Editor's Note

Become a Holiday Hercules By Following Our “4 Weeks to Peak Holiday Performance”

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas … at least, for your sake, I hope it is!

Published

6 years ago

September 19, 2018

Trace Shelton Instore October 2018 Issue

Become a Holiday Hercules By Following Our “4 Weeks to Peak Holiday Performance”

IT’S BEGINNING to look a lot like Christmas … at least, for your sake, I hope it is!

Yes, it’s that time of year again: time to start thinking about jolly old elves dressed in red velvet (or more importantly, jolly new jewelry pieces gift-wrapped in a velvet box).

At INSTORE, we’re getting in the spirit by providing you with a big holiday advice story for the first time in several years. In the past, our annual Big Survey ran in our October issue, but we’ve received so many requests for holiday help that we’ve moved the Big Survey to our November issue. For now, in order to help you prepare for this merry season of madness, we’ve assembled a calendar of to-do items for your next four weeks in the areas of store environment, marketing, staffing/training, and inventory/display.

But that’s not all (it never is). Managing editor Eileen McClelland searched high and low for stores that offer a memorable experience appealing to the five senses, and she got so carried away that we couldn’t squeeze it all into two pages — so you’ll find the lion’s share of tips and examples in the online version of the story at instoremag.com. (This is a practice you’ll likely see more and more often from us: running extra content and stories online where we have unlimited space to work with.)

If you think reading INSTORE is a must for holiday prep, make sure you don’t miss all the important stuff appearing only at instoremag.com! Happy holiday planning!

Five Smart Tips You’ll Find Inside This Edition

1. Set up a holiday schedule that puts your best people in position to do what each of them does best. (The Big Story, p. 43)
2. Move your jewelry around to other areas of your store so current clients will notice and think you have new inventory. (The Big Story, p. 45)
3. Serve snacks and drinks on a tray to every customer. (Sensory Experience, p. 52)
4. Add Halloween spirit in the form of nail art, hair clips and maybe some extra makeup. (Ask Instore, p. 79)
5. Survey your best clients on how your store is doing and offer an incentive so they’ll send it back. (Shane Decker, p. 78)

She Wanted to Spend More Time with Her Kids. She Called Wilkerson.

Your children are precious. More precious than gold? Absolutely! Just ask Lesley Ann Davis, owner of Lesley Ann Jewels, an independent jewelry store that — until the end of 2023 — had quite a following in Houston, Texas. To spend more time with her four sons, all in high school, she decided to close her store. Luckily, she was familiar with Wilkerson and called them as soon as she knew she wanted to move on to bigger, better and more family-focused things. Was she happy with her decision? Yes, she was. Says Davis, “Any owner looking to make that life change, looking to retire, looking to close, looking for a pause in their career, I would recommend Wilkerson. Hands down!”