The 3 Essentials of Store Growth: An Indie Playbook from a Retail CEO
Retail sales don’t improve on their own. Growth comes from a proven, repeatable strategy that you can run every week, not wishful thinking.
Join us for a practical, store-tested session featuring Stephen Farley, a seasoned retail CEO and operator who has helped grow and turn around iconic retail brands including Hallmark, Yankee Candle, JCPenney, and Payless. He’ll share the real-world principles and actions that consistently move results across merchandising, marketing, and store operations.
Together with Marc Weiss and Dane Cohen of M1, we’ll break down a simple system built around three levers that help: bring your best customers back more often, convert one more shopper per day, and increase each transaction through smart add-ons and bundling.
This is store-tested guidance you can put to work immediately, from effective merchandising to associate behaviors that lift results without feeling pushy or relying on constant discounting. You’ll leave with a clear framework to tighten your merchandising plan, sharpen the in-store experience, and coach your team on the few behaviors that reliably lift results.
In this session, you will learn how to:
Increase traffic by driving repeat visits, using “newness” the right way while staying in stock on the basics that pay the bills
Improve conversion with a better in-store experience, including clearer visual merchandising, navigation, and simple team training that actually sticks
Build bigger baskets through add-ons and bundling, so you raise average ticket naturally at the register and on the floor
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The 3 Essentials of Store Growth: An Indie Playbook from a Retail CEO - Transcript
Management One: Alright! Let's let our… Attendees come in here out of the waiting room. There we go. Perfect. Thank you, everyone, for joining us today. 2026! It is in full swing, and we're excited to kick things off here with this session to help inspire growth in your retail business, which is ultimately at the heart of what we do here at M1. Before I introduce our panel, though, I do have to handle a couple of housekeeping items and things on this call here. First and foremost, this is a live session. It's one of the most important parts about the session. And that's live Q&A, so we encourage questions from the audience, and it actually is one of the reasons that we have our live panel here. So please, right down at the bottom, there's a Q&A button. If you have any questions for our panelists, we are happy to engage with those. Just use the Q&A button, and we'll reserve some time at the end to do that. One of the questions that we get most often is, are you recording this? And… 100% yes, this is being recorded. We understand retailers, especially, have very chaotic schedules, so we appreciate you taking the time to join us today, but if you do need to leave early, not a problem. We can send a recording right after this, and you can review the information with you and your staff. All right. Thank you again for joining us all today. So, one of the things that sets Management One apart, I think, is just the fact that retail exists in our DNA, and it couldn't be more apparent here on this panel. So, I wanted to take the time to introduce Stephen Farley, who is a seasoned retail CEO and operators. He's helped grow and turn around iconic retail brands It's like… Hallmark, Yankee Candle, JCPenney, Payless, and now he just happens to be on our board as well, so we are very excited to have Steven on our call, and… I wanted to introduce our esteemed co-founder and CEO, Mr. Mark Weiss. And Dane Cohen as well, our Head of Business Development, each of which has an extensive retail background. throughout their careers. So, welcome, gentlemen. I leave the floor to you.
Marc Weiss: Okay, well, thank you so much, Nico. Boy, it's great to… this is our first webinar together since, we both left, Dane, so it's great, being together again. We'll be together at the PGA show next week, for those of you going. you know, when I came back to Management One, you know, it was great to… it's great to be with people that you enjoy working with, but I'd never worked with a board before, and I… Steve was the first board member I met, and we could talk retail shop all day. He's a treasure trove of information, and right after I first met him, I said, you'd be just perfect for a webinar. He takes the uncomplicated and makes it simple, and I think a lot of what we have to do in 2026 is execute with discipline, and but not overcomplicate things. There aren't 47 things you need to do well. There's just a few, and if you execute on those well, it trans… transcends whatever's happening in the economy and all the other uncertainty that goes around. So, Steve, just great to have you here with us today, because you're the master of taking… of having so much knowledge about how to make things work, and you made them work in big places and small places, so I think the audience is really going to enjoy hearing from you. I do, for sure.
Stephen Farley: Well, thanks, Mark. Dane, you want to say anything else?
Dane Cohen: No, I was gonna jump into some questions and get this, kicked off, but Steve, if you have anything you wanted to say before we jump into questions.
Stephen Farley: Yeah, I kind of like that term, seasoned, versus old, old. I like that. No, I… I will say… the only thing I will say about retail is it's not for the faint of heart. I love it, it's in my DNA, and I would encourage you to fully embrace it or run away from it. It is a wonderful business, but it's a tough business. And we'll talk about a lot more of that in a minute here, Dane. So fire away at me, Dane.
Dane Cohen: That is for sure. Okay, so I just wanted to reiterate something that Nico said. Again, we are in a Q&A style, so please jump in with questions. You have two seasoned retail CEOs here, so we want you to have access to their. brainpower when it comes to the industry, but what we're going to talk about today, we really want to look at 3 levers of how to grow business in 2026, and that's how to drive more visits from your current customers, how to convert just one more shopper, right? How do we increase that conversion, and then building bigger guest checks. So, before we jump into those 3 levers, Mark. I kind of want you to level set us here. It's 2026, this is our first webinar of the year. what is on deck? What are the… what are the next 3 to 6 months of retail gonna look like, maybe both from the macro perspective, but also for an independent retailer?
Marc Weiss: Well, I think independent retail is going to continue to thrive. I think the customers are constantly looking for experience and relationships, and I think what drove them back to the stores when COVID ended hasn't changed. I mean, newness, freshness, you know, all the conversation about what's going on with Saks, for example, right now. You know, here we came off one of the best years in luxury, and the major luxury brands, Saks and Bergdorf and Neiman's are going bankrupt. So, it just goes to show that people are finding other places to shop, and you don't have retailers running retail establishments. What really differentiates you as a retailer is you know your audience, you know your customer, you curate for them, you have relationships with them. Those are things that you can build on, and it helps, it helps diminish the uncertainty that sometimes you feel. You know, so I think that you should go into the year with confidence, I think we're going to have a good first quarter and a good first 6 months, but I think paying attention to a disciplined approach, paying attention to your numbers is important, and just executing on those are going to be the difference. So, I'm optimistic about 2026, I'm optimistic for independent retail, and I feel like, we had a good fourth quarter, and I think the first quarter will, as long as you Follow some of the things we talk about today, you'll have success.
Dane Cohen: Yeah, I love that optimism, and right, especially when that optimism is backed up by fact, you know, we did see a great Q4 in retail. So, you know, sometimes in… when you talk to retailers, it's always doom and gloom, but there are some really beautiful headlines and growth happening. So, Steve, talking about some doom and gloom. One of the things that I hear time and time again from retailers is, you know, hey, my traffic just isn't there, right? We want to talk about these three levers, and one of them is obviously going to be building more store visits. So I often hear, you know, my traffic's not there, my traffic's down, it's out of my control.
Stephen Farley: Well, oh…
Dane Cohen: Is that fact or fiction?
Stephen Farley: When I hear that, the New Jersey in me comes to the forefront, because it's… that is a load of bull. I'm sorry. Traffic is in your hands. Traffic is controlled by you, and the reason I say that is you have a core customer that comes into your store.
Marc Weiss: Yeah, she…
Stephen Farley: comes in four times a year, figure out a way to have her come in 6 times a year. And how do you do that? Well, I mean, let's be honest with you, you have to start with a solid merchandising plan. The right product, the right quantities, at the right price, at the right time in your store. You have to have that. If you don't have that, you're swimming upstream. But now that you have that, how do you take advantage of that? Well, the first thing you do is ensure that you have newness flowing in your store all the time. Newness brings that customer back more often. Look at… think of TJ Maxx. She used to… Carol used to be on my board of Yankee Candle, I loved her to death, and she ingrained in the idea to me that you have to have newness every time, often in a store, to drive that customer back. TJ Maxx, they go back twice, three times a month to see what's flowing into the store. And when I was at Yankee Candle, we… they were really excited to have one new product, one new fragrance a year. I said, that's ridiculous. We ended up having 3 to 4 new fragrances every quarter. We added accessories with that, we added, plug-ins and other, items. And, combined with sales and different messages, we always had something exciting and new, in the store, and that drove customers back more often. So stay with that current customer and make sure that you know that if you get her back one more visit, that'll pay huge dividends. And the other thing I'll tell you about traffic is, you all spend a lot of money on real estate. Your real estate expenses are high, no doubt about it. Well, there's a reason for that, because there's traffic going by your store. How do you get them, stop them, and bring them into the store? Well, you better make sure your windows are attractive, your front display is attractive, it is exciting, the signage is motivating and creative and exciting. And whatever, you know, I was down in Nashville a couple weeks ago on 12 South, that very famous street down there. And it drove me crazy. Two of the stores I went by had a door, it was a beautiful day, had the door shut. what the hell are you doing with your door shut? Open your door! Open your door, invite people into your store. So make sure that your front of your store is compelling and impactful, and that'll drive people into your store. And the last thing I'll say about traffic is, people love people, and if you have a great store manager, you are a great store manager, you're going to build up that base over time, and people are going to want to come into your store, and they'll consider it their store, because they want to interact with you. And that is, again, another reason to come back to your store, and that drives traffic. So, don't let… and then the last thing I guess I'll tell you is. on your newness, make sure you communicate it. You know, make sure you communicate via social media, or however you want to communicate to your current customer, and let them know that you're flowing newness into your store. Don't overuse it, because it'll just become noise if you overuse it. But make sure that you send out compelling, insightful messages, featuring newness in your store, and that, again, will get that extra visit. Just get that one more visit from your current customer, and that'll solve your traffic problems.
Marc Weiss: Yeah, you know, I think when you talk about the front of the store and the, the windows, it brings back what, you know, I grew up in the retail business, and my dad used to always say, always put your best foot forward. So if you've got, if your window display hasn't sold out in a couple days, change it. You've got the wrong stuff in there. You know, when people walk in the store, don't have your worst stuff there, have your best stuff there. And, put the sale in the back and clearance it, but, you know, you want to sell fresh, you want to sell what's new. So, having a flow, as you said, Steve, having that flow of inventory fresh all the time is critical. Even for stores that front-load inventory, you know, doesn't all have to be front-loaded, and it's one of the things that we look at in planning. How much do I need to start the season, and how do I get back into the things that are trending and keep my store fresh so I always have something new to show the customer? They know that, they learn that, and they learn to wait. So I think that, you know, freshness, freshness and newness and, you know, what, you know, visually is appealing. Don't walk into your store with blinders, start by looking at the windows. Has that sold? Do I have anything left? And by the same token, if you've sold it out and you don't have it left, don't disappoint the customer, put something else new in the window.
Stephen Farley: Yeah, Mark, we… it was funny, Yankee Canada, we used to do a different floor set every two to three weeks, just for that very reason, to show a fresh face. And, you know, and then when it comes to January or June, which are definitely clearance events, everybody in the world's doing clearance, get rid of… don't hesitate, make it loud and clear that we're having a clearance event. So… I think that's really important to constantly show a different face to the customer, and once again, get that extra visit from your current customer base.
Dane Cohen: Yeah, and I like that, Steve, I like that, you know, you need to eventize your clearance, right? It shouldn't just be a clearance sale, or a, you know, make it fun, the winter, you know, the winter blast sale, whatever it may be. You really want to drive people, and then train them that newness is coming. Mark, I really am fascinated by this, right? And I want to get your take here, because you mentioned SACS, Steve mentioned TJ Maxx, and we're seeing this kind of… You know, luxury, with Saks excluded right now, you're seeing a real growth in the luxury market, and then you're seeing real growth at the, kind of, TJ Maxx. And I'm guilty, I'm a Maxinista, it's, so compelling to keep walking in there. Why do you think we're seeing success in luxury and we're seeing success in, kind of, this more price-conscious model? What's that tale of two cities there?
Marc Weiss: Well, you know, there was the, you know, many years ago, there was the hot loose shopping, so, you know, you'd see Mercedes-Benz at Target shopping centers, so I do think on the luxury market, you know, people with money have made a lot of money. The stock market's been great, they've got a tremendous amount of disposable income, so at that level, you know, the customer's appetite's there. There's been freshness, newness. I think, our independent specialty retailers have done a great job of curating their products and going deep with the vendors that are important to them and figuring out how to buy them, so I think the customers are getting a great selection. I also think there's a lot of new customers that are shopping in, in luxury businesses, because they can now afford it. So, a lot of people have moved up because they've made a lot of money in the stock market, and in their investments, and some people are just doing better. So, I was talking to one retailer, a luxury retailer, and we were looking at their, their, customers, they have 549 new customers for 2025. So even though a lot of their customers may have shopped and have bought a lot in the last two to three years, there's a whole new layer of customers. So, what do you do with them? How do you follow up with them? How do you keep them engaged? You know, what are the events that you're planning around to build that? So if you've picked up 549 new customers, some of them are going to tell other people where they're shopping, so You can build on that momentum. I think when you think about 2026, it's execution, but also build on the momentum you've created over the last couple of years. And there's other areas, I mean, the toy business has been great, I mean, there's, you know, the mystery shopper. Customers are… they want something special and an experience, so I think taking advantage of that is, something that an independent retailer can do better. and quicker and faster than a large chain. They're just gonna… they're more yawning. You know, they can put you to sleep. They just, you know, and sometimes they're just big, empty stores, where there can be a lot going on in a store. You can create a vibe, you can create interest, that attracts people. You know, when Steve said, keep your door open. put balloons on the door, let people know you're alive and fun, and that's okay. People… people like fun.
Stephen Farley: Well, let me throw a couple other thoughts in terms of the landscape. Yeah, I think when you look at the high end, and then you look at DJ Maxx, one of the things that's common with those groups is they know their customer intimately. They know intimately. They know how to talk to their customer. They know how to set up their stores for those customers. They're… they're very intimately involved in their customers' lives, and they don't deviate from that. And I'll give you a couple examples of people who have deviated from it. I mean, I won't say any names, but there was a lady who was on my board at Talbot's, and All of a sudden, she decided to go after an 18-year-old or 19-year-old customer, and left the, you know, the 45-year-old, spending all the money at her place, and ignored their current customer base. And they got in trouble. Lululemon, when your ego gets big in retail, and you think you're great, you know, one day you could be a peacock, the next day you could be a feather duster. I mean, that's just the nature of the nature of retail. Don't let that ego get too big. Stay focused on what's paying the bills, and your customers paying the bills. J.Crew is another one. The ego got so big, all of a sudden, that went down. So I would say, I would challenge you that those two groups really do intimately know and understand their customers and what they want from their retail experience. And they stay true to it. They do a great job of it. And that's true of anybody. That's a common experience of success in retail. Really, really know your customer, know what you want. And the last thing I'll say before I talk too much is, you know, fashion is very important. Fashion is… and newness is very important. But do not lose sight of the basics. That common white shirt that men buy, and I'm sorry, you gotta be in stock on all sizes on that. Do not lose sight of the basics, because they do pay the bills. You know, the fashion, to me, has always been a little icing on the cake, but make sure that cake is solid, and make sure you have it. At Payless. we… we had… we called it disposable fashion. We used to bring in the hottest trends. We had agents all over the world, from Milan to Miami, looking for trends. And we interpreted those trends. I won't say we knocked them off, we interpreted those trends, and we put those in the store and featured them, but they were just a small piece of the top, but they drove people into the store. They drove people in the store. We sold, you know, regular sandals up the wazoo, but those, you know, those really sexy, high-heeled sandals. We had a little bit of them, that drove traffic. But do not lose sight of the basic Product in your store, because that pays the bills.
Dane Cohen: Yeah, and I think this is where, right, you know, you can't really know what's driving your business if you're not tracking it.
Stephen Farley: Yeah, exactly right.
Dane Cohen: Having the, you know, a great category structure, knowing what's moving the needle in your business, and then knowing how to respond to that. I think a lot of our Management One clients can really relate to that, and having that power and that tool in their toolbox. So I want to move on to conversion, and really start to dig into conversion a little bit. And I come from… the retail model, where, you know, I used to work for Andrew Rosen, who founded Theory, Investor in Rag and Bone, one of the biggest guys in the contemporary retail and fashion space, and he always reminded everyone, no matter how big the company gets, that the most important person in the entire company is the salesperson that's interacting with the customer. There's no one more important than them. And I think that in the post-COVID landscape, a lot of people have had trouble with hiring or staffing. How can staffing and hiring impact conversion? And Steve, what would you say to people that are kind of having trouble in this area right now?
Stephen Farley: Conversion's one of my favorite subjects. Because in retail, people think if you've got a 30% or 20% or 30% conversion rate, you're doing a great job. I look at it the other way. Seven people, or 8 people are leaving your store without your bag in their hand. That's not good. That's not gonna get you to the Hall of Fame. So I do… once again, it starts with a solid merchandising plan. You have to have the right product, at the right price, at the right quantities and the right, in the store. So… but then, the best driver of conversion, let's be honest with myself, is your associate in the store. And you have to make sure that that associate is… well, let me just back up. Whenever you're interviewing for someone to come in the store, and I've interviewed thousands and thousands of retail potential associates and managers. There's some things you can teach them, but there's some things you can't teach them. If they don't have an engaging, outgoing personality, stop the interview, you're wasting your time. Okay? The second thing I'll tell you is, talent is everything, so you need to be on the lookout for talent everywhere you go. I can't tell you how many bartenders I've hired, to be store managers, or other people that I've experienced in the grocery store, or I'll steal people from other retailers. Because once I see someone who's really talented, and you feel it, you know right away when you go into a retail store whether that manager's got their act together or not, or that sales associate. Always have a card ready to give to them, always be on the lookout for talent, because that is the number one driver of conversion, is that associate in the store. And once you get them into that… once you get that associate in your store, make sure that you train them well. And make sure you focus on what's important. I… at Yankee Cam, when I first joined the company, we had a manual, a training manual, that was, you know, looked like an encyclopedia. It was ridiculous. I threw the thing in the garbage, and we just focused on 4 things. We called it ASAP. The first thing is acknowledge that guest coming in the front door. To your point, there's no one more important than that guest coming in the front door, and we called it a guest because we want you to feel like they're coming into your house, and you treat them like a guest coming to your home. And you may be doing something else. I don't care what you're doing, drop it and acknowledge that guest. That's the A for ASAP. And if you're dealing with another customer, just acknowledge her coming in the front door, okay? Nothing is important as her entering the front door. And then you… the S is sell. I mean, come on, guys, you have to sell. You have to have a selling culture in your store, and there's a way to sell, and there's a way to oversell. But one of the things that helped selling, at least at Yankee Candle, is we always let the associates take home a fragrance, and burn it and smell it, and they always had the new fragrance in their hand when someone would come in, they would, how would you like our new fragrance? How would you like to smell it? And it was engaging for the customer, and we just, we just really… pushed hard that, you know, try to convert, try to sell, and then when you do, make sure that you celebrate that in the store. And you can see an example of a great salesperson who did a great thing, celebrate that, and if someone stumbles. talk to them, correct it, pick them up, and learn from that experience. But make sure you have a selling culture in your store. And then the other thing with selling, too, is… you know, there are natural add-ons to a sale. I mean, think about it. Do you want socks with those shoes? Do you want a hat with this? Do you want, you buy sunglasses, do you want cleaning spray for the sunglasses? Little things that you can add on, guys, because if you think, and this is getting into the guest check. If you think about adding a dollar to every guest check you have during the course of the year, you are going to be very, very successful. And so, think about the natural add-ons. And then, now, in your store, when you're displaying product, make sure the displays, make sense. They're easy to shop, your whole store is easy to navigate, it's well-lit, it's clean, you've got good music playing, because if people feel comfortable in your store, they'll spend more time in your store, and if they spend more time in your store, odds are they're going to spend more money in your store. So make sure that that store is very, very inviting and easy to navigate. And the last thing I'll tell you is. The pricing and signage. Make sure that the signage is clear, make sure that the pricing is obvious. If you do do discounts, personally, I prefer dollar points, dollar prices versus percent off, because I don't know, America just can't do percentages. We're not good at arithmetic. We understand price points. I would definitely make sure that if you have something that is on sale, make sure it's well signed, and that it's clearly evident what that price is. And the last thing I'll tell you is the cash wrap is like Rodeo Drive. That is priceless, right there at that cash wrap, that's where you can add that sale, right there. So don't lose sight of how important that is. All right, I've rambled on too much about it.
Dane Cohen: No, we love that, the ASAP, Acknowledge, sell, add, personalize, I wrote that down.
Stephen Farley: Yeah, it's personalized. Make sure that you get her ad… her email, her phone number, whatever the case may be. Make sure that you know Mrs. Jones, and she knows you.
Dane Cohen: And I'm gonna share a little anecdote from conversion. This was something that I really found when I was on the selling floor that was so helpful. You know, I was, part of our business when I was in retail. working the floor was the footwear business, and right in the stockroom, as you would walk out, there was a huge sign that said, 4 to the floor, right? That if someone comes in and they ask for a shoe. You never come out with just that shoe.
Stephen Farley: That's right.
Dane Cohen: Bring four to the floor. So you give them the choice, because if you bring out one shoe, one pair of shoes, you're giving them the option of that shoe or nothing and walking out empty-handed. all of a sudden, you give them 3 or 4, then they have… then they're in the mentality of deciding which one they like best. And they're not deciding between that and nothing. So, that's my little anecdote from my time in retail. But, Mark, question for you.
Marc Weiss: Tell your other anecdote about the Haribo.
Dane Cohen: We're, we're gonna get there, we're, we're gonna get…
Marc Weiss: I love that one.
Dane Cohen: building that bigger guest checks, but I got the gummy bear story waiting for you, for sure.
Marc Weiss: Okay.
Dane Cohen: But Mark, I'm going to ask a little bit of a broader question here, and feel free to take this in whatever direction you want, but, you know, I think that when we come to talk about conversion, you know, and we're product people, so I view this in kind of three ways, right? There's the assortment planning. there's… buying planning, right? The actual financial merchandising of it, and then there's visual merchandising, right? Which kind of, to me, is the triangle here. how can we move the needle? Because, you know, Steve said, hey, if you have a 30% conversion, that's 7 out of 10 people that are walking out with nothing. So, how do we get, you know, using this triangle of visual merchandising, product assortment, and financial merchandising, how can we move the needle on conversion and get more people walking out with product?
Marc Weiss: Well, a lot of it comes when you think about assortments. I think there's too often people over-assort. You know, they have a budget however they can… if we give them a budget, that's great. If they come up with their own budget, you know, whatever your budget is, it's how you decide you want to spend that money. So if, you know, and I think sometimes, intuitively, you think, the more selection I offer the customer, the better off I am. Well, that actually works against you, because you sell through things, if you buy… If you buy, 10 items, and you buy 3 of each of them, you have 30. And, you know, let's say you buy a small, medium, a large, you buy it in a few sizes. your sell-throughs, if you sell half of them, you have nothing left, because it's completely picked over, because all your best sizes are gone. So you're better off narrowing your selection down, buying only the best colors, or buying, instead of buying 5 colors, buy 3 colors, and buy in more sizes, especially your meat sizes. So that way, you're not running out of stock right away. So I think it's important that it starts with the budget and the assortment, and how you buy into it. We have found over and over and over again, when we can get retailers to think about buying deeper rather than wider, they do better. It happens all the time. So, and it also helps your presentation. And then you're not gonna miss a sale because you're out of stock all the time, especially early in the season. So I think assortment planning and how you think about assortments is key and critical. I think about, you know, your presentation, putting your best foot forward is important, and keeping it interesting so the customer's on a journey as they go through the store. So as, you know, you're engaging with them, you have things to talk about, you have merchandise you can pick up, and talk to them, get them involved with merchandise. You know, in fashion stores where people are trying things on, the dressing room is a great place to add on sales. You talked about 4 to the floor. I think if you've got somebody in the dressing room, you just keep feeding them. I think too often, retailers feel as if, they're deciding when the customer is done. The only person who decides when the customer is done is the customer, and I think that's a mistake. You know, we're not their wallet. You know, it's not up for us to decide. Our job, our responsibility is to keep them happy. and for them to buy as much as they can from us, not our competition. So, I would say that, you know, keep feeding them, keep them engaged, keep learning about them, keep building the relationship. People buy from people they like, people buy from, you know, retailers that will get them and understand them and make them feel good about what their shopping experience is. And take care of them. People just like to be taken care of. They like to be in a place where they're well thought of, where they're just not a number, where they're appreciated. And I think… It's a differentiator. Why does independent retail thrive? Because they show appreciation to their customers. Be willing to extend yourself in a way that they're just not going to find in a chain store or somewhere else. They're going to find it with you, and they're certainly not going to get it online, because there's no experience there. I mean, there's no… nobody telling you you look great. There's nobody telling you, you know, that this… this would be better than that, that this shoe would fit you better than this shoe. Then that's… that… that's… then, you know, you have the opportunity to do the right thing when you're in the… in the store. So, I think there's just an experience that you can't get anywhere else. The customers know it, they get it. But be willing to invite them in and take care of that.
Dane Cohen: Yeah, so, I mean, by the way, I love that you mentioned that. So much selling happens in the dressing room. I think, you know, there's…
Marc Weiss: Well, some people, some… I'm sorry, Dick. One of the funniest stories I heard is, I was talking to a salesperson She's, she sold… like, and this was back in the 80s, she was selling over a million and a quarter a year, and I said, why are you so successful? She said, the fitting room is a confessional. I spend a lot of time listening to people's problems. So she said, as long as I'm willing to listen and they're willing to spend, it's a great relationship, and I just have to have the product, so, make sure we have enough product to satisfy them.
Dane Cohen: Yeah, and I also love that insight into never spend with other people's wallets, right? Let the customer drive the sale. Another little tip that I used to do while selling in a dressing room was, at the end of the, you know, when the kind of sale was winding down, I'd bring a few sale items off the rack in their size. So, almost like little bonuses, right? So, hey, I found a few, you know. t-shirts and medium, they're on sale. I think this would be a great add-on. So, moving now into building bigger checks and add-ons, Steve, you called it the Rodeo Drive. I love that. you know, that register. Talk to me, talk to us a little bit about building bigger checks, what that, you know, visual merchandising could do there. You know, from your experience working at some of these major retailers, you know, how did you continue to grow those checks? Because those dollars, right? those dollars increase average dollar sale, you know, units per transaction, that's what moves the needle, and I always try to show this with retailers when I'm, you know, talking through inventory with them, is that a few dollars a day added up over a year makes a huge impact. $5, $10, you know, $15 in a sale over the amount of customers you have over the course of a year, that could be an extra $200, $300, $400,000 in business. So, let's talk a little add-on and building those checks, Steve.
Stephen Farley: Yeah, I think, Dana, it starts with, I've always had an edict that what gets measured gets done. And if you focus on that, and you say to yourself, okay, today our guest check was, whatever, $25.52, let's get that up to $28 on this Saturday. And you start to talk about it, and you start to reinforce that behavior, you measure it, and it becomes a focal point, and then you add in the fact that Your, displays are, ripe for bundling. I mean, let's be honest with you, some things do go together. They easily go together. And make sure that your displays and your navigation through your store, allow that easy grab to add to that guest check, along with, obviously, your associate recommending it. But there's so many tricks to the trade to add to that guest check, and I think, If you measure it, it will get done. If you talk about it, it will get done. If you focus on it, it will get done. I mean, there's… there's so many things you… you're in a retail store, you're looking around trying to do a thousand things, and you've got to simplify those, and get rid of all that ancillary stuff that doesn't drive the business. One of the things… our store managers had 85 things to do before they opened a store. I don't care if you're, you know, the garbage is out. I don't care whether your microwave oven is clean. I don't care. What I care, is the store clean? Is it well lit? Is the merchandise on the floor, not in the back? And are you ready for the customer coming in? Does the front of the store look compelling? Those factors, just focus on simple things like that guest check, and you'd be amazed how it gets done. And then celebrate the heck out of it. When you hit a big day, and you're up to We had $30 guest checkers today. Holy cow. How did we do it? Well, let's talk about how we did it. Let's talk about the tricks of the trade. Let's trade those secrets back and forth. And like I said, focus on it and celebrate it. But that cash wrap is a perfect example of the perfect real estate to add little items here and there, make sure they make sense. You don't want to clutter that cash wrap with a bunch of junk, but you've got to make sure there's things that are very simplistic. And we had, you know, you need a long, a long lighter, mattress for your candle. And it was like a $5 add-on, and it worked every time. Worked every single time. And I know you got examples, too, Dang, but… Make sure that you, you treat that real estate very special on that cash wrap.
Dane Cohen: Yeah, and then, Mark, as you alluded to, I kind of have my add-on story. To this day, I think it's still my most brilliant idea as a, you know, in the retail floor business, but I was walking around, and I noticed that all these bodegas in New York, they had these Haribo, the gummy bears, the manufacturer of gummy bears, they had these displays, really branded, really kind of big, in your face, and there were gummy bears and gummy worms, and the store that I was working for, my family business, we were a children's-focused retailer. You know, we had 10,000 square foot stores, and one of the biggest problems is we'd have people waiting to check out, you know, it was kids with their moms, the moms were getting, you know, antsy, the kids are pulling on them. And I said to, you know, my father and my uncle, you know, hey, guys. I've been seeing these gummy bear displays, everyone, let's get one on the cash wrap. And they said, no way, we're not putting gummy bears in the front of the store. What kind of kooky display is that? Well, we did. You could not keep them in stock. The first day, they flew off the shelves. You couldn't keep one of them, it was right on the register, and as the kids were complaining, the mom grabbed a bag of gummy bears and handed it right to them. So, it's little ideas like that, right?
Stephen Farley: Right.
Dane Cohen: over time can really move these levers. Okay, we have two questions from the audience. Just a little check-in here. Everyone watching, please jump in with questions. There's a Q&A section. We want you to We want you to interact, we want to answer your questions, so let's start, with Rita. Hi, Rita. What is your wise words and forecast on the luxury resale market?
Stephen Farley: I was just down in, in Nashville, and a friend of my daughter's has a whole retail, store down there. And, oh my goodness. I came back here, and I told my… wife, I said, you know, you check your mother's… all your old mother's purses and all the old things that I bought for you years ago, bring them out of the basement, because those things are incredibly valuable now. And sure enough, she had an old Chanel bag down in the basement, and then we gave it to this Gentleman, he cleaned it up, we sold it for $3,600. So, yeah, it's a hot market now, that area. So, I'm not sure what the question is. Do I believe it's going to continue, or what is the exact question? I mean, it just goes to show you the power of the brand. Now, these brands have a lot of power, and my niece is trying to get a job in her maze, and that's another one that we've… I mean, those brands, if you can find any of that stuff in your basement or anywhere else. I look at the, secondhand stores now. They're exploding now. They're really nice stores now. The, you know, where you used to go in and get unbelievables. My niece goes in and finds these jackets and… and paints them up and sells them for a fortune, so… I think there's a heck of a business there, and it seems to be only building bigger and bigger every day, from what I can see.
Marc Weiss: Yeah, we have stores that have sections of where clients bring in designer gowns and dresses, and they clean them up, and they've only been worn once, maybe twice. They sell them at half price, and they're on consignment. It's a great business.
Management One: Yeah, I actually have the luxury of living out here in Los Angeles, and studios. It used to just be one or two stores, but studios would have these stores where a piece is worn once on a shoot. And they would resell it in these stores. Now there's probably at least half a dozen, and they're packed. And there's some top brands in there, and it was worn once or twice on a shoot. Maybe not even at all.
Dane Cohen: Yeah, and to bring it back to our topic of the day, okay? Because, we have a lot of boutiques that are starting little, you know, they have little stands within the store with some luxury handbags, wallets, you know, from the big-name brands. what a great way to get people coming back into the store for that newness, right? What a great way to drive more store visits from your current customers, because they want to pop in. That's a one-time purchase, right? That is a limited… you are not getting back there and seeing that white t-shirt over and over. You're coming in for this one-of-a-kind item, and you want to come back to see what's new. there's a lot of, there's a lot of growth there, and it could be something that even a boutique could explore. And I think the boutiques that say, hey, you know what, I'm not gonna pigeonhole myself, I'm gonna think outside the box. We try it, maybe it works, maybe it doesn't, but it's a great Area of the business.
Stephen Farley: Let me add one other thing to that, if I can. I helped a retailer down in Philadelphia, a friend of my daughter, and she was having a vintage. She talked about vintage, and my point of… my point there is, don't dabble. have the courage to go after it. If you think vintage is going to drive your business, then go for it, and do it right. As Mark said before, an assortment that is thin and wide is not going to be successful. You need to be… you need to have the conviction and the courage to go deep. on a product you think will sell. And if you believe vintage will help your business, then go after it. Don't dabble, go after it.
Dane Cohen: Love that. Okay, we have one more question, and then Debbie, I saw Debbie, if you were watching, I saw your hand go up, but there is a Q&A section to just type in, so Debbie, if you have a question, please, just write that in the Q&A. Nico, do you have any insight into that, or we're good?
Management One: Yeah, well, I actually had a couple of people message me on chat directly, which is fine, we can use whatever channel you want. Avery had a question asked, so how do we balance newness flowing in without taking on too much inventory risk?
Marc Weiss: use management one, I mean, have a plan, because it's set up that way. We… we… you know, one of the, you know, one of the keys behind, a discipline, a plan, is balance and flow. Balance is having the right class structure, flow is flowing the inventory correctly. So, you've got to decide how much inventory you need to front load. Let's take sandals in spring for shoe stores. How much of your sandals do you want to land early, and how much do you want to leave to keep fresh and have reorders and pick up the trends and take advantage of it? So, you've got to work out those percentages. We work them out for you, but I think it's a great question. If you front-load your whole inventory, you'll kill yourself. Now, obviously, in the luxury market, there's certain places where there's 2 or 3 drops a year, and that's it, and that's all you're going to get from those vendors. But that's the purpose of having a classification, because you can certainly get denim and tops and sweaters and other items in on a regular basis, and keep them flowing and change colors and fabrics and things like that. So, map it out. Think about, you know, what you want to land early. Make sure that your inventory, new inventory relationship and how much stock I have to the sales I'm gonna do, which is stock-to-sales, you can map that out as well, and think about it's going to be your stock-to-sales ratio, which is how much inventory you own against your sales, is going to be a little heavier in February and March. As you get into April and May, those stock-to-sales ratio should go way down until you get out of inventory. But I would say that, have enough to get the season started. And always think about the beginning of the month. Always start the month strong, and not weak, because it's hard to recapture business that you could have lost.
Dane Cohen: Yeah, I'll just give one answer, because I think we're, you know, a lot of the stuff we're talking about here today, and it really, you know, hits me in the gut, is, you know, some just old. school retail here. And one of the things that I sometimes notice with, you know, independent retail is the buyers are not bullish enough on their vendors, right? So when you're in season, the minute you see selling start, you should be looking for, hey, is there a style here that's not working? Can I swap that with my vendor? Or is there something that's shipping past cancel that I don't want to take in, that I don't need, right? When you're in season, as a buyer, you should be very aggressively watching your inventory, and then working with your vendors, especially ones that you have a great relationship, your top-selling vendors. Do not be afraid to go to them and try to negotiate with them. Hey, this didn't fit right, I want to return this, I'll swap it for a different style. It is within your right to ask that, and guess what? They're hungry for business, too. They don't want to lose you as a customer, so, you know, that kind of goes along with the, you know, buying narrow and deep. The more invested you are with your vendors, the deeper you're buying them, the better relationship you will have. And as someone who has been on the wholesale side of things as a sales rep. the squeaky wheel gets the grease. So, it's the retailers that called me, and were constantly, Dane, I need this, I need that, guess what? I moved them and bumped them up to the front of the line, because I wanted to keep and honor that relationship.
Marc Weiss: You know, I want to add on to that, because that's super important. We did a survey for the NSRA, and the shoe retailer said that their vendor relationships said, 30% of them felt the vendor relationships last year were worse than they were Previously, and that's because of online ordering, new order, and Jure, and things like that. Just because you're placing orders online doesn't mean you still can't have a relationship with your rep. And, you know, don't expect them to have it with you, but you should definitely take the effort to have it with them, because they can do you a lot of good. To Dane's point, if you're watching your sell-throughs carefully, and if it's not working. Respond to it quickly, early in the season, get with the vendor rep, and have them work with you to get out of those goods and get into things you can sell.
Stephen Farley: Yeah, I'll add one other minor factor to that. The relationship with your vendors is critical. Make sure that that's a solid, powerful relationship, and goes both ways. But I was in a, helping an independent retailer recently, and they got seasonal product late. And they… and they were… they took it. And I said, this is unacceptable. It's just unacceptable. If you do take it, then make sure there's a discount involved in it, but you shouldn't have to take it. Seasonal product has to get there in time. You only have a short window to open… to sell that stuff. So, make sure that you don't get taken advantage of when it comes to those types of mistakes.
Dane Cohen: Well, Steve, that's very funny, because I was actually speaking to a retailer around Christmas time that said they got a shipment after Black Friday, and it was too late, and I said, why did you take it? What'd you want me to do? I said, tell UPS, do not drop this off, I'm not taking it, literally. Do not sign for the package!
Stephen Farley: Yeah, I'm not taking it, right? And be tough about that, because you only got a certain number of weeks to sell that stuff. Got it. Anyway, yes.
Dane Cohen: Absolutely. Nico, were there any other questions you had in your…
Management One: I'm actually putting in our chat, we have a vendor slight plug for one of our tools, we have a vendor performance scorecard I'm putting in our chat for anyone that is interested in that. I do have one more question that was sent to me via chat, too, and I'm gonna push this one to Steve, because I know you have an answer here. Harper is asking, what should we look for when hiring to improve conversion, and what are the biggest red flags? In an.
Dane Cohen: review.
Stephen Farley: I'll tell you what the biggest red flag is, if there's not energy there, if there's not an outgoing personality. You can't teach that. So I would… I'd cut it off right away. I used to, interview people, go to… I'd go to a mall, or I'd go to a shopping… shopping with them, and I'd go into stores and see how they react to the store. And, like I said, in retail, you need to really like it. You really need to enjoy it, and absorb it, and make it part of your DNA. And when you go shopping with somebody, you get a feel right away that this person's not comfortable, they should not be in a store. Let them go be a librarian. Oh, I don't want to assault that. But let them go do something else. And not be a retailer. So when you're interviewing, make… probe that pretty hard about their interaction with people, okay? And then, You know, it has to reflect your store, too. It has to reflect your brand. And make sure that that's the case. I don't want to be crass about that, but you gotta make sure that person is representing your brand, because she is interfacing with the customer. She is, or he is, he, both of them are your brand. They represent your brand. So make sure that that connection, is solid and strong. And like I said, the last thing I'll tell you is. be on the lookout all the time. And whenever you see someone going above and beyond on customer service, whether it's at the airport, in a grocery store, wherever the case may be, have that card ready, say, would you like… how would you like to come to retail and work for us? And make sure that when they do come and you do hire them, you train them, you give them a great environment, you rally around them, you appreciate the successes. the successes, and you make it a fun place to work. But always be on the lookout for talent, and make sure that they have an outgoing… the biggest red flag is, are they energy? Do they have energy? Do they have an outgoing personality?
Marc Weiss: Yeah, I'd like to just add to that, one of the things that I always looked for, on salespeople was, do they have a competitive nature to them? Not necessarily against other people, but against themselves. Did they like to compete? Did they like to win? Because you can't teach that. I mean, that's just something you have, because you gotta get out there. I mean, selling is rejection, so if you're gonna get, you know, if you're gonna blame the customer, then that's not somebody you want. higher. So we always had a lot of success, looking for people who… who really enjoyed it, so just, did you compete? Did you… were you active in sports? Were you in any groups? Did you, you know, did you lead anything? I mean, people who really look for engagement, so that… that helps, too. They're not… they're not going to hide in the corner and blame other people for…
Stephen Farley: Mark makes a really good point. Probe their background, and if you start to hear, like, well, it was someone else's fault that I didn't… that didn't work out, or a blame game, or the wine game, boy, that's a red flag right away.
Marc Weiss: Stay away.
Management One: And if there's a red flag in the interview, it'll only get redder on the sales, so…
Dane Cohen: better. Yes.
Marc Weiss: We, you know, we're paying people more money than we've ever paid. You know, you should really think about performance-based pay. We could talk about that all day long. But, you know, your people are selling costs, you know, they're a variable expense. So, you know, good people can make a lot of money. Your salespeople can be the highest paid people in the store if they're really great, so don't be afraid of that. You know, we're, you know, the cost of people is going up, but Having good people, you can afford them now, so take advantage of, you know, that as well. Measure their productivity.
Management One: Yep.
Marc Weiss: Oh, we got a… we got a good one for the final one. I'm gonna push this one to you, Mark, because I know you have some thoughts on this.
Stephen Farley: William is asking, is the physical clothing store going into extinction due to websites popping up everywhere? I know you have an answer for that, so do I. Go ahead.
Marc Weiss: All you have to do is go back to COVID. I mean, everybody talked about the extinction of the retailer, and the minute that… in every state that the shutdowns ended, business surged beyond even Christmas numbers. It was crazy. Because customers seek that. So, I know it… to a lot of people, they think the convenience of shopping online is the answer. It's just not true. I think, all the things we talked about, we're nowhere near extinction. If anything, people… are hungry for community. They're hungry to be with other people. They're hungry to have a social engagement. They're hungry to be in places that they feel safe and secure. So, no, this is… this is… this is a time for independent retail to thrive and grow. Don't think that's true at all. If you believe that, you shouldn't go into business. But if you want to create an experience for people, and you like being with people, and you can curate good product, you'll do business.
Stephen Farley: Yeah, I would… the only thing I would add to that, Mark is absolutely right, make that experience special. You can't get that online, you just can't. So make it special, and personalize it as much as you can. Although, Mark, no one's ever told me I look good in a store, so maybe it's just me, but you know what I'm talking about.
Marc Weiss: They make you feel good.
Stephen Farley: Yeah, they can make you feel good, because you just can't get that online. We've been talking about the death of brick and mortar for, what, 25, 35 years? And it's… it's crap, I hate to say it. It's not true, because that… that interaction, as Mark is talking about, you just can't get that, online.
Marc Weiss: There's a newspaper article that my buddy showed me that his dad… he found when his parents passed away from the 1930s on how the radio, people staying at home listening to the radio was going to kill the men's suit business. In every era, there's a reason to dismantle and destroy. There's always an excuse to kill the retail business. So, And if you go look at movies, you know, in the 19… that were made in the 30s and 40s, men used to go to the circus dressed up in suits and a hat. So, if they were going to be sitting at home reading… listening to a radio show, they weren't going to be needing to buy a suit. So, every era has their, litany of excuses of why it's the death knoll of retail. I just don't buy it at all.
Stephen Farley: You know what, I'll tell you real quick, one of the biggest complaints we got, online at Yankee Candle was, I can't smell the fragrances. We didn't know how to answer that. You know, scratch and sniff your screen, I don't know, we couldn't… we couldn't figure out a way to answer that, but that just goes to show you that's the experience you get in the store.
Marc Weiss: You can't touch and feel the product online, you know, you have to go in the store and do it, and people love to be with people, and if you've got good people to what Steve was talking about before, it solves a lot of the issues. You know, people… you have people that people want to respond to and extend themselves. It's just a wonderful experience.
Dane Cohen: Yeah, and here's the… Here's something that is true. Bad retailers will go out of business.
Stephen Farley: That's true, Dane, that is absolutely true. You cannot be averaged in today's world. You're absolutely right. In the past, you might be able to get away with average. You can't get away with average today. I think the game is tougher, the level of performance is higher, so you're absolutely right, that's a very good point.
Dane Cohen: Yeah, and I think, listen, it's not just enough to say, well, I'm a small business, you should shop with me. You know, I'm been a pillar of the community, you should shop with me. You need to keep upping your game, right?
Stephen Farley: Earn the business. Earn it.
Dane Cohen: you gotta earn that business, whether it be through new events, again, keeping those sales teams, you know, fresh and, you know, interesting people working in the store, bringing in different community partners. And, you know, I just want to go back to, because I think this gets overlooked so much. newness, newness, freshness when it comes to inventory. You have to give the customer a reason to come back, a reason to be excited, and a reason to want to shop with you. And the, you know, we talk a lot about marketing and all these different Klaviyo and tools, and those are certainly important, but if you are not If you do not have a solid foundation in the old school. how to run a retail business, the everything else will crumple. So, a lot of the things that we're talking about here, you know, we're always looking for the quick fix, and you know, what new tool is just gonna solve my business? But this is back to the basics, you know? understanding how to flow in your inventory, understanding when to get out of it, when to get in on it, and really holding yourself accountable. And Steve, there was something that you said that I love so much, and give me that phrase back one more time. You can't track what you don't track, you can't.
Stephen Farley: What gets measured gets done.
Dane Cohen: what gets measured gets done, and I think that's such a underlying philosophy here at Management One.
Management One: Yeah, and actually, you know, William, I am glad you asked that for a couple of reasons. Number one, it's a perfect segue into our next session that we're going to be doing in a couple of weeks with Josh Orr, because as critical as the in-store experience is. Websites are a fantastic channel for selling, you know. Steve mentioned, how do you get a customer to come in one more time per year? That online source, once they've experienced your store and they've experienced your brand, that's a great way to get them to come Back to your store to pick something up on the…
Marc Weiss: The website's the window, is another window to the world.
Management One: Absolutely, and we're going to bring Josh on in a couple weeks to talk to people about how you take that in-store experience and translate it onto your website, your social media, all of your digital channels. So, stay tuned for that. We're going to be putting that out in the next few days to get that session live and running. We did have a couple of questions, if you gentlemen don't mind sticking around for a couple more minutes. We've got a few people that are asking questions. One of them didn't want to give us their name. Anonymous attendee is asking, what are your thoughts on pooled commission for sales associates versus individual commissions?
Stephen Farley: You gotta handle that marker, because I have a definite opinion on that.
Marc Weiss: Go ahead, and then I'll… I'll comment.
Stephen Farley: I was a waiter, and I think everyone ought to be a waiter sometime in your life.
Management One: vendor, yep.
Stephen Farley: Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. I didn't like it. I liked my tips being my tips, I'm sorry. And I think the same thing is true in terms of performance. I think that each individual should have their performance tracked, and And reward it accordingly. You do want to have a teamwork effort, though. You've got to be careful not to hurt the team, because in many cases, it is a team effort to make the sale. And I assume that's what they're talking about. You don't want to violate the team, but you also want to reward your high performers, too. And so I think there's a balance there. Mark, you probably have some other Points of view on that.
Marc Weiss: Yeah, I mean, I think they're not mutually exclusive. I think you have an individual performance, and you can have a team goal as well. And as long as it's defined and people buy in, I think that's great. I wouldn't be afraid of it. Because they do help push each other, and, you know, and sometimes team goals, individual goals, you know, the more quickly you pay, you know, it's like tips, the more quickly you pay, performance-based pay, the better it is. But team goals tend to be… work better on a quarterly basis, where individual goals work better on a weekly or biweekly basis, is my experience.
Stephen Farley: Yep.
Management One: Yeah, and it goes back to the competitive nature that you were talking about when you're hiring. I remember at the end of our shift, when everybody's counting out their tips, there was always that, you know, oh, what'd you get? Everybody's looking over their shoulder, and it's a good teachable moment. There's always that one person that was just killing it, and people would ask them, you know, what do you do? Right. They would share, you know, oh, well, give them 4 or 5 tips. This is how, you know, when they're finishing up this course, I offer this, or I always ask them one question about why they came in. Whatever it was, it's a great way of teaching everybody.
Stephen Farley: You know, a rising tide lifts all boats.
Management One: Yeah, I think keeping an individual is definitely important. Okay, so Maria's asking. How can you avoid a customer using your store as a fitting room to try on a particular manufacturer, and then buying it online, assuming the customer experience in my store is an elevated experience? Oh, Dane wants that one. Okay.
Stephen Farley: Go for it, Dave.
Dane Cohen: I got some tough news.
Stephen Farley: You can't. You can't…
Dane Cohen: And I'll give two sides of this coin, but listen, there is nothing worse… I mean, really, it is a horrible experience when you are working with someone, and you're selling them, and you're building a wardrobe or a sale with them, and then you see them looking for that exact product on their phone, right in front of you. And they will do it right in front of you. It is… heartbreaking to watch that happen as a salesperson, as a store owner, as a store manager, but it is a reality of retail in 2026, right? People are going to price shop, people are going to be competitive. And so, again, I think this goes back to a lot of the foundational basics, right? Do we have a great, selling strategy? Do we understand… the customer's needs? Are they trained in the product knowledge that they can sell it right there on the floor? Are you aligning your markdown schedule with, or promotional schedule with that business's you know, with the vendors, if they're D2C now, and then making it really easy for the customer to make an exchange or return. So, I think this is a big one. A lot of the reason why people buy on Amazon is because they have made it so easy to get the product and return the product. If you have a 7-day return policy. That person is gonna question buying it from you. If you put up barriers for the customer to buy, they will go with where it is potentially cheaper, and where it is potentially easier for them to exchange or return. So, sometimes, I mean, I think we saw this example, I forget what retailer it was, but there's a famous example, I'm sorry, it's eluding me back.
Marc Weiss: gimbal's in Macy's, but… You know, this is the… I just want to add to what you're saying. I agree with you 100%. But this goes under the, you know, the same… how you think about returns. I don't care about returns. It's traffic in the store, opportunity to sell them, forget about it, returns are just part of the business. People are gonna do that. There's always the opportunity, they'll eventually buy from you, out of convenience, out of necessity, they can't get it. Don't worry about it. It's not worth the energy.
Stephen Farley: Well, Mark, let me just add one thing to returns. I've always had many, many CFOs come into my office and say, hey, you know, if we tighten up our return policy a little bit, we can save… I would just throw them physically out of my office. Because, yeah, how you handle returns is part of your brand. And you can make that the most positive experience, and as a result, get that customer to come back more often, because they know they're going to get a… because you're always going to have that small percent that's going to try to take advantage of it. There's nothing you can do about it. Don't penalize the 99% and turn it into a positive experience, and it reflects well on your brand.
Marc Weiss: Focus on the opportunities.
Stephen Farley: They're in your store. Dane, they're in your store. I don't care if they're trying stuff on, sell them something, they're in your store, and that's…
Marc Weiss: Well, that's part of when we start to obsess over the things that we don't like about what happens with customers, and, you know, that's just part of doing business.
Stephen Farley: Yes.
Management One: Maria actually had an interesting follow-up to her own question. She said, we are transitioning to producing all of our own inventory. How do you see private labeling as a combatant for that?
Marc Weiss: I think… I think that's smart. I don't know if all of it is… should be private label, but, you know, that's another discussion, but I think private label is important. She can put all her labels and everything as well. As a matter of fact, that's what we're going to be focusing on at Magic, and working with sourcing, so I'll give a little plug out to what we're going to be doing at Magic, because The stores that are doing… I mean, I think there's a lot of people who are hesitant because they're afraid of it and don't know it. What we want to do is help build a bridge for you to understand it, be comfortable with it. Even if you're a small store, there's a way you can do private label. I highly encourage it. And one of the reasons I really believe in private labels you know what your customers like better than the vendors, so, I mean, I think that that's a real advantage that you have, but you can curate product that's… that's… that they want and that they like, so don't be afraid of it, and I think, Maria, that's a smart move.
Stephen Farley: And I also, if I could average, if you do it well, that's advertising. Your brand is out there now, and people, whoa, what is that? Boom, that's great advertising. So, don't be afraid of it.
Marc Weiss: Plus, the margins are better.
Stephen Farley: Yeah, a lot better.
Dane Cohen: Yeah, and I have one more, just one quick note on private label. You don't owe… you don't just have to create a private label that is the name of your store. You could also have private labels that are, you know, you kind of create a name. I always say, if you have a daughter, what's her middle name? And, you know, your dog's name, or something of that sort. You know, you take… you do an interesting combo. We had a private label called Chloe Rose, Rock Candy, and so it allows you to build brand equity without it seeming like all of your product is being produced by you. they go, oh, I really like this brand, I only can find it at this one store, I can't find it online, so it just adds a little bit of texture to the private label, process.
Stephen Farley: And I'll add one other thing, Dave. People love to meet the maker. You know, they love…
Management One: Damn.
Stephen Farley: And you can use your vendors for that regard. People… this week, we're going to have the maker of our jewelry is going to be in the store this week. Again, it's another reason to come in, and people love to meet who's the creative genius behind this product.
Management One: We have a person, it's not a question, they're just putting their own anecdote, it's nice. Steven is saying, we're a small photo retailer, and we manufacture our own picture frames, which are unique to us, and not available in any of our mass stores, and it builds extra margin out of scrap materials.
Marc Weiss: That's a great idea.
Dane Cohen: Tell Steven I need some wall art, so I'm gonna get in touch with him. Steven, if you could email me, I'd love to see what you…
Marc Weiss: example of, you know, and that's using scraps, right? I mean, that's creative, and…
Stephen Farley: Brilliant.
Marc Weiss: art.
Dane Cohen: We gotta get to Debbie.
Management One: Yeah.
Dane Cohen: raising our hand, so we gotta get to Debbie in the last question. This has been so great, but let's hear what, Debbie… can I… I'm gonna read it, Nico. What do you think about giving bonuses to employees? How often should bonuses be given based on sales, performance? So I think we covered this a little bit, but, you know, what's the actual tactical approach?
Stephen Farley: Let me… I'll jump in on that one. Mark alluded to it earlier. I think you have to have clearly, well-defined, goals. Don't be nebulous about it. Don't be gray on your goals. Make sure they're really clearly well-defined. They're a stretch, but they're reachable, okay? And they're within her ability to achieve. You know, a lot of CFOs wanted me to have profitability as a… as a goal for my store managers, I said, no, that's not fair, because they didn't negotiate the leash, they didn't negotiate a lot of other things. That's out of their ability to control. So make sure those goals are within their ability to control, and they're very clearly measured. And as Mark alluded to earlier, the quicker the payout, the better. Because a lot of your associates are living paycheck to paycheck. So the more… the quicker you pay it out, and I guarantee, if you pay them a big check, you'll have a big smile on your face, because that means the associate's winning, and you're winning. It's a win-win proposition. So the sooner you pay that out, the better. But remember, start with very clearly defined goals.
Marc Weiss: You know, bonuses can also be spiffs, they can be games, you know, you can play games in the store where they can make money, you know, bingo's a good one, and you fill out the bingo card, and you get 10 or 15 bucks, and in the bingo card, it could be multiple sales, it could be a focused item. So there's, you know, there's lots of… bonuses just aren't, you do this over this period of time, you get that X, but it can be an ongoing, and that makes it fun, and it makes it engaging. entertaining. And there's, I don't know, I think there's books that have been written with a thousand ways to bonus your people, so… And I mean, one… another one that's been… and again, the bigger the… the bigger the… the bigger the stretch, the bigger the bonus, which I'd say, too. We had a client, they had a… I think her name was Debbie, the salesperson. She sold 800,000 year in and year out, and I said, well, why don't we give her 10 grand when she hits a million dollars? So, in October of that year, she hit a million dollars and got $10,000. So, you know, the bigger the achievement, the greater the thing. And so what happened was we actually did more business just from Debbie, because she did even more business in November and December, so we had to come up with a new bonus after she hit the 10 grand. But have, to Mark's point, have fun with it. Yeah. Because the net-net is you're installing a selling culture in your store. Yeah, gamify it. Let people have a good time.
Stephen Farley: Yeah, have fun with it.
Dane Cohen: Yeah.
Marc Weiss: And it doesn't always have to be money, it could be, you know, pedicures, manicures, tickets to a concert, you know, make them fun.
Dane Cohen: Yeah, and I was just gonna say, right, there's also, you know, if your sellers are interested in your product, which most are, right? Giving them store credit, giving them gift cards, that's also a good way, and then you're only paying on, you know, the cost. And then I always used to do this at the end of the season. Give them a steep, steep discount at the end of season clearance. Let them… let them have at it, right? That's a great mo… it's a win-win. They feel like they're getting an incredible deal, you clear out of some stuff, like, don't be shy there. That's a… that's a really great way to kind of… Move some merchandise and make people happy at the same time.
Management One: Personal plug for M1, I put in the chat, we have a performance-based pay calculator, if you're interested in that one, Debbie. She's still… yep, Debbie's still on. So if you're still on, go in the chat and pick that one out. Final, it's not a question, but Alyssa said in our Q&A she really appreciates this webinar, she has to jump off, but so many good notes and action items. Thank you for coming in, Alyssa, and thank you to our gentlemen here for sticking with us with the Q&A. Yes, Dane?
Dane Cohen: Can I ask one more question? This is rapid fire. A retailer on this webinar is waking up tomorrow. What's the one thing you're recommending them to do in their store tomorrow?
Stephen Farley: Go ahead, Mark.
Marc Weiss: My recommendation is if you're not doing store huddles, start one tomorrow. Talk about what's going on, meet with your people, get the mindset, start a game, do something. But one of the things I've observed is stores that have a daily huddle, I mean, with customer… and with employees that come in throughout the day, spend 5 minutes talking about things, covering, you know, issues, what's new, what's hot, what are we going to do today, what's our goal, how are we going to make it, kind of jazz yourselves up. But I would start with a store huddle. All the things we talked about today, you can do over the course of a week in daily huddles. It's a great discipline, it's a great way to get business started every single day.
Stephen Farley: My, my answer to that would be, look in the mirror and make sure that I have the passion, the energy, and the courage to be in retail. Number one, because don't go into this, excuse my French, half-assed. I've heard so many people go, well, I think I'm going to open up a store. Well, come on, guys, this is… this is not an easy endeavor. So really look in the mirror and say, do I have what it takes to be a good retailer? And if the answer is yes, then go for it.
Dane Cohen: Alright, I'm gonna give one, too. Mine will be, and I'm gonna go a little more on the tactical side. Tomorrow, create a table or a merchandising display that says, gifts they'll love for Valentine's Day. Start creating the demand early, right? We're in January, there's a lot of clearance, give them something to get excited for, and create the demand before they even know they have it.
Marc Weiss: I love that!
Stephen Farley: That's good. And I'll add one other thing, Dane, to that. When you mentioned Valentine's Day, and Mother's Day, and Christmas, when that guy comes in there at the last minute, oh my god, take advantage of him, because we've all been there, and we're so desperate, you could sell us anything.
Dane Cohen: Alright, guys.
Management One: February 12th and 13th customers are gonna be… prime marks. Myself included.
Marc Weiss: Steve, thanks a million for joining us. Your stories, your insights are just… Timeless and wonderful. Well, thank you, and you articulate them in a fun way. Thank you so much.
Stephen Farley: And there are great questions from the audience, very good questions.
Management One: Yeah, thank you to our audience for the engagement, and Dane and Mark as well, thank you for your time. This was great, I think this was a great kickoff for 2026. I'm really excited for our next one coming up with Josh Orr, so stay tuned to your inboxes for that, and Happy… 2026. This is gonna be a fantastic year.