Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / Nov. 17, 1988, edition 1 / Page 38
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Pa8e 2 Christmas Copy provided by Rri.irrl!ffn gga ong before Christmas trees are trimmed, Briarcliffe Mall merchants begin prel^Hiparing behind the scene for a time of year that most people look forward to and that is vital to any retailer. In some cases, the Christmas season begins for some merchants as much as a year or more before ads begin running and displays begin appearing in stores. Merchants don't just decide three weeks prior to Thanksgiving that it's time to get out the decorations and welcome shoppers. Because of the importance of the Yuletide season, which generally accounts for between 20-40 percent of a store's annual sales and as much as 60 percent of its nrntiK it iviv/c to ho I' ' " ? f'1' J ^ *v^ ?y\- (Ji v. |-/(.4 I VJ "When our customers are ready to shop tor Christmas, we must lie ready," says Linda Roberts, manager of Belk at Briarcliffe Mail. "This must be as smooth as possible for the customer and that l^Vi where the goc (fit Coupon vQ ^ yC Must Be /vg. A? Presented flrf A at time ^ _ _ 2 J5-;!P"^STUI cl ^ 5*8 With Coup 4R *> * 'A I ^$0008 | | OFF -i Coupon ! Must Be gyu j> Presented *2 21 at Time _ m , f (& J 01 Pu'a,BS8 Men's I $ * ^ c & <4? lad MSB fal ///'//If / !L Planning B< means getting ready sometimes iz-io montns ahead." The first thing that most merchants must do to be prepared for the Christmas season is have plenty of merchandise. That means buying some items well ahead of the coming season. "Some clothing items must be bought as much as a year-and-ahalf ahead in order to get what is needed," says Roberts. "Then some items like candy need to bought at the last possible moment to insure freshness." After buying for the season, planning for Christmas actually begins as far as six months ahead. As Roberts puts it, "We begin thinking Christmas in June and July. And in some cases, we begin ordering visuals and planning color schemes a year ahead." Once merchandise is bought, it begins arriving several months ahead of the Christmas season. Frank McMichael, manager of ICPenney at Briarcliffe Mall, says he had to begin gearing up staff to receive merchandise around the first of October. "We must constantly prepare /Li oiuii id always ui V4fe| DENT JEANS $1999 on 8 dL ExP ilready low discounted prices on any Mens or Ladles 1st ftiialitv <itt/fiaterc - WfVHWIW ' # it i* i* lee SLUE JEANS, With $Q99 Whi JOUpOn ?xplr< ONLY 1ST QUALITY FASHION J STYLES IN JEANS WEAR G Sa^^^hval sgins Before for Christmas," says McMichael. "After buying, we have to be prepared to receive the goods. When the Christmas season actually arri\//^c 1 1 ' nvtj, 11 ivj 3cii^> Mciii rnusi dg rG3dy as well as the maintenance staff. You don't just have a meeting and decide it's time for Christmas. It really takes quite a lot of planning and preparation." After goods are bought and received, customers usually begin seeing some advertising in late October. The bulk of the holiday advertising comes in the months of November and December, however. "VA/hnn \//-vi i ^ ' ? 1 www ix? i j-wu g?ri iu iiuveniDer and December, the environment becomes extremely competitive," says McMichael. "That's when the bulk of the advertising must come in order to be effective." Greg Pons, manager of Kmart at Briarcliffe Mall agrees. "Some ads promoting layaways begin in October, but most of our gift giving ads begin after Halloween and really get serious about Thanksgiving," Pons said. "The majority of our goods are bought in July and August and we usually have S Jean w-w ^ I ^ f I I I ^ ' r oaic::: L_dI yc OCIt t-friXirte -An First 7$" $" Quality ? * LATES1 * * STYLES No Limit * * With Coup htejupply ,J. J Qnl ires 12/31/88 J?' & 'A With ? ^ ^ _ CSXT I ? $OC % 2 d.c yt. ._. , Ol? Coupon Pe First ?. J* Quality 2 it* ^ lo Limit yi J> m B f* ie Supply *r \! WLJX ? Lasts yL. J? V? js 12/31/88 jC MENS LADIES CHILDREN SIZES FROM INFANTS TO XXL IFT CERTIFICATES AVAILABLE HEMMING Novi wuuuu' ! T rees Are about 25-30 percent more merchandise than normal for the Christmas ?pamn . . w'vsiiivj vji uui merchandise goes out before Halloween, so it is important that our advertising is in place and ready to go." Shortly alter advertising begins, decorations follow. Wreaths and trees are decorated behind the scene as early as October, but most customers don't actually see the Santas, poinsettias and trees until November. "The first week in November, decorating begins in earnest," Roberts says. "We do quite a bit in October, but the real push to decorate begins in November. We get some things out each week and then we bring in our maintenance staff, visual merchandising manager and staff and some of our key department managers and finish it up during a sixi l. : - -. uuui pubii in iNovemoer." And then .* . . it's time to take care of the customers. And that means added sales and maintenance staff. And a heightened attitude toward the customer. s For ft I ;ction of 1st Qu< ; cA tc on ^hi-S" Reg. 40, OANY SWEATSf)cc or SWEATP "excluding sale i fir i Day A already low di j?j prices mmmm ANY JEANS )FF ENTIRE SI 'excluding sales Briarcliffe Mall _ Restaurant Row I AVAILABLE 272-6351 ember 1988/A Special Advertising Section Trimmed ?. Roberts, McMicliael and Pons ;J| each uses a similar philosophy when it comes to hiring additional! H staff. They usually use personnel that have experience at theirj stores and that means college stu-|j dents rnminc homo f/~?r i1->q U^.1: a days, teachers who have worked with them during the summer or? retired men and women who^^; have been part-time in the past.? "Getting a holiday staff togeth-ffl er is very challenging," says Rob-M erts. "We must have qualifiedl^r sales people and our gift wrap-a ping staff is very important. Cus-#| tomers sometimes have to wait to|| have packages wrapped and? sometimes they want an item j||? wrapped a particular way. Gift^ wrappers must have a "people"Jug attitude because this is a service."? McMichael feels customer ser-i$|? vice, whether it's sales or wrap-11'# ping, is an attitude and an intangi-fl ble that is of utmost importance. ! "It doesn't matter how much! we buy, decorate or prepare," j|Br says McMichael, "if our attitude? toward the customer isn't good.! That is the most important thing." a Li -=== ^ k a ality Jeans jF jg 5 0 I JEANS ? ?1 $1 Q99 * ^1 00 ia Ja s-I & I With * ft Coupon 5" H 1IRT Only * k B ANTS | g 1 terns ? 0 I & ^ if hrj see unted * ^ K ' * ^ -tA/f ^K' IIM "*" r" ^ /VW7 " iiy i nc ^ roRE S I terns $ V: fv |& OPEN 9-9 7 DAYS ? (5^ I? 2 MYRTLE BEACH LOCATIONS ? W* Hwy. 501 at Waccamaw 7 /&? M 1
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Nov. 17, 1988, edition 1
38
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