Profit improvement opportunities f or retailers

By Francis C. "Frank" Grau

(4) Is this prior-year historical data used in preparing the monthly sales promotion plans:

(a) Departmental feature events?

(b) Promotion budgets?

(c) Extra promotion events (e.g., tv spot announcements, direct mailings, displays)?

(d) Advertising budgets?

(e) Promotional sales results for a specific period?

EETAILERS spend significant sums on sales promo- ntion and advertising. Whether you formulate individual store plans monthly or seasonally, your objective should always be to get the most from every promotional dollar spent.

The following questionnaire reviews sales promotion and advertising expenditures from several perspectives-as part of an overall marketing plan, a specified selling period plan and a departmental plan. Questions about various standards for measuring the effectiveness of an ad campaign are also included. Agency contracts and newspaper rates are treated in the last section on controlling costs in advertising.

Questionnaire and Work Guide

Sales Promotion Plan

(1) Does the store have current market data on present and potential customers in terms of:

(a) Income patterns?

(b) Age patterns?

(c) Transportation patterns?

(d) Housing patterns?

(e) Industrial development patterns?

Current market data should guide the placement of sales promotion dollars and promotion emphasis.

(2) Is an overall marketing plan budgeted and specific campaigns scheduled in advance of the selling season?

(3) Do projected marketing plans provide for coordination ofthe sales forecast, buying plan and promotion plan in terms of:

(a) The physical layout of the store?

(b) Display of merchandise?

(c) Advertising in newspapers and other media?

(d) Sales training?

Yes No

(f) Overall sales results for a specific period?

(g) Significant competitive events?

(5) Are ad placements and anticipared sale requirements coordinated with the availability of merchandise?

(6) Are backup arrangements made with vendors to cover unexpected deniand for promoted items?

(7) Does the monthly plan show details for each selling department, including:

(a) Itemized total promotional budgets in dollars and percentages?

(b) Departmental sales quotas for each day?

Story at a Glance

Sales promotion objectives... dollar elfecliveness . . . cost controls ... management tips.

(c) Feature items to be promoted, dates of promotions, prices and quantities?

(d) Schedule of newspaper ads, amount of ad space and costs per day?

(e) Direct mail schedule?

(f) Schedule of other promotional activities (e.9., exhibits, radio spots)?

G) Schedule of displays?

Measuring Advertising Effectiveness

(1) Is the advertising effectiveness of specific newspapers reviewed?

Fire ! Can you meet the threat?

EllREl The rnost \pr-ctacular and I clc', astatins loss a business can sustain. f he el ent that brings tv cameras and ne\\ spaper photographers on the run. Yet, hou' manl' retailers actuall-v wage an ongoing effective program of fire prevention?

As a store owner or manager, ),ou htrve a big stake in fire safetl'. Fire is a threat not only to )our income, but to your lit'e and the lives of your crnploye'es as ri'ell as your custonlers, if fire should break out during business hours.

Fron'r the srnallest hclnre center to the largcst building supply cornplex, you find comnron potential fire hazarcls.

[,1 Enrplol'ecs and custon]ers who smoke.

[_l Lighting, air conditioning and other electrical equipment.

I Fleat equipment including incinerators.

X A packing and shipping area with combustibles such as paper and excel sior.

I-r A receiving room n'here goods are delivered in combustible carlons.

D Flarnmable liquids such as paint, as well as woocl, artd other flanrmable substances, tl Windou'and interior displays. ll Features that can cause raPid spread of fire such as open stairways, elevators, large open areas, and often the materials of which the building is constructed.

Just as much alikc for cach business are the basic fire safet\ requrrer)rents.

-- Adequate erits.

[ , Wide, uncluttered aislcs.

I Fire ertirtgttisltr'rs. a(ll()n)i.rtiL sprinklers, stand-pipes, fire alarm systerns, sntuke alarms.

Ll Farrriliarity of the slore layout on thc part of thc lc'rcal fire department.

[-] Personncl trained in salety procedures.

Many manrigcrs feel secure because they hale met municiPal, county, and state fire codes, but, according to Jim Lathrop of the National Fire Protection Association, fire codes address only half of the fire safety issue. A building maY meet the code one day and not the next. Periodic inspections bY the local fire departmcttt or an insurance company cannot guarantee a system will work in the interim, he says. Remodeling, such as adding plastic furniture or certain wall coverings thal rnight emit toxic fumes in a fire can void code compliance.

Statistics show that a high percentage of the operations experiencing fires have sidestepped regulations with disregard oI basic precautions sucb as rnaintaining no smoking areas, having extinguishers in good rvorking condition, and the telephone number of the fire department posted at all telephones.

Store owners and managers must be vigilant in observing fire regulations. Lapses by employees should not be tolerated. Regular insPections should be conducted of housekeeping, fire prevention procedures and fire suppression/detec- tion equiprncnt rl'ith a check sheet signed by departmcnt heads or others rcsoonsible.

Exit facilitres lor use in case of fire must be readily available. Although fire codes spell out exit requirements, it is easy for the doors to become blocked, stuck, locked, or in some other way inoperable. Proper fire ertinguishers should be kept readill' available, not buried

Story at a Glance

Fire satety ongoing proce. dures vigilance necessary in enforcing fire regulalions situation changes daily. conslanl effort by employees essential . major causes of f ire.

behind stock. Near stocks of paint, oil, and flammable solvents you need Class B types. Class A can be used for fires in ordinary combustible materials including wood. Electrical fires require Class C. Firearm system boxes should be freely accessible and plainly identified $'ith instructions on how to use them. Sprinklers must be kept in good condition and clear of stock with a clearance of 18-36 inches. Frequent checks should be made, especially after painting, to be sure that the heads are not clogged or corroded.

Nlisuse of electricity is the second greatest cause of fire. All wiring should be in strict conformity with code. Do not permit temporary or makeshift wiring. Extension cords should not be used as a substitute for fixed wiring installation. Correct ii;': i,i:.: ze fuses s ld be w'ith the a vers of f. and sw boxes kept rs and -operated td clean ubri m AI fil n rg apwarlF ellds PI al.r itea.m fireworks, and small arms nition. to name a feu. Your insurance carrier trol t€iresentative can adfu must be of fire import tbu enelfur only because fails tp"eqforce.fire preventlon'?dactlces. rreventlon'?dactlces. be prev\nted. BBqSe

Make sure that they know their job and, often, their lives are on the line.

Most fires that you Stonct ldcat ins tt!sx

"F{al rdpi ionq witlffi' inp be eq hoses. plazas with hose I90. mu kept y accessit valve nd nozzle

Hanging Tough

(Continued Jrun poge 9) lTVo by the end of l98l and would fall to about l59o by the end of the first half in 1982.

Attendance at the four-day meeting was slightly under the total for the 1980 meeting. Registrations were276, compared to 301, for 1980.

Dates for the WWPA Spring Meeting in San Francisco, at the St. Francis Hotel, are March 9-12.

SMILING lumbermen (smiling?) included (1) Harry Kennison, Kenneth W. Ford. (2) Joe Shipman, Ed Richards. (3) John & Lois Schick. (4) David Edgerton, Eetty & Linn Edlen. (5) M.J. Huetter, D. Harry 0lin. (6) fithers talk about being "around the l, horn" a few times-We've done it thousands of times.

Jay Mohr, John Hampton. (7) Jerry Griffin, Carl Darrow. Bill Rooney. (8) Dick-and Eilie Davis. John Davis (no he'b not a relative), (9) Bob Bonner, Bill Buettner. (10) Mary & !9u Huber, Dick Bennett. (11) Gene Sjostrand. John King. (12) Bob Hunt, Howie lllter (13) Jim Garrett, Atan Goudy, Al 0'Brien. (14) Cecelia & Jim Acton, Mac & Dolores E!ley. (15) Jim 0'Donnell, Tope [lquf I]_q) Farl Bleile, Larry Sutten. Harry Bleile. (17) Kay Kahus. Hubert and Marjoriir Sager. (18) Dave Edgerton, Mac Cheattiam. JCTTV UUNOV.

Since the daln of the tall-masted schooners, Higgins Lumber Company has been importing, shipping and re-manufacturing the finest hardwoods and softwoods the world has to offer.

Lumber dealers, furniture and cabinet manufacturers throughout theWest know the Higgins name lumber stands tall for service and on-time delivery of the finest grades of hardwoods, softwoods, and plywoods. This service is provided from our 5 centrally located distribution centers.

From around the horn, or around the block, when you require the best, call: for Buyn Industrial Supply Co., Lsrq Grove (San Diego), Cs., and are selling as Enarde InternationolCorp....

Closures and short shifts ftave become the norm for much of the Western lumber industry 56,878, or 5690 of the 102,000 sawmill employees in the West were either unemployed or work,iilg cu{tailed shifts recently . . , -As inventories decline at the ,rr*tail and wholesale level, con riern grows that mill level shut,,downs will cause shortages this ,"w.iitter. . . some experts feel the bottorn of the market will be reached this month as the effects of production shutdowns and curtailments reach their pek

Industry wags, battered by the toughest wood products market conditions in decades, remark that they have given up looking for the light at the end of the tunnel, saying that they're just trying tofind the tunnel.

A 2-year extension on sales contracts for the harvest of timber from the National Forests has been granted by the feds to prevent defaults on up to 20Vo of all National Forest timber ss,les

Falling to a6Vz year low, housing starts dropped 1.790 in Sept. from Aug. to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 918,00; 38Vo behind last year's pace . bldg. permits declined for the 5th conseiutive mo., to a seasonally adjusted rate of 844,000

Foxwort h-Gatbraith Lumber Co. plans a new store in Yuma, Az. National Lumber Co. will open a 57,ffi0 sq. ft. store in Cathedral City (Palm Springs), Ca. early in '82 Agate Sales of Nevada, a new retailer in Dayton (Carsol City), Nv., is a sister co. of Agate Sales, Grass Valley, Ca., Rick Blakemore, mgr. . .

Yosemite Lumber, Fresno, Ca., is brokering direct to job sites after closing its retail entity totally at the end of Aug. and leasing out the property; a flue on Sept. 22, burned the majority of the bldg., $600,000 damage estimated Orchard Supplyhas opened a new retail sf91g in s former Angels location inFresno, Ca. ".

Hubbard & Johnson has 3 of their No. Ca. strictly-contractor yards for sale, Napa, Fremont and Warm Springs, whichthey're operating at reduced levels; not affected are their Palo Alto, Saratoga, Mt. View, or San Jose, Ca., yards or their Grossmans stores . . a new Cros$man$.i.u t'.

Rancho Cuqamongc,,Qi., sfolking clear pine along with moulding and millwork wasopenedrecentlyinSanPablo, Ar,,ridisrict court jury awarded Ca. . Duke ":City Lumber Co., Albu. quefque, N.M., $1.3 million in a Furman Lumber, Inc. has breaCh of contract suit against formed a national accounts div.; Ponderasa Products for allegedly headquartered in Boston, Ma., it under-estimating the weight of has four additional sales offiCes woodchips and sawdust purincluding Portland, Or. chasedfromDukeCitysincelgT3 Knotlwood Corp., based in Santa American Can Co, and InterRosa, Ca., has moved its Beaver- national T&T are both trying to ton, Or., office to Portland . sell their forest products div.s, so PineLam, Inc, is a new firm far unsuccessfully . specializing in edge-glued panels started in Klamath Falls, Or., by Ron Davis and Ross Loveland .-. Weyerhaeusrt '96;'.,1liy,','pu*ing out of its 1.5 milti.n aire,.'hurdShuksan Lumber Mfg., Inc., wood concession on gointo : Arlington, Wa., is opening a new Georgia-Pacific Corp. is expand- offile in Fair Oaks, Ca., with ing its operations in Indonesia . Robert Vought and Bob Von- Burlington Northern.lnc. is shiftBargen aboard Agwood Mill ing headquarters from St. Paul, & Lumber.Inc., Ukiah, Ca., has Mn.; to Seattle, Wa., with moveopened an office in Seaside, Or., in slated for'83 . . Stu Robertson in charge The iiternitioiaf CoiFotenatid ,.Fiisttan Lumber Co., CloverOrder of Hoo-Hoo, the lumber- dale, Ca., is gearing down, runman's fraternity, plans early in nlnglonly their chipping opera'82 to move the Hq. office from tionsr,randnotplanningtore-open Norwood, Ma., to Gurdon, their lumber mill untilthe market Ar....

McDaniel Lumber, Consolidoted Lumber and Tri-Lumber. Eugane; Lindahl Lumfur, Junction City, and Bohemia Buildinp Supply, Cottage Grove, all in Or., have closed this year Crestwood Industries International Ltd., Vancouver, 8.C., has a new office in Bellewe, Wa. . .

Al-Csl Wood Producls is a new Santa Rosa, €a., wholesale firm, started by Al Caldwell, exPreston Lumber Co., Cloverdale, Ca., dealing in lumber & byproducts Al Reed and Al Mar-

America is opening a manufacturing/operation and showroom inVernon, Ca. ., KaiserCement Corp, has ope,ngd,.,,,.O,elr',,,.iL'os Angeles, Ca., offices to serve as So. Ca. regional headquarters for sales, marketing and credit .