There will always be brides, no matter how dire the economy becomes, so the wedding gift business can be a real boost to your sales during the summer months. (And keep in mind that while June and August still host the most weddings, September and October are also popular.)  The average wedding has 175 guests, which means a lot of gift giving!

 We have always had a wedding registry in our store. Although we can’t compete with the big box retailers that give the couple a “scanner gun” (very popular with the guys, from what we hear) and set them loose in the store, we can offer a good “buy local” alternative. Even though our registry form is on paper, we do put a summary of the gift list online for guests from out of town.

 We’ve recently gotten together with other merchants on Monroe Street to create a fabric bag filled with special offers.  This means that when a couple orders flowers from J Kinney,  dresses for the bridal party from Premiere Couture,  or wedding photos from Michael  Krakora Photography, they will also receive a coupon for a gift when they register at Orange Tree Imports, a discount on wedding photo frames from Monroe Street Framing, and a special offer on a honeymoon cruise from Burkhalter Travel. 

 Total cost?  The bags are less than 20¢ each, and the coupons printed on our store computers cost pennies.  We hope this low cost promotion will net each of us a bit more of the $40 billion or more that will be spent on weddings this year.

 

Happy Retailing,

Carol “Orange” Schroeder