The "Cool" Factor

Selling “cool” can garner a cult following, repeat business, and free social media advertising from your clientele ”if” all the stars are perfectly aligned. So how does a business go about creating the “cool” factor?

Businesses that are genuinely “cool” don’t have to try and those that try to be “cool” generally aren't. So what defines “cool?”

Although there are many examples in the retail marketplace...here are a few that make the cut and a few that don’t.

Adidas VS Skechers, Vans VS Journeys, Milkbar VS 31 Flavors, Target VS Walmart, Instagram VS Facebook and so on. All these businesses offer similar products in the same market space but are viewed very differently.

Leel-blog-cool

What can we do to make our businesses “cooler” than the one down the street? There isn’t one tried and true formula to create the “cool factor” for your business (too bad right?) However; there are some best practices to get your business into the “cool” zone. According to a study from the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence, there are four characteristics of a cool product which is often also applied to businesses: :
• It's fresh and new
• It's fun
• It provides meaning (i.e., makes you feel happy or fulfilled)
• It is recommended and used by a shared community (i.e., "people like us")

After polling several clients, friends, and family on what they thought was cool…there were definite similarities with the aforementioned study from MIT. There were a couple of additional add ons that I found very telling.

Customer service was very important in creating a “cool” vibe. More importantly the customer wants to feel “inclusive” in this cool venture, product, or store. No matter how many tattoos, piercings, hair colors… clients don’t want to feel they’re being watched for being themselves and also want to feel that they matter to this business.

Offering top notch customer service and making them feel special goes a long way. Years ago when I was in Women’s corporate retail fashion, I would keep a notebook with the clients information and history we had discussed when they were in last. This allowed me to reconnect with them quickly the next time they were in the store. My returning clients immediately felt comfortable and at ease with me and it was much easier selling them a $2500 spring wardrobe because they knew I was familiar with them and had their best interest in mind.

When checking out your clients at the register, remember to revisit a topic that was important to them. Example; “How was your wedding?” “Did you get that job you were excited about?” “Did Bella like her new food?” This makes a client feel that they are not just another “number” and they matter to your business.

What’s the last and most important descriptor in creating a “cool” factor for your store or product? Passion! Yup, that’s what I said, passion! People are naturally attracted to passion! Think about it…when you hear someone speaking passionately about a subject matter (even if you don’t care about it) it’s very intriguing. You are more likely to perk up and pay attention if someone is very excited about a certain product or business.

On the other hand… if you walk into a business and everyone in the store looks like they’d rather be somewhere else… this can be a major turn off! Don’t be shy to share your passion about your business with your clients! I can’t tell you how many clients tell me how much they enjoy seeing the growth of my business through the past 12+ years. This would not be possible without the passion I have for it.

Now it’s your turn… share your passion with your clients and you’ll be well on your way to creating a “cool” factor for you, your staff, and most importantly the people who fund your business… your clients! Until next time… Happy Retailing! XOXO, Leel Michelle


Design is Intelligence Made Visual

Throughout millennia humans have always loved beauty and design. This love of beauty and design has allowed our species to evolve throughout time. Humans have used their love of beauty and design to forage for non poisonous foods, select and create the right tools to build a better World in which to live, and even find the perfect mate. Knowing that beauty and design impact our daily lives and how you can use it to curate your clients’ retail “experience” is key to your stores’ success.

Leel-blogpost

How will beauty and design improve your sales? Can you think of a time you may have had mediocre food at a restaurant but the ambiance was so amazing the food tasted even better? That was a good design experience! Good design is the secret ingredient to most successful businesses. In today’s competitive eCommerce market, providing a well designed experience for your brand will separate you from the pack.The moment a potential client enters a keyword search term in their smartphone and they see your business…they are already “experiencing” your brand with or without good design. From your business logo, website, and storefront to well curated collections of retail merchandise; your clients are deciding if your brand fits their lifestyle.

How do you apply good design principles to keep your clients coming back for more? Consistency, simplicity, and a little whimsy is key! Humans’ trust consistency. Keeping your theme, colors, and store design consistent creates a sense of familiarity and trust with your clientele. Having a clearly designed brand will not only help your clients but it will simplify your future design and purchasing of inventory, marketing and more. Leonardo da Vinci was quoted saying, “Simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication.” The essence of this quote is having a major moment in design all over the World. The company Apple made millions of dollars mastering the art of sophistication through simplicity. How simple is your message, design, and shopping experience? Clients are so busy that shopping needs to be as simple as possible. Does your store have clearly defined areas with good signage for every department or is your inventory jumbled together from floor to ceiling? Is your website optimized for minimal clicks for a seamless shopping experience? Study the shopping experience of your store through the eyes of your clientele and find ways to simplify and then add some whimsy! Whimsy or “Whimsical” defined by Merriam Webster is “unusual in a playful or amusing way.” Introduce a little whimsy into your store design so your store can stand out as an unusual, playful, or amusing place to be! You can create whimsy by having a clearly defined store theme, accent mural, unique store displays, and even throwing unique store events. Creating a positive “feeling” through whimsy in your business will keep your clients not only coming back for more but creating buzz by sharing with their social circles as well!

 


Holy Holiday Pet Bakery Rush

Holy Holiday Bakery Rush! PRO INSIGHT

Let’s talk Dog Bakery!

WHY do all the dog bakeries have such a long lead time? Why can’t you place a large dog cookie order 2 weeks before Christmas? For those of you that don’t know...I added a dog bakery this year to my business. I didn’t just hire professionals and let them have at it. I  actually trained with them and hand make every treat out of my bakery as I am creating my SOP (Standard Operating Procedure Manual) for future employees and management. Additionally, I love the creativity and am a very hands on Owner because I’m very passionate about what I do.

I’ve always sold dog bakery treats from other dog bakeries but never made them myself...until this year. I went from slinging shears to slinging frosting! With my regular retail business and a handful of wholesale clients (only California at the moment) I can tell you that I
look like the photo above nearly every day. Why does it all take so long? I’ll break it down for you so that you’ll understand why it’s important to order far in advance. This way both Retailer & Wholesaler can plan accordingly. 💋

Here’s what a bakery goes through once they receive your order:

  1. In order to maximize your (3, 6, 12 month+ shelf life, most orders are baked fresh when your order is placed. Your order then enters the queue with all the other orders placed before yours. There is a commercial dog bakery currently with 800 back orders. We thought dog grooming was tough!
  2. Batter is then made, cut, baked, & cooled. 
  3. Unless there’s a very, very expensive piece of machinery that stamps out cookies, (most businesses do not have) this is all done by hand. Your order then may or may not need to be dehydrated.
  4. Your order then gets decorated. This is fun but very detailed work which takes much longer than you might imagine!
  5. Your decorated treats need time to dry again and possibly dehydrate for shipping.
  6. Your order then needs to be labeled, cushioned, packaged, possibly shrink wrapped, and then boxed for shipping.
  7. Your order is finally shipped off with hopes that nothing smears, breaks, or goes missing.
    Then...the next order begins. 💋

Hopefully this little snippet of insight will help you to understand that when you order from a bakery it doesn't just take a couple of moments to pop something in the oven or a machine and out pops a perfect little doggie stocking stuffer! In fact, I’m quite certain most bakery companies (much like many Grooming Salons) are underpriced for the amount of work they do to get your order to you. So when you order from a dog bakery, be nice, patience, appreciative, and schedule or inventory needs with plenty of lead time especially around the Holidays! This will help your bakery and you sail smoothly through the Holidays!

Until next time… Happy Holiday Retailing
Leel Michelle


Choosing a Color Palette for Your Store

Opening a pet business or adding a new location can be a daunting task for many small business owners. If you are like many pet groomers and small business pet retailers, you’re likely designing your store by yourself. This can be very gratifying and also very daunting. There are so many decisions that need to be made. Below we will cover a few steps that are extremely important when designing your salon/store for pet services and pet retailing.

What is the inside/outside architecture and design of your new building location? Is the building a Spanish bungalow,Tudor style, a country barn, or a city warehouse? In order to have the most successful store design, taking into account the actual architecture of the outside of the building, and landscape along with the interior store design can save you countless headaches. You can’t fit a square hole into a round peg so make it easier on yourself by designing your space by utilizing the existing architecture when you can. This tactic doesn’t work for every location but it can help “set the stage” for the rest of your design decisions. This technique ultimately simplifies the rest of your design decisions and gives you a specific design direction.

Where is your business located? Are you in the city? Are you suburban or urban? When speaking to my clients I often recommend a certain color palette and design that will go with that particular location along with several other factors. A city location is generally a bit more polished and modern where a country local can be rugged and casual. These designs are not exclusive to their location but their consideration is very important. Remember your target audience. You are designing for THEM, not for yourself.

WHO is your clientele? Are they mostly Women or Men? Are they young hipsters, or a retired elderly population and empty nesters? Are they young and affluent or middle aged and wealthy? Knowing WHO your target market will also widdle down the design decisions and your color palette. Softer colors, pinks, pastels, and bright white spaces often work well for Women. Men on the other hand like wood, hardware, blues, greys, and more muted and natural tones. Knowing your clientele and taking them into account will definitely pay off in the long run. Small business owners competing with corporate and online competition need to design spaces that have great ambiance. Designing for your specific clientele goes a long way toward building a brand that your community can get behind for years to come. In addition; providing a well designed space that your clients can use to brag about their favorite local business on social media is marketing gold!

Leel-blog-color-palette-2018

How do you choose your color palette? You’ve got your design “theme” chosen based on your architecture, you’ve nailed down your clientele based on your neighborhood… so now, let’s choose your colors! Taking into account the aforementioned tools to find your colors, do you have an “inspiration” piece that will help you limit your colors? Do you have a favorite piece of furniture, painting, pillow, tapestry, or any other item that you absolutely love? An inspiration “piece” can help your simplify and choose the color palette you need for your design. One of my favorite tools is the “ColorSnap” Visualizer by Sherwin Williams. I took an inspiration pic that included all the design elements and colors my client and I discussed. Then I uploaded it into “Colorsnap” and then chose the colors that would fit this project. We have our base neutral colors, midtones, and accent tones all in the same app. This simplifies the design process by choosing your colors so you don’t “over design” your color palette.

Consistency is Key! Now that you have your color palette, make sure you’re consistent with the use of these colors including hardware finishes and accents. Start with a couple of neutral base tones (whites, greys) and then add in your mid tones and finally limit your accent colors (generally darker colors) so that you don’t overwhelm your design. With loud accent colors, less is more. If you are using a dark wood grain to bring in some nature, keep that wood grain consistent. Mixing oak, for example and cherry wood in the same space rarely look good together. If you are going to use silver hardware, try to keep the finishes in the same color family. Brushed nickel hardware doesn’t mesh very well with black wrought iron most of the time. I find that keeping your color families and finishes similar creates a very professional and well designed space. Although there are plenty of instances when you can mix and match different finishes, this generally requires a design professional to pull it off well.

In closing, I hope these few tips will help you to simplify your store design opportunities and challenges. Although I absolutely LOVE this process, I know it can be a very daunting task for most. Although I’d gladly give away my design sense every day of the week and twice on Sunday... my husband would like you to know that I am available for grooming, designing, and retail merchandising consulting. Feel free to email me so we can set up a time to chat!

Until next time…
Happy Pet Retailing and Continued Success,

Leel Michelle


Bow Wow Beauty Shoppe - San Diego - Wins 1st Place "America's Coolest Store 2018"

Bow Wow Beauty Shoppe, San Diego, CA wins 1st Place "America's Coolest Store 2018!" 

Nearly 12 years of Pet Grooming Salon and Pet Boutique merchandising and services have not gone unnoticed. Years of obsessing, creating, changing, moving, succeeding, and failing have finally come to fruition with this front cover honor for me and my Standard Poodle Mumsie! For years I have enjoyed coming up with new design and sales techniques. I'm proud to be able to use this blog as a forum to add my pearls of wisdom to inspire others and hope this award will prove how much years of hard work can pay off! I have some very touch competition and am still so honored to have even been considered.  Link below for the full story inside the Pets Plus Magazine! ! 

https://petsplusmag.com/best-pet-businesses/4563-america-s-coolest-stores-2018-winners-announced.html

Americascooleststore2018-350


Pet Retail Merchandising for Groomers

Work hard everyday to add a little spicecalled “perfection” to your retail merchandising and watch your sales soar!

“People feel perfection.” This quote by Walt Disney sums up the experience shoppers have when they are visiting a very well designed and well merchandised venue with great ambiance. I work diligently everyday through carefully merchandised displays to create an ambiance of perfection. I change my displays quite frequently because I consider how each merchandised vinette is selling. The better designed your business, the easier it is for your merchandise to “sell itself!” Read on and we’ll explore the many ways in which we can all improve our pet retail merchandising in hopes of getting us one step closer to Walt himself! 

“Cleanliness is next to Godliness.”

Although this ancient Hebrew proverb wasn’t intended for pet retailing… it still applies today! When merchandising your store or salon, do you go the extra mile to ensure that you have a very neat, clean, tidy, and organized store? In stores with Grooming Salons, they are more prone to fur balls, dust, and flyaways that fall off pets’ fur when they are being dropped off or picked up from their Groomer. Although this is an endless cycle of vacuuming, sweeping, and mopping… do you have “cleaning stations” to assist you with this daily chore to make you and your staff more productive? Having a designated cleaning “station” with broom, mop, paper towels, floor cleaner, poop bags, and trash can can make this task so much easier. You and your staff will have easy access to cleaning supplies, and your clients have a self clean up station to clean up after their own pet.

Pro Tip: Hiring a cleaning company to provide you with weekly or monthly cleaning supplies and holders can often lead to more productivity for the management/owner team and less expense too! Provide signage at each clean up station and let your clients clean up after themselves which will ensure you and your staff stay productive even when an “accident” occurs.

Perfection

“Design is intelligence made visual.” This anonymous quote is one of my favorites as it speaks volumes about the importance of good design. Good design can be a well coded website, a visually stunning store, and even the attention to detail within your in store packaging and vignette  merchandising. There are many times that I have received amazing merchandise to stock my store but the packaging clashed with my store or it was...meh. What does one do? Create your own packaging and merchandising! There are endless merchandisers, wrappers, bags, boxes, pockets, cloth bags, tissue, ribbons, and the like to spruce up your retail merchandising. Take these tennis balls...yes, I can sell these in a bucket but they don’t sell nearly half as well as they do here in their own cupcake stand! Sometimes the combination of two inanimate objects create beautiful
merchandising! It’s hard to keep these tennis balls in stock! If you treat the most simple item like a gem…people will react to your gem by purchasing!

Join me next time in my pursuit of retail “perfection” as we’ll cover more topics in order to improve your retail sales and get you AND your clients closer to the “Walt effect!” Happy Pet Retailing! Until next time…
Leel Michelle

 


How to Intrigue New and Veteran Clients

How do you intrigue new clients and veteran clients into repeatedly patronizing your business over your competition?

Turn your business into an "experience" to make your business unforgettable. Your current and future clients will brag about your business to all their friends, family, and social media platforms! You can get clients walking through your doors with a well designed space with well crafted photos of your business on several social media platforms! The more excited you get about YOUR business...the more excited your current & future clients will become!

Blog photo 3 feb 18

One way to create ambiance that is unforgettable...use your vertical wall space! In most well designed spaces, wall space is NOT an afterthought. It can set the tone, ambiance, and "experience" for your business. How do you keep your walls looking professional, uncluttered, & well designed? It’s a fine art but one that needs to be done to make a great impression.

Blog photo 2 feb 18

A paint treatment can often be the most affordable way to completely change your store design. Do you have tall ceilings and don’t know what to do with the space? Do you want your space to look more intimate? Cut your colors in half! Do you have a big wall but don’t want to clutter with photos?

Blog photo 1 feb 18

Make yourself a mural with tape & paint! Do you want to showcase photos in a well designed way? I’ve posted some inspiration pics found online that will give you ideas to solve these common store design challenges. Although most of these ideas are residential, they easily convert for commercial application.

Until next time... Happy Pet Retailing


Why Signage is a "Must Have" for Pet Retail Professionals

Most grooming salons tell their clients where to drop off, where to pick up, price points, length of service time etc., without ever opening their mouths through professionally printed signage or “menu boards.” Grooming salons often have information printed and displayed but what about your retail selection? When you walk into a corporate retail environment, look around and you’ll notice how much that store is “talking” to you without a single salesperson in front of you. Corporate stores will often have signage for branding, departments, sub departments, sales, sizing, pricing, and shelf talkers to let you know the benefits of certain items for sale. This is called the “power of retail signage.”

Retail signage is so important because the science of retail has proven humans are very lazy when we shop. In most cases if we have to wait to ask for a price, directions, or information; we’ll just walk away. Imagine how many sales you lose due to the lack of professionally printed signage that will work in your absence? Below are my “must haves” to make your pet retailing a success!

PicCollage 1

BRANDING:

How many times have you been in a restaurant or store that you’ve entered and look around to find the name of the business is nowhere to be found? This is a lost opportunity for store branding! Remember that you want your store logo/company name EVERYWHERE because you want your client to remember your store and tell their friends. For at least 130 years, there have been studies written on how many times it takes for a person to start remembering a company, slogan, or advertisement which is also known as “effective frequency.” The general consensus is that it takes somewhere between 6-20 times for effective frequency to kick in so that the client remembers the message you are trying to convey! Make sure your branding is on the outside of your store, the inside of your store, your website, your social media, your rug, your price tags, your uniforms, and anywhere else you can think to display!

STORE FRONT:

There are many salons that have very bare front windows because they think they can’t “afford” the additional cost. Trust me you cannot afford NOT to have that store front signage! Your front store windows should very quickly convey what you do, what you sell, your store name, hours, and contact information. To ensure my marketing is working while I’m home at night… I leave my front chandelier lights on so people can see inside and want to return even when I’m not there!

PicCollage 2

DEPARTMENTS & SUB DEPARTMENTS:

As you build your retail clientele, you will attract shoppers that are unfamiliar with your store. If they pop in looking for a collar or leash, make sure you have signage for that department. Although it’s important to greet your clients in a professional retail environment, department signage can save you and your client time. Additional departments that are common in the pet retail sector may be toys, grooming supplies, clothing, food, treats, harnesses, supplements, travel, birthday, and more. Remember to keep your signs professional, simple, and uniformed. You don’t have to buy them all at once but remember to keep them uniformed for future department expansion.

CLEARANCE:

Having a well thought out clearance department in the back of your store is great to get rid of seasonal left overs or the 1-2 items that are left over from a recent purchase. Make your signage clear as to what the new prices are so you don’t have to tell them over and over again. Example: “Clearance: Everything 50% off original price.” This lets them know how much off of “what” price.

PRICE POINTS:

Yes, there are many stores that do not have prices on their retail merchandise. Invest in a point of sale system or (POS) along with a bar code reader and printer. This will make your life so much easier! A POS also makes you look more professional. If you are grouping a large selection of items together in the same department with the same exact price, then a larger sign or “price point” will help move that selection as well because it calls attention to the “opportunity” you are giving the client to own that item.

INSTRUCTIONS:

When a client walks into your business, do they know where to drop off, pick up, get their purchases calculated? Sometimes a simple “Start Here” or “Purchase Here” sign hanging from the ceiling will save you and your staff a lot of time. If you have a treat bar, do they know where to get bags to fill up with treats? Is it calculated by piece or weight? Walk into your store from outside as a new customer and see if the flow of your space is immediately recognizable. If you cannot change the flow then add a sign and you’ll be amazed at how much easier it will be for you, your staff, and your clients!

Many salons miss out on retail opportunities all together because they don’t want to “deal” with the extra time and attention retail clients require. If your retail selection is well merchandised with professional retail signage, your signage will act as a professional, unpaid employee! You can add a revenue stream while still grooming with little effort every day. I hope this helps you increase your retail success!

Happy pet retailing, until next time
-Leel Michelle


Pro Lighting Tips for Pet Boutique Retailers and Grooming Salons

How often have you walked into a corporate retail store and noticed their lighting? If they’ve done their job correctly, you shouldn’t have noticed their lighting at all. In order to create a professional and shoppable retail experience for your clients, good lighting is a MUST! Good lighting is even more important for the empty nested, aging Baby Boomer population that loves to dote on their fur-babies.

I will explain the why, what, and how to increase your retail sales with lighting techniques employed by the most successful retail businesses. We now know the “why” we must install good lighting, but now we need to know the “what.” There are several lighting techniques that have very specific jobs in a professional retail environment.

Ambient Lighting: Ambient lighting is used to enhance the overall mood for a better shopping experience. Ambient lighting can be used to convey a happy, bright, and clean environment or when dimmed can create a cozy atmosphere. Generally bright and happy ambient lighting is best used for successful pet retailing.

Task Lighting: Task lighting is utilized to cover something specific where lighting is NEEDED. Locations that NEED task lighting may be directly over your grooming tables, register, front desk, bathroom, and front entrance.

Accent Lighting: Accent lighting is used to highlight your merchandise to bring awareness to certain products which increase your overall sales. Track lights can accomplish this task and give flexibility to move and change the lighting when you have seasonal or major store merchandise revamp. In addition to spotlights you can add to track lighting to highlight your merchandise as there are a multitude of designer, drop pendant lights that click into track lights to fit your overall décor.

Decorative Lighting: Decorative lighting is often used to assist in your overall store design and theme. A store with an upscale clientele will often use chandeliers to convey an exclusive and upscale atmosphere while an industrial themed store may use an old fashioned looking light fixture with Edison bulbs.

Now that we know the “why” and “what,” let's look at the “how” to improve your pet retail shopping experience with pro lighting tips. If you are opening a new store, invest and choose your light fixtures carefully as they can save you thousands of dollars over the years. When choosing your lighting, spend a few extra dollars now by choosing light fixtures and light bulbs with light emitting diode (LED) and compact fluorescent lights or (CFL.) CFL’s are simply miniature versions of full sized fluorescent bulbs.

For those of you that want to upgrade and improve your existing lighting, this next section is for you! What if I told you there was a service to help small business owners decrease monthly utility bills by fixing, replacing, and minimizing usage of energy in your business and this service is absolutely FREE! Your local utility company (depending on your city/state) will outsource a contractor whose job it is to check your utility fixtures and appliances to make recommendations on how you can save energy and thus save money every month and then replace them for you.

Yes, that’s right… this service is FREE! In many cases, the contractor will clean and replace filters, upgrade light fixtures, and replace light bulbs with the most energy efficient ones on the market. In my case, I had no less than 50 light bulbs replaced from incandescent bulbs to LED and a CFLs. I had 3 air conditioner filters cleaned, and 4 light fixtures completely replaced. My monthly energy bill plummeted from an average of $550 per month down to $300! I bet you can think of a lot of things to do with that extra monthly savings? Why thank you for asking…I absolutely adore musicals, concerts, fancy hotels, and date nights with my Husband!

You can send me a gift card any time you’re feeling generous! Just kidding! Although lighting is not the “sexiest” part of retailing, when done well, it can increase your sales, and save you quite a bit of cash. You can use this cash to further add or refine your pet retailing experience for your clients and your profit margins. Happy Retailing...until me meet again!


How to Build a Treat Bar

Treat bar 500

Nearly every client loves to reward their pet after a visit to their favorite groomer. That’s YOU!

What if I told you that adding well merchandised pet retail can help you to lower your payroll, increase your profit margins and keep your clients coming back for more? Why not keep your retail clients “in-house” instead of sending them to another business?

Through my upscale, retro pet salon and boutique I help groomers all over the United States and abroad by teaching them how to add small sections of profitable, well-merchandised pet retail to their salons. I break down small segments of retailing and merchandising through live Facebook videos in a group called, “Pet Boutiques.”

My aim is to inspire and educate small business groomers and pet retailers wanting to add or improve their pet retailing. Right now I’m going to teach YOU how to start retailing with a dog treat bar!

A dog treat bar can be as large or small as you like! I started years ago with three penny candy jars on my front counter! Now one-third of my retail business comes from my pet treats!

TREAT SOURCING

Find a reputable treat vendor that sells chicken strips, bully sticks, pig ears, bacon twists or whatever you would like to sell in your salon. Pro Tip: Start with 3-5 different meats or treats and add or change accordingly until you get a feel for what your clients require.

TREAT CONTAINMENT

Buy glass jars, buckets, vases or other types of containers that look good when merchandised together depending on your salon decor. Keep in mind that you will most likely be adding to these so make sure you can get more.

Although not required, I recommend getting jars with lids to keep them fresher longer. Pro Tip: You can buy multiple containers and jars online from restaurant stores offering wholesale pricing on larger quantities.

TREAT DISPLAY

Now that you have your jars and treats, you need to effectively merchandise them. The placement of your treat section is very important! Buy shelving for your treat collection or add them to the counter near your checkout or reception area for last minute spontaneous purchases! Pro Tip: You can create the feel of a “dressed-up boutique” by buying used dressers, buffets or armoires. Paint them with chalk paint to match your salon and then house all your treats in a collection! Try to find ones in good condition. Lighting is a bonus!

LABEL AND PRICING

Now that you have your treats, containers and location, it’s time to label and price your treats! Until you get comfortable with pricing your treats, I suggest adding temporary labels like chalkboard stickers to your jars. Pro Tip: Sell treats in multiples to sell your inventory more quickly which keeps them fresh. Example: 4 Chicken Nibbles for $1.

SIGNAGE

If you want to merchandise and sell retail professionally, invest in signage like the pros! How many corporate retail stores do you go to that have ZERO signage? Exactly! Hire a local sign company to make a “treat bar” sign. Hang it above your treat bar section. Pro Tip: Think carefully about the design and layout of your sign. You should use the same font, colors and themes for your future retail signage!

INSTRUCTION STATION

Now that you have all the important elements for your treat bar, create an “instruction station” for your clients. This area should include tongs, bags for product and simple instructions. Pro Tip: Type and laminate a “how-to” sign for your clients to increase your sales. These are known as “shelf talkers.” They act as unpaid assistants while you’re busy grooming and making those retail sales! Happy pet retailing!