Village Squire, 1976-01, Page 6public takes what the writers say for gospel
and it can cause problems.
Despite the gloom that is often spread
about small business, Stan is very bouyant
about the future of the "specialty shop" the
.name in the trade for non -department store
clothing outlets. The small stores are filling
the gap, he says, that has been left in the
trend toward larger and larger department
stores. The small stores offer personal
contact, something lost in the large stores
that until recent years talked about "bodies"
instead of customers. Nearly all stores buy
from the same Suppliers, -he says, so it's how
you sell, not what that counts in this business.
A store has to have a stamp of individuality,
to make it different from other stores.
';You only have service and selection and
dependability to sell and not very much else
really," he says.
Because of this having a good staff is
important, Stan says his store runs on a team
basis. The three partners each have their own
areas of responsibility but the other members
of the 11 -member staff are all important.
Most have been with the store for quite a
whale, he says.
"I don't care how good you buy or anything
else, if you don't have the right people,
you're not going to have a good business," he
says
The Fashion Shoppe tries to provide a wide
selection of styles with a limited number,
about two or three, of any one style. Stan
debunks the talk about those who speak of
having "one -of -a -kind" dresses. Manufact-
urers, he says, turn out dresses by the
hundreds and if you're getting one of a kind,
It's some -one's mistakes that didn't work out
/as a regular line.
Choosing the size of the stock is a major
problem. A store has to buy a large enough
stock to have a good shopping variety, he says
or it can't sell properly. But if the buyers
overbuy, they're left, with too much to clear
when the season ends. And clearing old
merchandise is important, he says. Stores
sometimes used to keep stock from one spring
season to the next spring season but now it's
a gamble that just can't be taken. It's better
to clear out the stock at a loss than be left with
it hanging around. That's why stores have
such big clearance sales like the January
sales each year.
And though a store must be small to retain
that feeling of personal contact so important,
he says, "If you don't have the volume so you
can have a large enough staff, then you can't
have the time to buy what you need."
And that's what makes the fashion
business so interesting, and what makes
buying such an important part of it. What
makes the business such a challenge, Stan
says, is that a buyer will never get a chance to
get a swelled head. All he or she has to do is
look at the bargain rack to see all the choices
they made that didn't work out and he will be
humbled. It makes fashions one of the few
areas of legalized gambling in Ontario.
Shore
GIFTS &
JEWELLERY
We believe that we have
the best and largest
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56 THE SQUARE
GODERICH, ONTARIO
N7A 1M6
For over forty years
Welcome Wagon hostesses
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be within our own nation or
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If you are a newcomer,
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Fit7e,
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Wingham 357-3275
Exeter 235-2870
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VILLAGE SQUIRE/JANUARY 1976, 5