Category: Uncategorized

Chicago is one of my favorite cities! My store is located just two and a half hours south of the city, and I love visiting for market. We all know that market can be overwhelming, and sometimes it’s just so exciting that we need to step away and get grounded. I care so much about helping you stay in a good mental space during market, so I want to share a couple of my favorite places to visit in Chicago.

Casual Restaurants

Maybe you like the food at market – that’s awesome! It’s never been my favorite, so my team and I usually slip away to grab some lunch. Chicago has so, so many amazing places to eat but I have a few that I always return to. These restaurants are low-key, come-as-you-are.

1. Portillos – This is a quick-service restaurant where you can get delicious Chicago-style hot dogs, amazing salads, and milk shakes.
2. Lou Malnatis – Not-so-quick, Lou’s is my favorite Chicago-style pizza…and there are a lot of options to choose from. If you’re coming to Chicago and you don’t visit often, I beg you not to leave without stopping at Lou’s. Set aside 2 – 3 hours, because deep-dish pizza takes forever to cook.
3. True Food Kitchen – If you’re looking for something delicious and light, this is your spot. They also offer vegan, vegetarian, and gluten free options!
4. Shake Shack – We don’t have this burger joint back home, so I consider this a special Chicago treat!

Upscale Restaurants

The term upscale is pretty relative. You can easily wear jeans and a nice top to all of these spots, but they’re a level (or two) above the casual spots I listed above.

1. RPM Steak & RPM Italian – Bill and Giuliana Rancic own both of these restaurants and I have enjoyed some of the best meals of my life here! They are two separate locations, so make sure you go to the right one.
2. Cantina Laredo – If guac is life, this is your spot. This Mexican restaurant is like no other, and they will make your guacamole right at your table! Plus, margs…of course!
3. The Hampton Social – Step into this restaurant and you’ll feel like you teleported to Nantucket. This adorable, seafood inspired spot is so cute and girly. We love it!
4. Maple + Ash – This spot is pretty far from where Market is located, but if you’re venturing out this is one of the most popular spots in town!

Dessert / Snacks

1. Garret’s Popcorn – Another Chicago claim to fame, we can’t get enough of the “Chicago Mix”.
2. Sprinkles Cupcakes – Delicious cupcakes, and you might even find one of their cupcake vending machines around town.
3. Eataly Chicago – Stop here for some gelato, and a million other Italian products.
4. Magnolia Bakery – You can get cupcakes here, too!

Experiences

1. Howl at the Moon – Need a fun night out with your girls? Look no further than dueling-pianos and drinks at Howl at the Moon.
2. Millennium Park – The infamous bean lives here, and it’s just a great spot to walk around.

Hopefully you used this post and this post to help you make a plan for market, and you’re feeling really good. But no matter how you’re feeling now, make sure to step away if you become too overwhelmed. Doing so will prevent you from making poor decisions, and you’ll be able to come back refreshed and satisfied!

If you’re a Chicago lover too, share some of your favorite spots in the comments!

In my last blog, I talked about knowing your numbers and knowing where the heck your money is going in your store. I laid out several formulas and by the end, you were able to figure out a percentage, or score. If you need a refresher, you can go back and see that post HERE.

So what if your score was OK, Poor or even GET HELP! What do you do now?
How do you start to bring that percentage down?

There are a lot of ways to bring your percentage down, and most of them require you to open your mind and think differently about how inventory functions in your store. Here are 3 things I did in my business to control my inventory.

Continue reading “3 Ways to Control Your Inventory”

If you are feeling stuck, every day trying to find the money to pay tomorrow’s bill.  Well, I’ve got something to talk to you about.  I can help you identify the number one thing that is sucking money out of your business and give you the tools to stop the bleeding.  It’s not gonna be an easy read. You might try to fight me.  But read on and keep an open mind because this could mean everything in your business.

1. Know the trap.

There was a time that I felt like I needed everything.  Every dress, every color, every style.  That the only way to be successful was to be able to have a dress for every bride.  

I wanted to have all of those dresses in my store. You know, we all want to have those statement pieces that I could show in marketing images and have people say, “Oh my goodness, you can’t find that anywhere else.”  I wanted to have dresses that retailed for $500 and ones that retailed for $6000. I was trying to be able to service every single bride.

And i took a lot of money to do it.  I spent 34% of my sales on inventory.  Yep, you read that right, but just in case you didn’t fully comprehend it, I will repeat myself. 34% of my sales on inventory.

2. Know your numbers.

Do you know how much you are spending on inventory?  Do you go into market, or meet with your sales reps with a plan?  Or are you just buying because you think you need it.

It’s time to change that.  Take a minute.  Stop reading this blog right now and go run the numbers for 2017.  Write down how much you spent on inventory last year and divide that by your total store sales.  That number is the percentage of your sales that you spent on inventory last year.

If you are struggling to read that word problem, let me show you in numbers with an example:

Inventory: $100,000

DIVIDED BY

Store Sales: $500,0000

= 20% of sales spent on inventory

Did you go run your numbers?  What are they?  Did they surprise you?

3. What’s your percentage score?

Maybe you went and ran your numbers but are staring at them saying, but what do they mean.  Ok, that’s fair.  You know how on your credit card statements they show you what your score is and they have that needle that tells you where you fall on the spectrum?  Well, let’s do that with these percentages. Here is the score I would give each percentage.

6-8% EXCELLENT
8-11% GOOD
12-15% OK
16-20% POOR
21%+ GET HELP

So, now how are you feeling?  Are you even still with me?  Or have you written me off that I am asking you for the impossible.  

4. Answer these questions.

Question 1: Is it better to have 200+ dresses in the store and only take a special order on them once or twice?

Question 2: Is it better to have a more curated selection of dresses and, well, sell the crap out of them?!?!

Number 2 all day long.  My business did not suffer because I had less dresses in my store.  In fact, it has soared.  I am doing 68% more business than I was doing when I had seriously overbought on inventory.

5. stop the excuses.

Bring it on, I know all the “yea buts” that you are currently saying in your head.

-My store is too small, so a 6-8% inventory buy is simply impossible.  

-You don’t understand what my designers ask of me to be able to place customer orders.

-In order for me to keep exclusivity, I have to buy this much; my hands are tied.

-My brides will think they have to keep looking if my store isn’t full of dresses.

And the list could go on and on…

I’m going to be brutally honest right now.  Those are all simply excuses not hard realities and I promise you it’s possible.

Not only is it possible it’s necessary.

It’s time to think differently about your inventory and how you purchase.  It’s time to make really intentional smart decisions when it comes to your inventory.

So, what are you waiting for?  Hop on board and make this your number 1 thing to focus on and get in control in your business for 2018. And watch out for my next blog post all about HOW to make this happen in your store.

Until next time,

The beginning that was almost the end

When I realized that I was $250K in debt I started going into panic mode.  Especially when I couldn’t even seem to get the basic bills paid.  I had to stop the bleeding.  And I learned that sometimes in order to stop the bleeding you have to do something unexpected.  

Do you believe that you can actually take in less money in your bridal store, but at the end of the day bring HOME a whole lot more?  Well, I am here to tell you that it’s possible. I know that because I lived it.

The “more is more” trap

You know the old saying “less is more” right?  But do you actually believe it?  In our era, we have come to believe that we always need more in order to have this happy, fulfilling life. We do the exact same thing in our businesses. Always thinking we need to have every line, every designer, offer every product for every customer. But you know what that does in business? It creates more and more overhead, more and more inventory that has to be purchased, and more and more bills piling up.

It’s time to figure out what is least profitable and what has the potential to be the most profitable in your store. Where does your passion lie and how does that line up with the numbers? Then lean into that. Figure out how to make your passions as profitable as possible. If you are bleeding money, it may just be time to scale your business down and focus on those one or two things. Then, once you have that figured out, you can go back into growth mode.

Figure out what makes you… YOU.

When I was in the worst of the worst place in my business, I made a conscious decision to bring in less money in my business in order to generate more profit. What do I mean by that? I ran the numbers.  I figured out that I wasn’t making a profit in any department (Bridal, Bridesmaids, Mothers, Tuxes, Flower girl, Shoes). But I also realized that I couldn’t learn how to successfully manage each of those departments simultaneously and do it really well. I had become a jack of all trades and a master of none. It was time for me to think about my passion. I LOVE bridal. I opened my store in order to help brides find their perfect dress. I wanted to be the best bridal store around. That meant it was time to focus.

See it played out…

Now let’s do some simple math (remember, this is not the full picture but a great tool to get the initial feeling of the profitability of a department).

So here is what we do:

My expenses are $150K a year, 75% of those expenses “belong” to the bridal department since 75% of my income is from the bridal department

150K x 75% = $112,500

My occupancy costs me 40K a year and the bridal department takes up 50% of my space

40K x 50% = $20,000

My COG is 45% and I bring in 250K a year in this department

250K x 45% = $112,500

Where does that leave me?

Whoa. I have a problem. Does that mean I need to immediately cut this department? Not necessarily, but it does mean there is some evaluating that needs to be done!

Feel the power!

Do you see the power of numbers here? Do this! Do this for all your departments and then make some decisions. If one stands out as the most profitable, well then keep it, make sure that it is the best it can be and then decide which department you are going to work on next. If you are looking at your numbers recognizing there are problems with all departments, that is okay! That was my story!!! Take a deep breath and figure out where your passion lies and start there.

Let me show you how different the numbers can look when you pay attention to your spending and work on a budget.

Now we get to do a totally different kind of WHOA!!!! That is a $69,000 NET PROFIT difference in one department. Do you realize what that would mean for you and your business?!?!

Go and do!

Now you know the steps that you need to take in order to determine which department you want to focus on. You want to make sure that you become a master of that department, that you have determined its profitability to be as high as possible.   

Until next time,