Sales Strategy
Two Sales In 25 Years? You Bet! | June 23, 2015 (0 comments)
Carmel, CA--Weber Goldsmith Gallery doesn’t have a sale every day. In fact, they have only had two in 25 years. So when they do, customers really take notice.
“Our first was an ‘Aloha’ sale when we left Wailea, HI to move to Carmel, CA,” says Brad Weber, owner. That was fifteen years ago. It was a good sale. We moved a lot of Hawaiian jewelry prior to moving here.”
So was there one moment that tipped the scale and made Weber think ‘sale?’ “Not really,” said Weber. “We actually spent the last year with Focus Business Management Institute and they helped solidify the path that we needed to pay attention to our inventory. We need to focus on our own work.”
The majority of sales at Weber’s are from Brad Weber’s own custom designs. A four-time Spectrum Award winner, his designs are award-worthy, but also salable.
A page from Weber Goldsmith Gallery's website, showing Brad Weber's custom ring designs.
So was Weber happy with the result of his 25th year sale? “Overall, for what we put into it (some food and beverages, a nice banner and some signage), we were very happy,” said Weber. “We sold what many call 'the dogs' in our inventory. Many of our customers liked the bargains. We were sincere about the discounts we offered,” he says.
Weber had collected quite a bit of inventory over the years. “I looked at it and said let’s take this half and put it against the wall and mark it down. That section was marked down 30-60%. Some of it we had since gold was at $400 an ounce. Some pieces, we’d have done better melting them than selling them.” And the remainder? “The rest of our inventory was 15% off so that anyone who came in and wanted something received a discount.” Traffic from locals—who make up most of Weber’s clientele--was good during the sale. Weber says that advertising the sale is over but that any inventory that was marked down the store still honors. "We do have several cases left with inventory that is still at sale prices,” he says.
Brad Weber's store in Carmel, CA
And what is the plan for the additional space that Weber freed up? “We’re going to build an office for me and a consultation room for custom work,” said Weber. “We have too much retail space and we’ll put that space to good use.” For more background on Weber, here is a previous story in The Centurion Newsletter.