Sell Dollar store merchandise

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· I understand you sell dollar store merchandise. Do you happen to know what most Dollar Plus owners are marking their products up to? E.g. Avg %, I understand that some will be more and some less, so it’s only an average I’m looking for. I realize we’ll be low on some in order to stay competitive, but I’m worried that a 34% profit will put us at greater risk, so hoping we can mark up a bit more to increase that percentage.
We’re looking at the majority of products to be in the $1 to $3 range with a smaller percentage of $3 to $10 items. We’d like to keep the look and feel of the store to be similar to the pictures on your website. Of course suggestions are welcome. We have a Family Dollar store here and many of our neighbors and friends say they walked in once and never went back (although we’ve been counting their traffic at various times and they are getting anywhere from 30 to 48 cars per hour that drive into their lot). The place is dark, not well organized, perception of dirty and unfriendly. They offer clothing, which we won’t offer and they have many items over $15 and up. We want a bright, clean, friendly store that’s well organized (like the ones in your pictures on your site).

ON A 1,2,3 DOLLAR SCENARIO, A NORMAL MARKUP WOULD BE 50 TO 55%, ACTUALLY THAT 8500 SQ FT CUSTOMER IN ORLANDO NOW DID THE 1,2,3, CONCEPT AND HE IS VERY HAPPY WITH THE RESULTS. WE AS BUCKSTORE IN 2009 WILL LAUNCH A 1,2,3, CONCEPT NATIONWIDE TOO. DOLLAR TREE INC AQUIRED “DEALS STORES” VERY RECENTLY AND THEY HAVE A 5 AND UNDER CONCEPT.

· At what point in the process can we determine product mix? I assume it’s down the line a ways, but knowing costs would assist us in our pricing research. We’ve incorporated, but can’t get our dba until we have a physical address. So much is dependent on the lease negotiations.

I LIKE TO LOOK AT THE DOLLAR STORE LOCATION ITSELF, DEMOGRAPHICS, TRAFFIC COUNTS, COMPETITORS, ETC BEFORE SUGGESTING A PRODUCT MIX. BUT YES, ONCE YOU HAVE DECIDED ON A PLACE LET ME KNOW AND I CAN START SENDING SOME INFORMATION OVER.

· Can you tell me if you guys have any recommendations on dollar store staffing levels, either by square footage or sales? If not, do you happen to know how your past clients have determined how many people are needed based on their projections? Allied told us 1.5 FTE per 1,000 square feet. But they also calculated the projections very differently and I would think that number may vary depending on the traffic. We’re looking at doing a 5,000 sq ft store (assuming we can get the 5300 sq ft that Philip is working on getting for us).

I DON’T LIKE TO USE FORMULAS TO CALCULATE EMPLOYEES BECAUSE IT DEPENDS ON AMOUNT OF CUSTOMERS ENETERING THE STORES. A “NORMAL” 5000 SQ FT STORE REQUIRES 5 TO 7 EMPLOYEES IF WORK IS SPLIT UP CORRECTLY.

· Do you guys have any type of operations procedures manual? I am not new to management, but am new to retail, so need all the resources I can lay my hands on.

THE OPERATIONS MANUAL (WHICH I HAVE SEEN), is photocopy PRINT OUT THEY HAND OUT SAYING “BE NICE TO YOUR CUSTOMERS”, ETC ETC AND THE LIST OF WAREHOUSES TO BUY FROM. I ALWAYS PREFER TO HAVE ALL MATERIALS SENT BEFORE YOU OPEN (MERCHANDISE ORDERING, BREAKDOWNS, ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS, ETC) AND HAVE OUR CREW CAPTAIN DO THE FULL STORE TRAINING ON-SITE SO YOU CAN TAKE NOTES AND ASK QUESTIONS TOO. WE, AS OPPOSED TO OTHER COMPANIES STAY IN TOUCH FOR THE LIFETIME OF A STORE AND I ANSWER ALL CALLS ON A PERSONAL BASIS WHEN PEOPLE HAVE ANY ISSUES OR QUESTIONS ABOUT ANYTHING REGARDING THE STORE. THERE ARE VERY GOOD RETAIL BOOKS THAT WE ALWAYS RECOMMEND SUCH AS PACO UNDERWOOD’S “WHY WE BUY” WHICH HAS EXCELLENT POINTERS BESIDES WHAT WE TEACH YOU WHICH IS SPECIFIC TO THE DOLLAR STORE, SO THE ANSWER IS…. NO.

· I notice that the stores in your dollar store pictures have carpeting. Carpeting was also recommended by other companies. However, I was told by someone who worked in retail that carpet might stain more easily. What do you guys recommend?

ON 5000 SQ FT HIGH TRANSIT COMMERCIAL CARPET CAN LOOK VERY GOOD AND WE TEND TO CHOOSE THE DARKER COLORS I.E. DARK GREEN, DARK BLUE, ETC. ANOTHER OPTION IS TILE OR WHAT IS CALLED VCT VINYL. YES, CARPET MIGHT STAIN A BIT BUT DON’T FORGET TILE (WHICH IS USUALLY A LIGHT COLOR) GETS MARKED UP TOO WITH SHOPPING CART WHEELS, ETC.

· Do you have any checklists or tasklist that would help us continue to move forward on our side while lease negotiations are going on? I’m going to be out of town for the whole month of December, so need to accomplish as much as I can before I leave.

ORDER OF PROCEDURES IS 1) SEND US THE MEASUREMENTS / DIMENSIONS OF THE LOCATION, WITH WIDTH AND LENGTH (THIS IS ALWAYS PROVIDED BY THE LANDLORD), AND WE PREPARE A FULL ITEMIZED LAYOUT OF WHAT FIXTURES YOU NEED AND AISLE ARRANGEMENT. 2) WE SEND ALL PRODUCT INFORMATION INCLUDING CATALOGS, PICTURES, AND PRICES OF EVERYTHING, SO YOU CAN GET A LOOK AND FEEL OF PRODUCT 3) I PREPARE THE MERCHANDISE BREAKDOWN FOR YOUR LOCATION AND WE HAVE A CONFERENCE CALL TO REVIEW EVERYTHING 4) FIXTURES GET ORDERED 5) MERCHANDISE GETS ORDERED 6) WE DO THE FULL BUILDOUT. (this is the summarized version anyways !!).

· Because Pahrump is rural, we expect that we’ll have peaks and valleys. For example, the first of the month is very busy in the grocery stores. We’re thinking we need 3 checkout stations. How many check out stations do you guys recommend for a 5,000 sp ft store?

YOU ARE ACTUALLY RIGHT ON THE LIMIT OF 2 TO 3 REGISTERS BUT BECAUSE OF YOUR DEMOGRAPHICS, TRAFFIC, I AM INCLINED TOWARDS 2 …. YOU CAN ALWAYS ADD 1 MORE !!

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