I was talking to a customer, she owns a woman’s clothing store, the other day and I was asking her how she was holding up during the last half of this year, especially with all the bad news about retail stores and the decline in sales. She said she is actually having a great year. I asked her why? I figure that she must be massivly discounting prices on her merchandise. “No”, she said, “What I have been doing is holding events, such as fashion shows or wine tasting nights in my store to get people in the door.”

I have been thinking about the in-store special event and what a great idea it is. I even mention this customer’s success with my business partner and he said that he goes to special wine tastings a his local wine shop and almost always buys what he had tasted during that event. I think there are two things going on here: people like a free event, people are looking for something to do that does not require any extra money and people like to feel special and unique, they want to be “invited” to a special, exclusive event.

Try it, hold a special event at your store. Invite a local celebrity and see happens. Team up with a local liquor store and host a wine a cheese night and display your new merchandise. Who knows who will show up?

Visit http://www.specialtystoreservices.com/ and see how we can help you promote your special event. If you have an event we would love to hear how it went. Send pictures if you have them.