1) Using gridwall or slatwall in a small area helps you to take advantage of the vertical space available to you. These systems are relatively inexpensive to install and once there, you can have the versatility that you need to personalize them to reflect your brand image. With just a few slatwall accessories, you can create interesting displays and find creative ways to fit more inventory on the wall than you thought. It’s easy to maneuver shelves, racks, and hanging bars so that you can change up your displays with each promotion, season, or new arrival.

2) Garment racks can help you to display a lot of your inventory on the floor, but they are also useful for creating easy-access storage for your store room or behind the counter. Nesting Z-Racks are very popular for store rooms. You can hang a lot of inventory on them and then they nest together to take up less space. The heavy duty construction means that your racks will last you for many years.

3) Ceiling racks are also useful in small settings. Ceiling racks are often used in garages to store boards, skis, and other long awkward items that are difficult to contain. In a boutique, you can use ceiling racks for cardboard boxes, mannequin forms for your slatwall or gridwall, or any other items you can think of. You can also hang hangers and other items from the ceiling rack and make more room on the floor.

4) Garment racks and clothing racks are useful in the store room, but on the sales floor you’ll want to be careful. Round racks are great if you don’t overstuff them. Customers do not want to sift through a cramped clothing rack to find their size. Consider racks with bars that keep clothing separated. Getting a lot of inventory off of the floor and onto the walls is a great way to show your customers what you have without limiting what you carry.

About the Author: John Garvey is on the staff of Only Garment Racks, a leading online source of clothing racks including garment racks. Find a high quality clothing rack or garment rack at http://www.onlygarmentracks.com.

Boutiques often have a harder time managing their inventory than big department stores, because bigger chains have money to hire outside inventory companies, or their inventory is closely tracked electronically. Boutique owners usually have to manually keep track of everything, which translates into a big job.

Delegating some of the work to your employees can help to take a lot of the grunt work out of the job. Divide the store into sections and have each employee work on the inventory counts in that section during down times. Assigning small sections to each employee keeps the job from becoming overwhelming for any one person. When everyone is done with their counts, have them go back and check each other’s numbers.

You can offer incentives and rewards for accurate counts if the employees seem unwilling to do the job. Holding a pizza party or something similar outside of business hours to get it done is a quick and effective way to do it. Letting everyone know that first they will count and then they will check another employee’s work will generally ensure that counts are accurate the first time around. You can also assign a team to each section so that they can take turns counting and double checking numbers.

Most companies make inventory counts outside of normal business hours a mandatory requirement. However, boutiques often have part-time employees with other obligations outside of their normal schedule. If you worry about making things mandatory and risking losing valued employees, offer extra discounts or bonus money to those who participate.

Avoid the problem of miscalculating how much time each section will take by having employees that finish early help out in other sections until everything is done. Have them take on an extra clothing rack or straighten out displays so that the store is ready to open on time. Clothing racks and displays can be marked with tags or notes so that everyone knows when a section is complete.

About the Author: John Garvey is on the staff of Only Garment Racks, a leading online source of clothing racks including garment racks. Find a high quality clothing rack or garment rack at http://www.onlygarmentracks.com.

Creating an effective visual display means convincing customers that you care enough to have quality products that are fully stocked and easy to shop through. People are put at ease when they can see that you have plenty of inventory and sizes, increasing their chances at finding something that they would like. Boutiques are in a unique position of having limitless creative licensing to make some really eye catching displays. The better you become at reading the needs and wants of your customers, the better you will be at creating these types of high impact displays.

Great displays are the easiest way to draw attention to your promotions. People want to feel like they’re getting a good deal on a high quality product. When they shop in boutiques, they are hoping to find products that are as unique as they are attractive. Pointing out the products that you have by promoting them effectively will help your customers to have the shopping experience that they crave.

Rotate products and retail displays regularly to keep customers interested. You can rotate around holidays, or on a regular calendar schedule. Make sure that you have a few places around your boutique where customers can easily see what your products look like when they are worn or used. Mannequins are most effective, but you can also use other things to display clothing in a three-dimensional way. You can hang things from the ceiling to draw attention to areas deeper into the store, or you can use hanging forms on the fronts of your garment racks or shelves to save space.

Think about color, balance and texture when you set up a promotional display. Try to combine items from around the store to draw attention to your other products while giving the display more depth. Accessorizing the hanging form on a garment rack will get the attention of customers that are more focused on one thing at a time and are not looking around the store. Rotating things around and regularly mixing things up will keep the attention and interest of your customers year round.

About the Author: John Garvey is on the staff of Only Garment Racks, a leading online source of garment racks including clothing racks. Find a high quality garment rack or clothing rack at http://www.onlygarmentracks.com.

Brand image, when properly communicated and managed, can help you to survive a rocky economy. When people stop spending so much money, they don’t necessarily go for the cheapest, bottom of the barrel types of retailers. When they are uncertain or scared of what the down economy might mean, they turn to the businesses that they know and trust. They would rather pay a little more for a quality product that they know will last, than chance it on a company that they know little or nothing about. This is why it is so important to be very clear in your advertising, marketing and promotions. Your goal should be to communicate everything that you want to mean to your customers. Quality, service, reliability, fairness, cutting edge merchandise, all of the things that you want your customers to think about when they think of you should be first and foremost on your mind when setting up a boutique or retail store.

Everything in your store should communicate something to your customer. A deep bin full of clothes with a big sign on top would indicate that this is a clearance area, full of clothes in sparse sizes, questionable quality or style, and very low prices. If a customer looks through the bin and discovers that their initial impression was right, then you have successfully communicated with the customer. That example may not be congruent with your personal store’s brand image, but it does demonstrate how retail branding is used to communicate certain things to the customer. The things you communicate should be absolutely true. When the customer determines that you’ve been honest in your advertising, marketing, and even store displays then you build trust. Trusting relationships can make or break a business.

Use every aspect of your boutique business to build that trust. Your web site, your online social efforts, your mailings, even your garment racks have an effect on people’s impression of you. If a customer sees a garment rack stuffed with clothing that they can’t even see, then they will come to the conclusion that you don’t care about their shopping experience. Well maintained, stocked but manageable garment racks will make a customer think that you are diligent about carrying a lot in every size or that you care about separating garments by size so that they can easily shop for items that they might want. These things can be very powerful so pay attention to every detail of your store that could affect your brand image.

About the Author: John Garvey is on the staff of Only Garment Racks, a leading online source of garment racks including clothing racks. Find a high quality garment rack or clothing rack at http://www.onlygarmentracks.com.

Your brand will make or break you in any economy. If you’re concerned that the economy is negatively affecting your business, then you’re not thinking in the forward manner that you should be. Consider a down economy the time when you should be more competitive. People are out there spending money, they just need to come to you to spend it. Taking business from your competition is job #1. Get excited and innovative to take advantage of a time when customers are only buying from those that they believe in.

Branding has a lot to do with trust. When customers are skeptical because of the economy, who do you think they’re going to spend their money with? Retailers that they know and trust. They don’t want to risk spending money on something that may not deliver. They are going to go with brands whose image they are familiar with. They want to know that what they are getting is a high enough quality that they won’t be throwing their money away.

Building trust with your customers should be first and foremost on your mind. Use every aspect of your retail business to build that trust. Your web site, your social media efforts, your mailings, even your store displays has an effect on people’s impression of you.

Start by thinking about how to build trust while reinforcing your image. A down economy doesn’t mean that you have to lower your prices. It makes people think that you are just trying too hard to get their money, and lowering prices, if not done carefully, can instill that seed of doubt that you want to avoid.

Everything about your store, catalog, or web site is a promise to the customers. If you have a lot of high quality images, then they perceive you as a high end retailer. If you skimp on something, they may perceive you and your brand as a lower quality outfit. At any step in the process of making a purchase, you could betray the trust that you’ve begun to establish. Be careful to pay attention to all the details of the shopping experience.

Inside your store, make sure that your displays are tidy and neat, your staff is courteous and respectful, and that your garment racks are fully stocked. If people see a garment rack that is lacking in sizes, they will not trust that you will have what they need when they find what they want, and may leave. Keep everything streamlined, from the moment someone enters the store to the moment they leave or need to make a return. Make check-out on your web site easy to manage. Make ordering from your catalog as easy as possible. With your customers’ trust, your business could flourish, despite fluctuations in the economy.

About the Author: John Garvey is on the staff of Only Garment Racks, a leading online source of garment racks including clothing racks. Find a high quality garment rack or clothing rack at http://www.onlygarmentracks.com.

1) Use a gridwall or slatwall system for your displays. These systems are sturdy, inexpensive, and last a long time. They could be one of your greatest investments. Display systems such as these allow you to hang your merchandise on the wall as far up as the ceiling. With just a few inexpensive accessories, you can display your merchandise, jewelry, handbags, and other products without using any floor space. Additional benefits include being able to keep an eye on shoppers, controlling what goes into the fitting rooms, and customers can see what all you have to offer without having to dig around.

2) Utilize sneaky ways to store your inventory. If you use furniture to decorate, choose chairs, couches and chests that open up to reveal storage. You can use tall tables with a table cloth to cover the stored items underneath. Use your imagination and create storage in places that you may not have originally considered.

3) Don’t forget about the ceiling. If you have a storage room or office, you may be able to install a ceiling rack. These normally come as a wire grate that hangs from the ceiling. This is a really good way to create storage for your mannequins, hangers, bags, inventory, or anything else that you don’t need right away.

4) Shelving systems are great for storing items up to the ceiling in your office or storage room. Using adjustable shelves will let you maximize the little bit of space that you have. You may even consider using shelves on casters so that you can roll them. If you have a few in a back room, you can push them together for storage, then simply slide them apart when you need to get to something.

5) Use rolling garment racks or clothing racks for inventory that needs to be hung. A rolling garment rack is great for storage. It keeps your clothing from getting wrinkled and damaged. You can steam out wrinkles from garments directly on the clothing rack right out of the box. Then, when you’re ready to put them out, simply roll the rack out to the sales floor.

About the Author: John Garvey is on the staff of Only Garment Racks, a leading online source of clothing racks including garment racks. Find a high quality clothing rack or garment rack at http://www.onlygarmentracks.com.

It may be surprising to find out that smaller retail stores and boutiques actually have a tougher time doing inventory than big department stores. This is generally because boutiques try to inventory everything at once with only one or two employees working on it. Department stores categorize everything, creating smaller and smaller categories, and then put one person in charge of a tiny section of the store. The employees are not overwhelmed and generally give an accurate count of the section that they are responsible for.

Boutiques and smaller retail stores should take the big department stores’ advice to heart. Delegate the responsibility by dividing your store into different categories and subcategories. Hire an inventory specialist team if you don’t have the employees or the time to do it right.

If you are having your employees take responsibility for each section, offer a reward for accuracy. If you have managers and supervisors, you may want to have them go in behind the lower level employee and double check. If you warn the first person that their count will be checked, they are less likely to make mistakes.

Consider doing your inventory counts outside of your regular business hours so that there aren’t customers there to distract the counters. This will also keep your boutique or retail store looking nice and neat when you’re making that all-important first impression on your customers. You may need to motivate the employees to show up when it is normally their time off. Many companies make inventory count participation mandatory.

You can make it mandatory, but you may risk losing employees that have other obligations, other jobs, college classes, or trips that were planned in advance. Instead, consider offering rewards, like bonus money for participating. Play music, order pizza, and make it fun. You could give people with accurate counts longer breaks or lunches during business hours, or even a deeper discount on their next purchase.

Make sure that everyone has equal responsibilities. People that finish first should help you get the store back in order. Have them straighten the clothing racks so that the store is ready for opening time. A messy clothing rack or window display can make a bad impression and negatively impact the effort that was put forth to accomplish this task outside of your business hours.

About the Author: John Garvey is on the staff of Only Garment Racks, a leading online source of clothing racks including garment racks. Find a high quality clothing rack or garment rack at http://www.onlygarmentracks.com.

Some promotions and displays should be rotated regularly into your schedule, rather it be seasonally or annually. Promotions that come around regularly are called cyclical promotions. When a season or holiday is approaching, you can prepare by figuring out the best way to promote your products. Get visual ideas or inspiration from other stores, art, or online displays. If you can make your store’s display unique, it is sure to attract attention and help people to remember you when the promotion is over.

You will need to adequately inform your customers of your promotions when they come around. Try to collect e-mail addresses or physical addresses throughout the year. Send out newsletters and special offers periodically so that your customers will be aware and look forward to your events. Use signs and your staff to communicate promotions to your in-store customers or people passing by.

There can be many opportunities year round to have a promotion. Local sporting events or other celebrations can be used to draw attention to supporting your local organization. You can donate money to different local causes and gain attention for yourself as a valuable local business. Offer discounts or early bird specials to local college students, or people that donate to your charity. Feature local artists’ work in your store and bring community awareness to your door. You can collaborate with other businesses in your district or area to offer block parties, sidewalk sales, and other promotions that get attention.

Lowering your prices isn’t always the best idea. Find ways to make people see the value in the items that you offer, rather than making them think that something must be wrong with the merchandise for it to be so cheap. You might make some money in the short term, but you’ll make people want to wait for your big sales to shop at your store. Or worse, you’ll make them think that you are normally overcharging, and lower their impression of your entire business.

Keep things changing by rearranging your clothing racks and displays on a regular basis. Choose an interesting garment rack that people don’t see in every store. Breaking up the monotony of shopping is the easiest way to start making your store unique. Most stores use garment racks with function in mind, but if you choose ones that are functional as well as unique, you will stand out from the competition.

About the Author: John Garvey is on the staff of Only Garment Racks, a leading online source of garment racks including clothing racks. Find a high quality garment rack or clothing rack at http://www.onlygarmentracks.com.

Your brand will make or break you in any economy. If you’re concerned that the economy is negatively affecting your business, then you’re not thinking in the forward manner that you should be. Consider a down economy the time when you should be more competitive. People are out there spending money, they just need to come to you to spend it. Taking business from your competition is job #1. Get excited and innovative to take advantage of a time when customers are only buying from those that they believe in.

Branding has a lot to do with trust. When customers are skeptical because of the economy, who do you think they’re going to spend their money with? Retailers that they know and trust. They don’t want to risk spending money on something that may not deliver. They are going to go with brands whose image they are familiar with. They want to know that what they are getting is a high enough quality that they won’t be throwing their money away.

Building trust with your customers should be first and foremost on your mind. Use every aspect of your retail business to build that trust. Your web site, your social media efforts, your mailings, even your store displays has an effect on people’s impression of you.

Start by thinking about how to build trust while reinforcing your image. A down economy doesn’t mean that you have to lower your prices. It makes people think that you are just trying too hard to get their money, and lowering prices, if not done carefully, can instill that seed of doubt that you want to avoid.

Everything about your store, catalog, or web site is a promise to the customers. If you have a lot of high quality images, then they perceive you as a high end retailer. If you skimp on something, they may perceive you and your brand as a lower quality outfit. At any step in the process of making a purchase, you could betray the trust that you’ve begun to establish. Be careful to pay attention to all the details of the shopping experience.

Inside your store, make sure that your displays are tidy and neat, your staff is courteous and respectful, and that your garment racks are fully stocked. If people see a garment rack that is lacking in sizes, they will not trust that you will have what they need when they find what they want, and may leave. Keep everything streamlined, from the moment someone enters the store to the moment they leave or need to make a return. Make check-out on your web site easy to manage. Make ordering from your catalog as easy as possible. With your customers’ trust, your business could flourish, despite fluctuations in the economy.

About the Author: John Garvey is on the staff of Only Garment Racks, a leading online source of garment racks including clothing racks. Find a high quality garment rack or clothing rack at http://www.onlygarmentracks.com.

Retail design plans are generally rigid and set in stone, so to speak. However, you can come up with a solid display arrangement that is flexible enough to accommodate promotions, inventory fluctuations, and seasonal changes if you do your planning. Figure out a way to achieve your goals by creating a basic list of key points to adhere to.

Let’s say that your retail store constantly has new designs coming in. Of course, you will want to promote them and feature them. You can work a staging area into your store design, where new items will always go before they get thrown in the mix. A good way to grab attention when something is new is to use it on your mannequins.

Mannequins allow you to display something as it will look after purchase. People love to see this cut and dry display because it takes a lot of the guesswork out of whether or not they’ll like it. If something catches their eye, you want to make sure that you have it displayed on a table or special clothing rack as soon as they come in the door. You don’t want to distract them with something else, immediately, because if they don’t like the other item as much, then they won’t look long before they just leave.

Use clothing racks that face the clothes outward if possible. Rolling clothing racks are great for rearranging things as needed to accommodate your inventory. If you’re low on inventory, you can easily roll a clothing rack into storage so that your store still looks fully stocked. Racks that turn the clothes outward make shopping a breeze. But, there is actually more to it than that.

People are willing to pay more for clothes that face outward. The reason is simple. They have been conditioned to believe that round racks are for deeply discounted and clearance items. If things are neatly arranged so that it’s not a lot of work to look through them, then they are automatically going to assume that they should have to pay more for that item.

Lights, signage, the amount of space between your clothing racks, and attention grabbing items should all be considered every time you change something in your store. After deciding which way to go to achieve the look you’re going for, always ask yourself if you are following the rule. Even if your store makes drastic changes, your customers will still identify your store with the things that they like about you if your design stays the same.

About the Author: John Garvey is on the staff of Only Garment Racks, a leading online source of clothing racks including garment racks. Find a high quality clothing rack or garment rack at http://www.onlygarmentracks.com.