I've passed that on to some of the folks that we've talked with as well, because, you know, we've even talked to some local car dealerships that have mentioned that. Hey, yeah, every time election year, you know, especially the three or four months leading up to it, it just seems like you know, things are dipping, people are kind of hanging on to their checkbooks. They just are waiting to see who wins.
Speaker 2:You know, is it going to change tax policy, is it going to change monetary policy and is it going to impact our ability to make a major purchase? And you know that even trickles down to where people are eating. You know, maybe they're still eating out, but they're choosing fast food instead of a sit-down experience. Or maybe they're still buying things, but they're, you know, looking for cheaper alternatives. And so, you know, just trying to be aware of some of those trends.
Speaker 2:Yep, that's kind of the reality check, the gut check. I think that's some of the you know, the challenging news. But what we're looking at is also that we believe that the economic winds are shifting. So you know, not just now that the election is over, you know, we believe that. You know, in the coming weeks and months we're going to see definitely an increase in consumer confidence. We're going to see lower energy prices, which are going to cascade through the entire economy, and also lower taxes, especially for small business owners, which allows more reinvestment, and you know we believe that's going to lead to job growth and some of those other positive factors. So you know, also looking at kind of on the macro economic play here, that the you know Fed is likely to continue cutting interest rates over the coming year, which will hopefully improve the economy as well. When people spend less on interest, their payments go further in terms of mortgage or car payments or whatever.
Speaker 2:Maybe they're able to consolidate some things and free up some of their monthly budget to go towards other things. So definitely some good news. And I think that even really the last couple of months we've seen some lower gas prices and you know reading some of them, you know on a national scale that that has led to people having more disposable income and going out and spending it. And as we go into the holiday season, this is haymaking season for retailers and especially boutique retailers, where you know again you talking to your peers like a large percentage of annual revenues come in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 1:Oh yes, oh yes.
Speaker 2:So it is haymaking season, and so what we wanted to do was assemble some of these thoughts as 10 things that retailers can do to recover.
Speaker 2:You know, that's assuming that things have maybe taken a little bit of a dip this year.
Speaker 2:If you're one that hasn't seen too much of an impact, great, how about we'll make it 10 things to thrive and grow through the holiday season and beyond?
Speaker 2:That's our heart for small business owners, and we want to add value to you who are listening. And if this doesn't specifically pertain to you, I think that hopefully you'll find this still interesting, and we would ask you to do one of two things. One is share it with someone who could really benefit from this information, somebody in your network that you know that has a small business, particularly if they're a boutique retailer. Give a little more thought to how you might be able to support the small businesses in your community to be able to help them grow and thrive through this holiday season and beyond, because it's one of those things where we're guilty of it too. This is not meant to sound too preachy, I think, but sometimes we just forget all the opportunities that are around us and we take for granted some of the really great stores, some of the really great restaurants that we have in our community that are locally owned.
Speaker 2:And then something happens and one closes up and we're like, oh man, that we doing all we could to support that place in order to make sure that they survived and thrive going forward in our community, and so we know that this podcast reaches people in a lot of different communities, not just Marion, and so we want you to hear the message that it's not just you If you have experienced a little bit of a challenging year. It's not just you. Again, we're hearing it across a lot of different communities all around, and so we want you to put these strategies to work and hopefully be all the better for it and even better off for a really strong 2025 and beyond. So, with that, we're going to launch into these 10 things, and Lindsay's going to share some ideas, some new things that she's working on and that she's collaborating with others on, and hopefully you all can learn from this as well. So, number one inventory.
Speaker 1:Yes. So our favorite little saying is you can't sell what you don't have. So I know it can be scary, um, to look at your shelves and know that you need to fill them and, um, that takes money, which you know. With sales down, you know that's just the whole whole process. Um, but um, you know now is the time to get those shelves full. Um, you know people are coming in, coming in looking for maybe those higher dollar items that they don't purchase during the year. So now's the time to get those on those shelves and keep them full for as long as you can. I know that shipping can be, you know, delayed sometimes, but if there's items that you can get in quickly that have already sold, let's get those back on the on the shelves and let's sell them again.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So again, you know, in a small retailer's world like this, stocking up and really making sure that things are overflowing for the Christmas season, I mean it's tens of thousands of dollars outlay and again, if you're kind of coming off a sluggish quarter three, that can be tough to do. But I mean it's tens of thousands of dollars outlay and again, if you're kind of coming off a sluggish quarter three, that can be tough to do. But you know, this is maybe where we lean on our suppliers a little bit for a little bit better terms. Maybe some extended terms help us out to be able to kind of bridge the gap here of cash flow and then, you know, be able to get some terms to where then you can sell through that stuff, pay those bills and have a little stockpile going into the new year.
Speaker 1:Yep.
Speaker 2:Good Anything else in terms of inventory, I think.
Speaker 1:I think that's it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's good so again, you know, thinking about some of those higher dollar items too, because and really thinking, not just having inventory but having the right inventory, Right To make sure that you're really stocked on the items that you believe that people are going to be buying for this holiday season. Ok, so number two is hours.
Speaker 1:Hours is such a hard thing to determine is hours. Hours is such a hard thing to determine. It's like one of the you know, I don't know most controversial among you know business. You know business owners and consumers. You know everybody's afraid that they're going to be open when there's nobody in the store and closed when everybody's trying to get there. So so, and that doesn't change in the holiday season either.
Speaker 1:Um, so I'm encouraging and I'm doing. I'm, I'm extending hours on Friday nights and Saturday nights I'm. I'm usually closed about six o'clock or four o'clock and I'm staying open till seven. I'm opening a little bit earlier in the morning as well, just trying to hold more what I've been kind of calling like retail hours instead of just boutique hours. Boutiques typically, have you know we're closed on Sundays and Mondays, we have you know we're open maybe just five or six hours a day. Let's not do that during the holiday season. Let's try and be a bigger competitor for time compared to the big box stores. And updating those hours on all of the platforms which I need to make a note myself to do that. There's all those places that customers can find our hours Facebook, google, website and you think that you've done them all. And then you get a message that this customer came to the store and your hours said this and you were closed or whatever, and you forgot. So update those hours on all the platforms that you're on.
Speaker 2:I think that, and you know there's kind of a baseline expectation but really even just making sure that if you advertise that you're going to be open certain hours, staying open those hours that's something I know, that you've always been a stickler about. I've always really respected that. You do that and I think customers do too. And it's really hard. It's really difficult when you haven't, you know, had much traffic or any traffic for the last you know hour or two of being open.
Speaker 2:And it's really tempting to want to close early, but if you advertise you're going to be open until a certain time being open until that time.
Speaker 1:Yep, yep, and it is. It's hard, but that is something I've committed to, because before I was a store owner, it was frustrating if I would get to a store or a restaurant and it showed that they were supposed to be open and they weren't, or I would hear that frustration from other people, and so I've really tried to dial in when I'm pretty sure people are going to be shopping and holding to those hours.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, hours, yeah yeah. So expanding hours through this holiday season, making sure that you're giving as many people an opportunity to shop as possible and then making sure that you're shouting that from the rooftops and also we'll get to this. But you know collaborating, and so you know if it's Friday and Saturday evening, like how can you cooperate with local restaurants? Maybe they can help people know that you're open, so if they're on a wait, they encourage people to go over and visit your store while they're waiting. You know kind of the cracker barrel effect, as they call it, and so you know coupling that retail with food or you know even coordinating events that get people out on those evening hours. If you're going to be open those hours is really valuable. So hours.
Speaker 2:Yeah, if I had a dollar for every time that we've talked about hours since you've been in business.
Speaker 1:And I like cringe. He's like Luke's favorite. Have you thought about maybe staying open an extra hour on Saturday? It's just what we talk about, I mean, because it's such a you know, such a hard thing to manage. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and again, I mean, you know, hear this tension that retailers feel. If you're a consumer and you're one that has ever been, you know, critical or frustrated of hours not being you know as long as what you would like them to be, you know it is challenging and it is something that a lot of thought is given to in order to try to dial it in, because you know again, this is a business and you can't just sit there if people aren't going to come out.
Speaker 2:It is very frustrating from the store owner perspective when people are like you know, be open on Sunday, be open on Sunday and then you're open on Sunday and you know people don't come and you know, or they're like be open late on Friday, be open late on Friday, and then you do, and the traffic just isn't there to justify it, and so it is a two-way street. So we want to be encouraging for folks to be watching those hours and for store owners to be making sure that they're shouting that from the rooftops. Don't just announce it one time, don't just put a sign on your door. Do all of those things 10 times and keep telling people that you've got extended hours, just when you feel sick of sharing the message. That's just when people are starting to pick up on it.
Speaker 2:So, make sure that you're sharing early and often if you are expanding your hours because that's a big deal. Yes, you're making an investment to do it. So, number three, leveraging your expertise.
Speaker 1:Yes. So this is, like you know, my expertise in in toys and what's best for development. So something I started this holiday season around my store I have little note cards and they're just handwritten note cards. I didn't make them fancy and this is once again something we saw in other stores and that we thought was a great idea, and so I've made these little note cards and taped them to my shelves around certain products I have and explaining what age group this particular product is perfect for.
Speaker 1:I share what my number one sellers are throughout the store best family game, best first birthday gift game, best first birthday gift. Why science kits are great for eight-year-olds all those things. Because I love, I enjoy giving my opinion face-to-face to customers, but I also like my customers to walk around the store and feel like they're capable of picking out a gift um themselves, and at this time of the year as well, like the one-on-one, like we try really hard to have, you know, one on working one-on-one with customers, but sometimes that's not, you know, not as possible as it is during other times of the year, and so these note cards are a great way um to to allow that, to kind of give my and it's you know they can tell it's my handwriting, so they they know it's, they know that it's me. Um. Something else I do and doing more of um is demoing items, um live, live on Facebook Live or just videos and posting them, especially in the toy industry and I'm sure over other industries as well.
Speaker 1:But everybody wants to know what the hot items are, and so they come in and they want to ask what's the number one toy, what's the hot item for this year? And so you know I have to share that, and in multiple ways. You know I share it face to face and on Facebook and on videos and all those things. And that's not just something I walk around the store and say like, oh, this is going to be, this is the best item. It's showing them why it is, and so I'm showing my expertise to the customer about why it's a great toy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. And the big advantage that boutique retailers have over big box stores is expertise, is the ability to really get granular, and you know, most likely you're really passionate about the thing that you're selling, whether it's clothes or home decor or or toys or games or whatever books, You're really passionate about that thing. So if you can find ways to share your expertise yes, one-to-one is great, but if you can do, you know, kind of this like one-to-many type of thing the note cards are.
Speaker 2:I just love that. Yeah, we kind of ripped and duplicated that from another store where we saw that and it can be used in, you know, most, most any boutique and it gives a really personal touch.
Speaker 2:I think you know again, regardless of whether you're selling books or clothes or home decor gifts, you know you can have those cards that say like why we love this item Best seller, new for 2024 holiday season and just a little bit of detail about it, I think just really allow, you know, can pique people's interest. And sometimes too, there's certain items that from the packaging or just you know, if it's not unwrapped, like it's really hard to tell what it is, and so you know those make great candidates for the explainer and demo videos like you talked about, but also for note cards and also just experiential. You know, get things out of the package, let people play with them.
Speaker 1:So, share about your, you know, like items that you've had sitting on the counter, and how that's translated to how they sell, right, well, so I was taking this little like class this and, um, she encouraged us to look through last year's sales and and this is something that, um, I'm I'm trying to get better at and would encourage you, as a boutique owner, to do as well but to really look and see, like, what your top items are throughout your whole entire store. And so I did that and I was making my list and I was looking at my list. Well, it's everything that I have out that kids are playing with the toy, you know, like the. There's a really fun game called build Z. That is difficult to look at the box and really learn what it is, but it's my number one seller, and it for the last two Christmases it is, and this year I'm sure that it will be as well.
Speaker 1:It's on the counter, everybody plays with it, everybody learns what it is, and so then they want it. Um, you know. So the kids walk in the door. They get a shopping cart there's. There's trains there, there's magnet tiles there's. You know, those are the things that I'm selling.
Speaker 2:So yeah, because they're out, kids are playing with them and parents are like oh, my child obviously loves that toy because they've sat there and played with it for 45 minutes and haven't said a peep while I've walked around the entire store. I probably need to stick one of those back for Christmas this year.
Speaker 2:Right. So yeah, so you know these things. They're not difficult, but sometimes we get so zoned in on our businesses that we just forget and, with a little bit of intention with looking at what our top items are, how we can educate our customers, how we can leverage our expertise to share what we know with our customers. It's so easy to assume that what we know that we deal with every day it's really basic. Our customers don't know that, and the more we can provide it in a very consumable way, they're going to really enjoy it. It's going to build trust and lead to sales as well.
Speaker 1:And something that I've learned is, if you ask your vendor for a demo, they'll send you a demo. You don't have to crack open the box of a toy that you're or you know whatever it is you're selling and that become a loss for you, which, in turn, is really going to be a benefit, but they'll send. They'll send demos and I didn't learn. I didn't know that at first and I've learned that over the years.
Speaker 2:Yeah, good tip, yep, okay, so number four changing up your marketing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so something I've done and I feel like I really am seeing a return is I'm posting on Facebook and Instagram twice a day. I've been a once a day poster around the same time and so I'm still doing that time, and now I'm doing once in the evening. Um, so if you're a once a day poster, post twice a day. If you post twice a day, try and post three to four times a day. Um, because now is the time that people are looking for those ideas. We are being flooded with information on holiday shopping, christmas toys, top 10 items, so let's be the ones also that are staying top of mind, and that more frequent posting is definitely helping.
Speaker 1:Doing live videos I've committed to doing one live video a week and I have seen really great return on that. Um, people are coming in and saying I saw your video of, you know, the top toddler toys and I want you know this and this from that list, and um's really great. I've tried a direct mail piece that just went out last week, so we're going to give that a shot. That's nothing I've done before, so that's definitely changing up my marketing. And then showing collections of things uh, people right now are buying in in multiples of things.
Speaker 1:Um, and you know, typically, you know, throughout the year, there are one gift here, one gift there, but for at this time of the year, for, for, you know, siblings or children, grandchildren, they're buying multiple gifts. So they want to see, you know, if they're a farming family, then they want to see all that you have to offer. You know, if they're a farming family, then they want to see all that you have to offer. You know, all the tractors and all the animals that that you have to offer. So, so, show collections of things in your posts instead of just one thing at a time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, those are great. I know that the Facebook live is like a new thing for you. And I think you know Facebook loves Facebook Lives and they give good exposure when you do them, but it was a little intimidating to start that right Very much, so yes. But it wasn't that bad and it wasn't that bad.
Speaker 1:I think what I was scared about mostly was if I mess up, then I can't just stop the video and start again. But I feel like maybe I'm more like on and prepared and know what I'm doing, because I know that I can't just mess up. And also I think that our customers want to see, you know, that different side of you. They don't. They don't want to see the like, always together, always have all the different side of you. They don't. They don't want to see the like, always together, always have all the answers type of person. So Alive, you know, opens that up and I mean seriously like I've gotten some really good views on those videos.
Speaker 2:Right, right, yeah, and then they stay around and you know people can watch them later and you know there's just a lot of ways that you can use them. You can make them kind of more of a Q&A format, because people can comment in the comments and you can see them in real time and, you know, can make it more of a Q&A, which is a really unique approach. And just engaging people again showing that authentic side, like you were saying, building trust and just connecting with your consumers is really important. So we talked in the episode with Jenny Lust and of course she's your shop neighbor and you guys talk a lot and of course her manager, maria, and Jenny do a lot of videos together and Facebook Lives and people just love them because they are very authentic in those videos, they have fun with it and people can see their personality and then when they come in, even if they've never met Jenny or Maria before, they feel like they know them Right and I know that it's the same way with you.
Speaker 2:I mean, you have people when we're out and about that come up and say, hey, you're Lindsay the toy lady, and they'll strike up a conversation because they feel like they know you, because you've kind of shown your personality through your videos. So it's intimidating, it's a little scary to put yourself out there, but there are definitely rewards for doing that.
Speaker 1:Definitely.
Speaker 2:So somebody's not doing that, that's a great way to change up your marketing, so I encourage you to do that. Okay, number five stay consistent.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I am staying consistent with my newsletters. I send out a newsletter every week on the exact same day of the week, at the exact same time. Um, and I did some research to figure that out and the you know the it is. It is researched that Tuesday, wednesday and Thursday are the better times to send out those emails, um, sometime before lunch or right after lunch. Um, those are the. Those are presumed to be the times that people are less flooded with other emails, and so that kind of stays top of mind.
Speaker 1:Um, so, and just just showing up, like just showing up um to your store a day after day, being being the person that you are the 10 months of the year, you know, just like you are the 10 months of the year, you know, just like you are the 10 months of the year, these two months of the year, um, you know, we, we pride ourselves in being the toy experts, the game experts all the other months of the year. Well, we are this these times too, you know, um, so we're just, you know, always. People are always looking for recommendations, and so we're just continually showing up, you know, being that consistent voice to them when they walk in the door when they send us a message, um just just doing it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it's really easy, especially when maybe people have had a rough prior quarter or whatever you know to kind of get a little bit of that discouragement seep into their willingness to continue putting in the stuff and the time and effort into things that maybe don't seem like they're having a lot of results.
Speaker 2:Maybe, they've been doing their newsletter, but they just are like I don't feel like I'm seeing consistent feedback or impact from that and so I want to slack off of that. I'm posting on social media every day and I don't feel like I'm getting results, so maybe I'll just slack off twice a week. But just continuing to show up and stay consistent, I think, is going to just really pay dividends because you're kind of like making deposits over time and eventually those are going to get cashed in right, you know, by staying top of mind by educating people throughout the year.
Speaker 2:Now you're established in their mind as the toy expert when it comes time to go shop for their Christmas gifts. And if you just start that on November 15th, it's really hard to build up trust. That takes time to build in a week or two before Black Friday when they're ready to shop Right. So, yeah, just staying consistent with all that stuff and still here through the season and beyond, yep, okay. So number six collaboration.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so collaboration over competition is kind of a little saying that some of us in Marion here have established and that is a Boutique Hub mindset and an encouragement to us in the boutique world, and so we have created here. Well, boutique Hub has created Pink Friday I think that Beth Fox talked about that a few episodes back, yep and so we're doing Pink Weekend, which is the Friday and Saturday before Pink Friday, black Friday, black Friday, thank you, thank you. So we're doing that and we're all open the same hours, 10 to 7 that Friday and Saturday. And so we've collaborated on that. We have the same messaging going out. We have a billboard, we have flyers, we have maps, we have Facebook event. It is the same messaging from all of us.
Speaker 1:And that took work. That took, you know, all of us who have our own stores and who are used to creating our own marketing plans and our own you know Facebook events and newspaper ads and all of that ads and all of that um working. You know working together, meeting together and and figuring that out. So that, and I believe that we are going because of that collaboration, we are going to be more successful than if we were all just kind of if we were all doing pink weekend but we were all doing our own advertising and we all had our own flyer or something. We all had our own advertising, we all had our own flyer or something, we all had our own hours.
Speaker 1:It's that, it's that consistency, and it makes us look like we're, you know, working together, not just working against each other or just on our own. So that has really that was kind of the event that has forced us to collaborate in other areas, and some of us I mean, we have the exact same hours, not just for Pink Weekend, but for all of November and all of December. We have the exact same hours. It might be, you know the store two streets away, you know we have the same hours. Um, and so that's something that we worked on before we posted them, before we made the window clings, all of that. Uh, we talked about what we were going to do and we committed to okay, you are going to be open on Sundays. I'm not usually open on Sundays, but I'm going to now and so it's collaboration over competition and I think that it's paying us big time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh for sure, I totally agree. I think that the same hours is such a that's a real pro tip that hopefully some others out there and it takes some cooperation. It takes a little bit of compromise maybe, because I'm sure that maybe one just like we said, we've talked about hours a million times Others have different feelings about hours and maybe their customers have a little bit different habits than yours and you know.
Speaker 2:So you're trying to kind of compromise, to find the happy medium so that you can maintain the same hours and try to catch everybody still. But and sometimes it has to start as a kind of a small group. I mean, frankly, you and Jenny started doing that, your next door shop neighbor because you saw so much spillover traffic between the two of you. You're like, hey, if you're going to be open on a holiday, I'll be open on holiday. If you're going to be closed, I might as well be closed because we just need to do this in tandem.
Speaker 2:And then it sort of grew to like a few more stores, that kind of started collaborating with you and then hopefully it'll expand to some more. I mean, I think that this definitely is an inclusive type of deal, but it has to start somewhere.
Speaker 2:I think that if sometimes people are like, well, I don't want to offend any other stores, or maybe other stores say, well, those five stores are collaborating and so I'm an outsider, I don't think it's like that at all. I think it's just you've got to start with the smaller group and then kind of expand from there the smaller group and then kind of expand from there. If you try to get 12 or 14 stores to all have the same hours from the get-go before you started, then it would never get going. But if you can start with two, then five, then seven, then 10, then eventually maybe everyone is, if not exactly the same, very closely aligned and then you can, as you said, be advertising it together.
Speaker 2:We saw that with Sunday hours. There was a high degree of, again, not everyone has the exact same hours, but everyone, almost everyone in the downtown, if not everyone, has made a concerted effort to say, hey, through the fall, say the third and fourth quarters, we're going to really try to all have consistent Sunday hours, be pretty similar and see if we can market that all together. And there's been some great graphics made that push that out. And so I think that those types of opportunities are really valuable Yep for sure. So moving on number seven events.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so it is encouraged to do nine events from November 1st all the way through Christmas. So that could look it needs to look like many different types of events. You have weekend events. You have nighttime. You know weeknight events. You have VIP events that are, you know, paid events.
Speaker 1:Um, holiday open house, obviously, the pink Friday, or the pink weekend, black Friday, small business Saturday. Um, grinch night for, like the night, the you know the last day that you're open before Christmas. You know you're the Grinch, you've waited to the last minute. Uh, ladies night, vip shopping events. I mean, the list goes on. So nine might seem like a lot, but when I probably just listed more than nine there, um, so it's just really important that um, people just love when it is something you know.
Speaker 1:Um, you know you're unveiling your, your holiday decor, your um on your uh, you know the advent calendars are on the shelf for the first time. You know we've got to make it. We've got to make it something. Um, so maybe not every event has some kind of sale or promotion or or giveaway. It's a, it's a special event because you're unveiling the advent calendars, the Christmas candles, the Christmas sweatshirts for the first time. So those are, those are important to get, to get on the calendar, to get on them. They should be on there now and so you're planning for them and then you know on in your marketing that's what you're planning for them, and then you know on in your marketing that's what you're doing in your consistent newsletter, that's what you're sharing. It is really, you know, important to have to have those events to share and do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know that you just seem like so much more at ease when you put those big rocks into your calendar ahead of time. You know you set them in late October or mid-October or something, and you already had them all laid out. And just then you knew and you planned all your promotions around them.
Speaker 2:You ordered, you know, stock. According to that, You're setting up your marketing and your graphics and all of that, Yep. So it just seems like that works out so well. It does. And then you know it doesn't have to stop there, though it can go beyond, you know the whole thing here is through the holiday season and beyond Right. You know, then, to plan your first quarter events.
Speaker 1:You know that first quarter is going to be kind of slow, but it's also cold and snowy and people are looking for things to do, so that is a great time to do events In that first quarter. It gets people out and it gets people in your store.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah and look for collaborations. Is there a restaurant, a brewery, a winery, another boutique? Is there someone you know, a maker, that you can bring in? Is there an experience that you can curate for your customer base? There's just a lot of different ways that you can do events and they are just the lifeblood, we believe, of small business in a retail environment to get groups of people in, get them enjoying themselves and, again, just your building trust and brand loyalty and all that along the way too. Yep, okay, so number eight hospitality.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so just keeping it very top of mind during this time of year, you might have people that haven't been in your store before and it's important that you're putting your best foot forward and showing them hey, we thought of you before you got here. We're greeting you at the door. You know sharing if there is a promotion, if there is an event happening, pointing, you know asking what, what they're in here for, how can you help them? What they're in here for, how can you help them? Um, making it, making it smell good, making your your uh store clean?
Speaker 1:Um, you know just how focusing on how we're making the customers feel, uh, while they're in there, do they do they feel welcome, do they feel like they can ask you questions or does it feel stale and like you're, they're bothering you if they ask you a question? Um, so I feel like I feel like it's I say I've said this before and I feel like November and December kind of like our Superbowl. It's like it's our time, it's our, it's our best, it's our time to shine, it's the best opportunity for us to win over customers. And if we're doing hospitality the way that we should be doing, then you know the other 10 months of the year, then November and December aren't that hard, but we definitely need to be staying consistent with being hospitable to our customers.
Speaker 2:Yeah, really well said, and just yeah, if you can ratchet it up a notch. Uh, we were commenting on um, elena Renee. Uh, again um now there's boutique in downtown Marion and they have uh home goods and food related items and they had, uh on Saturday morning, uh cake baking. As people are coming in, they're giving away samples. So I mean, just imagine you walk in the front door you're greeted with that smell, you know a warm greeting, a sample, and it's just a wonderful experience.
Speaker 2:And we talk about that you know you said it well, our definition of hospitality is we thought of you before you got here and they definitely did that in that instance. And again, you outlined some great ways as well. So hospitality number eight really good Number nine reviews.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So maybe something that I know I'm guilty of not putting much thought into reviews until I might get a bad one. And then you're like, oh no, you just kind of forget about people really are looking at reviews and they're looking at them in this time of the year, I would assume, more than ever. And so I know there's incentives. You know there's a. There's a $5 kickback coupon that um, my marketing, my email marketing platform, will give um if somebody leaves a review.
Speaker 1:Um, just encouraging your consumers um to leave a review. Have a QR code at your counter to scan and leave a review quick. Do a giveaway, for you know, you leave a review this week, you'll be entered to win this type of basket or gift card. So just push, really push, to get reviews and reply to those reviews that you do get Um, you know, maybe how can you, as a shop owner in your own town, um, do that for as many stores as you can? Um, you know, kind of lead the charge on on making sure that you've reviewed the places that you have, um, you know, supported and and been to um, and just, you know, hope, hope, ask for them to do the same for you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Again, a great collaboration. You all can review one another and try to keep boosting everyone's reviews. You know, part of the Google algorithm is having not only a lot of reviews good reviews but also recent reviews, and so if you got a huge flood of them when you first opened and have only gotten a smattering since then, it's just not going to be as valuable as if you're getting those consistently. So again, if there's some really nice fresh ones, that's going to bode really well. If there's some really nice fresh ones, that's going to bode really well. If someone types in toy store near me and Lulu's pops up and you know they see that, oh, it's obviously still open because it's gotten four reviews that show, you know, in the last week or two.
Speaker 2:So yeah, so good, good tips there.
Speaker 1:Yep.
Speaker 1:And then lastly, number 10, make it easier for people to buy. Yeah, so everything has to be wrapped at this time of the year, obviously. So what we do at Lulu's is we offer free or complimentary gift wrapping and we have a system for that. We take all the names down for all the gifts and write the description and leave them with the. They leave them with us and we have a 48 hour guarantee, turn back time or we have plenty of space we can store them, even if they want to come in on Christmas Eve and pick them up. We just try and do whatever we can for parents who need to get those gifts wrapped and maybe out of the house until it's time to put them out.
Speaker 1:Make up gift baskets for you know, like I talked about those collections earlier, you know baby's first Christmas's first Christmas um basket of some sort, um would be great, um. I think you know a lot of stores in town have, you know, great home decor or they um, I know they've um worked with, uh, doctor's offices or other offices that do they do that for their employees. Um, so such a great way, offer a service during this time, just busy, busy time of the year that you know kind of takes an extra load off of off of the consumer, and offer shipping if you can. It's actually it's pretty easy to do to ship and just you know, figure out how. Just get creative with how can you sell something online if you don't have an online store? You know you've, you've make up something and you post it on Facebook and say this is you know this collection is $75,. You know taking orders for you know three of them, or whatever, and you know they can ship.
Speaker 2:You know three of them, or whatever, and you know they can ship. So, just making it easy, yeah, yeah, Make it easy for people to buy. They'll buy more and they'll buy more often. So improve and expand convenience.
Speaker 2:I know that I'm I love a convenient gift, that if someone can help me pick out something for you know my wife or my daughter, don't tell her that I said this, but yeah, that makes it easy. And you know they're going to wrap it or they're going to make it look great and it doesn't look like I wrapped it with T-Rex arms. Then they're going to appreciate it a lot more and so, yeah, that is so such a leg up that boutique retailers have to be able to offer that level of convenience, personalization, yep, and so you're going to win if you can do that with as many different types of people as possible. So there you have it 10 things that retailers can do to recover here through the 2024 holiday season and beyond, with expert guest Lindsay Henry. So thank you for sharing. I think these have been some really great tips and again, I know that you said before we went on hey, I don't have it all figured out. I you know, I'm not necessarily sure that all of the things that I'm trying are always going to work.
Speaker 2:But, you got to get out, you got to try stuff. You have to try new things, adapt, pivot, flex and just keep moving forward, and that's the name of the game in small business, and if you keep doing that, you're going to do well. And so you know, we want to encourage folks out there. Small business owners, you are our people. This podcast was created for you, to educate you, to inspire you, to share stories of others that are doing the hard work that you're doing, and we just want you to know we are rooting for you and we want to see you survive and thrive, and hopefully some of these tips have been helpful. If you're again, if you're someone that's listening to this and you think that it could help somebody else, someone that's listening to this and you think that it could help somebody else, we sure would appreciate if you would share this podcast episode with them.
Speaker 2:Speaking of reviews, I would be hypocritical if I didn't also ask for you to rate and review this podcast on YouTube or on your podcast player of choice. Again, it really matters. It really helps get the word out. I am shocked with how far and wide this podcast is going. There's a lot of folks that listen locally, but it seems, based on the data I get, that it's going to a lot of other places too, and so we hope that this is helping in other communities and other small businesses and we love that, and so keep sharing it, please. If it helps somebody, that's what makes this worthwhile for us to keep investing the time to do it.
Speaker 2:And if you're someone that's a consumer, please, as you go into this holiday season, know that there's a lot of small businesses out there that would love your support. They appreciate you, they notice you. It just matters more than what you could ever imagine for you to just step through their front door, if you've never been there before, and to try them out and to check them out, and I bet that you're going to be really pleasantly surprised with what you find, because there's a lot of really fantastic businesses out there doing some really fantastic things. So thanks again for being with us. This is the Main Street Reimagined podcast. We will see you soon. Thanks for listening to the Main Street Reimagined podcast. To learn more about Main Street Reimagined Henry Development Group or our work in downtown Marion, ohio, please visit MainStreetReimaginedcom. If you want to connect or if you know someone who we need to interview. Shoot us an email at info at MainStreetReimaginedcom. Until next time, keep dreaming and don't be afraid to take the leap.