 |
|
|
|
|
|
PAGE 63 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
PAGE 63 |
|
|
|
Class Retailers by Wendy Larson Last November I attended a workshop provided by the Washington State Community trade and Economic Development Department that was to assist downtown associations and individual retailers to set up the best business and quality service they could do. As most of "you" the business community are unable to attend these workshops, I thought I would fill you in on some of the key points that were mentioned. There was a lot of information given, so I will set it up in three parts. Today's Trends Did you know that the trend in retailing is toward more specialty oriented stores? That the age of electronic shopping will continue to boom over the next few years? The largest population of purchasing power (more expendable income) is people ages 55-64? That people will frequent stores with QUALITY customer service and assistance! This is important information when we are setting up our business and choosing marketing plans. Don't carry everything In today's business mixes, with competition like Wal-Mart, K-Mart, etc., the small retailer cannot compete with these stores' buying power. This is where the "specialty" aspect of planning your business comes into play. Plan your retail investment by specializing in one or two types of items or services. Don't carry everything! If you carry a product, become an expert in that line. Carry depth in specialized inventory. The size of your "niche" is only limited to your imagination. Use space-to-sales analysis to chose your top selling products. If you use 3% of your floor space for one item, this item should return 3% of your sales, likewise your top selling product lines should take up a larger percentage of your floor space. Pricing All ages are price conscious but discounts usually:
|
|
|
rrrrrrrrr |
|
|
Jan. 14 Agenda: U.S.A will discuss the
|
|
Downtown Development Agreement The purpose of the agreement is for the city and USA to contract with Sunnyside Inc. to provide for the continuation of an ongoing and active program to encourage support and facilitate downtown development, to promote increased commercial activity, tourism, and downtown revitalization. The Sunnyside Downtown Development program has been modeled after the "National Main Street Program" an established Downtown Revitalization program, which has been successful in many communities across the country. |
|
Scheduled Events this year:
|
|
|
Centennial Square What would it be like to have a Downtown Square? Do you remember when we used to go into Downtown with our families and meet neighbors or take our families down to socialize in the middle of town? The Uptown Sunnyside Association, in cooperation with Sunnyside, Inc., and the City of Sunnyside, are pursuing the prospect of purchasing the property on the corner of 6th and Edison (where the Holiday Plaza Park was located this year. We will be going after some potential assistance through grant monies, but we will need the help from the community. Do you have a special skill, or talent that you would be willing to donate for the purpose of designing, constructing and implementing this wonderful project? We will send our request for proposals for site designs within the next month, and explore avenues of acquisition...then the real work starts! Let's make this a community square. It was discussed that the square would be "Centennial Square" as our 100th anniversary for the City of Sunnyside will be upon us soon. The Square will be dedicated to the history of Sunnyside, its founders, its life story. What a great, positive project for our community! All of our major events either take place or go through this part of town. To have a permanent stage, sound system, public restrooms, beautiful landscapes and the potential for an ongoing HOLIDAY PARK every year would be fantastic. If you have additional ideas, would like more information, or have avenues of assistance with this project, please contact the Uptown Sunnyside Association at 839-8275. |
|