May 4, 2007

Expert shares retail techniquesBy Dan BowenFremontTribune.com

“This is your best opportunity for profit.”

Nationally known retail merchandising expert Rick Segel talked with Buck’s Shoes owner Kirk Brown as he leaned over the store’s jewelry counter that encloses its cash register toward the middle of the store.

Segel talked with some downtown Fremont merchants Wednesday afternoon before holding a seminar Wednesday night on techniques to help retail stores stand out from others. The seminar was sponsored by Nebraska Lied Main Street Program, MainStreet of Fremont, Fremont Area Chamber of Commerce, Greater Fremont Development District and First State Bank.

In Buck’s Shoes, Segel looked at ear rings scattered in glass cases, each set attached to cards bearing brand names.

“How do you determine your mark up?”

Segel suggested that the store could get a much better price for those ear rings by taking them off of the brand name cards and putting them on special “Buck’s Shoes” cards.

“There’s no formula anymore” for how much a store should mark up an item, he said. “It’s just whatever the market will bear.”

In Kollmeyer’s Gift Shop, Segel looked around the store while owner Bev Rosenbaum helped customers.

“I like what she’s done here,” Segel said, pointing out signs scattered throughout the store. “Look at this. It’s a simple sign. It says ‘Slanted Pitcher. $25’ It tells people what the product is and how much it costs. It lets people know that the pitcher is supposed to be slanted.

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