With Valentine’s Day approaching, we have declared a month to love your Management One® Affiliate. To help your affiliate win, simply go to the Management One® Facebook page at:

http://facebook/com/managementone

There you will find out how to register your vote for the most loved!

The results will be announced in next month’s Informer.

http://facebook/com/managementone

There you will find out how to register your vote for the most loved!

The results will be announced in next month’s Informer.

Management One® has 92% of all classes processed for October. We are proud to announce that Management One® clients outpaced the report released yesterday by National Retail Federation. The NRF posted an increase in September sales vs. LY of 5.8%. Management One® clients had a total increase of 9.0% or 55% higher than the NRF average!

October is an important month for revisiting break evens and focusing on cash flow. The decisions made now will have a direct bearing on a retailer’s cash position on December 31st.

o What classes need to be fed?
o What classes will need cancellations and adjustments?
o What were the sell thru’s for fall? What additional actions need to be taken?
o How will the end of year targeted inventory be achieved? What actions need to be taken?
o What is the marketing and selling plan for Thanksgiving through New Years?
o What expenses can be better managed?
o Is there a special 4th Qtr. incentive for sales staff that can be implemented?
o What are the action plans on non performing classes?
o Are some classes being driven by a single vendor? Should that vendor become its own class to open dollars for new vendors in that class? We call these classes “Category Killers” that are dominated by a single vendor. Examples are Michael Stars, Brighton, Uggs, Toms, VSA, Southern Tide.
o What is the hiring and training process for temporary staff for the holidays?
o Are first delivery Spring orders in line with planned receiving?
o What is the markdown strategy going forward? When will it be triggered?
o What events are planned and how is the staff prepared to take advantage of those events?
o How is the flow of new seasonal goods positioned? Is off price part of the plan? Is Margin Buying part of the plan? Do key seasonal classes have the correct flow and amount of inventory coming in. Short season deliveries must be correct or business will be lost.

An in-depth discussion NOW will assure a happy follow up meeting in January! Beating the NRF averages is not an accident. The devil is in the details. This is not about gimmickry but solid fundamentals in every aspect of the business.

This is the best quarter of the year for our retailers to acquire new customers! What is being done to achieve that?

Happy Retailing,

Marc Weiss
Managing Director
Management One®

La Jolla Village News recently ran a large article about Surf Diva, client of affiliates John Adams (San Diego, CA) and Alan Roseman (Los Angeles, CA). The article covered surfing information in addition to discussing personal input from twin sister co-owners Coco and Izzy Tihanyi.

Two Bostons, Cathy Wagner’s (Chicago, IL) client, just won a National Award for achieving the Outstanding Boutique & Specialty Store Award from Pet Product News!

Congratulations also to Lou Lou – Dallas, TX (Owner: Molly Thayer – M1 Affiliate: James Hallman) for winning the Best-Big D Readers’ Choice Award for the Best Shoe Store in Dallas!

Lou Lou was voted best shoe store 2nd year in a row by <a href=”http://directory.dmagazine.com/shops/Lou-Lou/18368″>D Magazine’s user choice survey!!!</a

That is a great accomplishment to be #1 in a mega city like Dallas!!!!

Hearty congratulations go to :

Haberdasher, Chicago, Illinois –  Affiliate and partner Jerry Kamhi

The Claymore Shop, Birmingham, Michigan-  Owner Bob Benkert and affiliate Jay Purkhiser

Norton Ditto, 2 location in Houston, Texas- President Dick Hite and  affiliate Ed Scott

These retailers are being recognized for their innovation, business acumen, and creativity. They represent both contemporary and a classic point of view.

This is a highly prestigious honor and we are proud of the M1 stores that were recognized for their achievements!

Marc and Evan

I worked her numbers the way I always do using my inventory planning solution from Management One. I analyzed her store using their trademarked Fresh Factor. The Fresh Factor is a guide to determine freshness of current inventory. The purpose is to illustrate the importance of having a flow of fresh goods and to see how sales react to the “newness” of inventory. I have used this formula with many retailers as part of my decision process in determining current open-to-receive. It is common for sales to improve as the “Fresh Quotient” increases.

I uncovered areas of profit that could really explode in the next 6 months. We discussed those classes and implemented her open to buy plan. She followed through very well.

The open to buy plan I provided her solves the question of how much inventory to buy and when should the inventory arrive. It is the blueprint that accurately forecasts sales and inventory. It produces a dynamic cash flow management tool and guides me to create a cash flow plan that works for clients. End-of-season markdowns are reduced and stock-outs minimized.

After 6 months, we compared the results from this year to last year. The numbers were fantastic!

$31,262 Sales Increase – I had accurately predicted trends and the client made sure to have the inventory as I had planned so she could maximize the sales in those classes

$18,451 Fewer Markdowns –because I had correctly forecasted the sales and inventory requirements

$11,621 Additional Profit Potential Dollars due to increasing the initial markup over last year

$53,976 NET INCOME INCREASE.

In addition, the client’s cost of goods was decreased by 5.7% according to her financial reports. Let me stress, that this client was already highly profitable! Another way of saying this is that her GROSS MARGIN INCREASED BY 5.7%.

The client is very happy.

Cathy Wagner

(847) 226-1375

Affiliate- Chicago

James Hallman (Atlanta, GA) had two clients featured in a fashion article by bmetro, the Magazine of Metropolitan Birmingham Living. Lesley DeCastro, owner of Manhattan South, and Bryson Wilson, owner of Swanky Stork, conversed on the online publication, “trading tips from the world of retail” and, at times, some of the good advice they learned from James.