Promotion is key to success at retail. You know the old saying “The squeaky wheel gets the grease?” Works in repairing your old rusty beach cruiser and in the retail environment too. You must get your store positioned above all others in the race to win the consumers discretionary funds. Basically you need to do all you can to drive business to your store!
Be creative… “Squeak” the loudest! Make your event a “must see”. Brainstorm with your staff… Your team will have great ideas as to what will draw your shoppers out of the house and off the couch. Hold a concert in the parking lot? Skate contest? Maybe a bit of both… a Guitar Hero or Rock Band contest! Support the local art scene by holding an auction where all the art is created using skate decks? Midnight Madness Sale? How about showing surf flicks on the side of your building on a Friday night? You can pick up a huge 9’ x 12’ inflate-a-screen at WalMart for under $200. Can you smell the popcorn in your shop and hear the sound of the cash register? Be different, think way outside the box and separate yourself from the other shops in town.
Become important to your local scene with radio, TV and night clubs too. Offer to do a daily surf reports on your neighborhood alternative rock station. You’d be surprised how little this can cost to get the word out. I did it twice a day on 96X in Virginia Beach with a snow report in the winter and never paid a dime for the airtime. It was beneficial to the radio station as well to drive the demographic who surfed. Produce a fashion show with the cool club in your town? The more in the club the merrier for the owner!
Make sure you partner with your vendors. It will help prove your worth and they will think of you the next time they have marketing money to dole out. Again, it a win-win for both parties. Work with your rep to help off-set the costs of the promotion. Never be afraid to ask… "Squeak" up, my friend!
Here are a couple of “real life” promo tales I heard on the road last week… Dee Nachnani at Coastal Edge in VB had a huge event in his parking lot a week ago and partnered with Vans to pull it off. “It was like a mini Warp Tour out there”. He saw at over 2,000 in attendance – at least that’s how many signed up on his free text-blast service (another forward-thinking tool)! Mike Ridings, co-owner of Liquid Surf-Skate-Snow in Rehoboth, DE really believes in promotions. He’s got a big runway fashion show coming up on July 24th. He’s previewing the new fall threads for guys and gals. They even have a step show and music by DJ Amaze. Be sure to check it out!
Now to the biz portion... Registration is wide open for Surf Expo. It’s easy to get your store locations and all your buyers. It’s a brand new system and if you have any questions just give me a call or drop me a line!
Our hotel blocks are filling fast! Check out the deals. Don’t want to wait until the last minute.
Manufacturers – Give our sales staff a ring. Prime booth locations are still available but not for long! Buyers are signing up and were ahead of the curve going in to the final couple of months. Call the Surf Expo Hotline @ 800-947-SURF (7873) or click here and we’ll connect you in with the sales team member for your category.
Now go forth and "Squeak"!!! We’ll see you in September!
Mahalo!!!
Steven Fisher
Buyer Relations Manager | Board Sports
678.781.7975 vox
sfisher@surfexpo.com
| All that's left after Vans came through at Coastal Edge! |
| Don't miss this party! Sure to be a hoot!!! |
