This is an update of a popular blog post from 2010

I love learning something new from my sales reps, and was delighted to hear from one of them back in 2010 that the most popular initials for monogrammed items spelled out Mrs. Jackel. Unfortunately using M,R,S,J,A,C,K,E, and L no longer works, because while today’s most popular letters are still M,S,J,A,C,K,E,L, the R has been replaced by H and P. I’m not clever enough to come up with a new mnemonic.

“Mrs. Jackel” made me think about the popularity of gift items with letters on them.  You can find almost anything from key chains to Christmas ornaments with a letter of the alphabet attached. In addition, letters can be used to spell out messages and names in home decor and social media. We carry the ceramic ones shown spelling out “LETTERS” above from Mudlove, and have seen them spell out a message in a store (SALE) and at the head tables at a wedding.

Should you carry letters in your store?  Chances are good that there is an initial program might fit with your product mix.  But there are a few caveats that I’d like to pass along:

• Companies always list initial products among their most reordered products — but that is in part because you need to reorder often to keep all the letters in stock.  Choose an item based on the product’s merits rather than just its “best seller” status.
• Consider carefully how heavy the first buy-in will be.  Do you get even numbers of all letters, or is it weighted towards best sellers?  Is the entire alphabet represented, or just a “handkerchief assortment”?  (This is a selection of only the top letters, so there is no X or Z, for example.)
• Does the display fit with your store design? It almost always works best to sell initialed items in the display provided by the vendor. We’ve tried it both ways, so I’m speaking from experience.
• How reliable is the company when it comes to shipping reorders?  Will the sales rep stop in to help count stock?  How many of each letter do will you need to order to restock? What will the total minimum be for a reorder?
• And lastly, what will you do to liquidate the remaining letters when the item slows down? Nothing lasts forever in our industry, so you need to have an exit plan — and to select an item that you predict will sell for at least a year or two. 

Our store had a good run of several initial items, including pocket tissues, notepads and glass paperweights.  Although it’s a bit more work to keep the displays of these items fully stocked, they earned their place in our merchandise mix. It may be well worthwhile  considering adding some to your store’s inventory as well.

Happy Retailing,

Carol “Orange” Schroeder