Retailers, It’s Time to Mix Business With Local Genius | Carol Schroeder

Most of us look to importers and manufacturers for readymade goods for our stores, perhaps also occasionally buying from local makers who sells goods at wholesale. But it can be fun to be in on the ground floor, helping someone take an idea from the concept stage to your store’s shelves.

Lori Greiner, who has been on the TV show Shark Tank for over a decade, has a proven track record when it comes to developing new products. She has invented hundreds of products for her own company, For your Ease Only, and loves to be hands-on helping the entrepreneurs she greenlights on the TV show to create successful product lines.

But for most people with an idea, Shark Tank is a distant dream. They are much more likely to approach a local retailer, and in fact I regularly have someone call to say they have something they’d like to sell to my store. I usually answer that, even though I may not want the item for Orange Tree Imports, I’d be happy to meet with them to give them marketing advice. After all, who else is going to share the perspective of a store buyer?

I sometimes find that the individual doesn’t know what the usual terms are for selling wholesale and has not tested the market by showing the product to anyone except friends and family. So, I usually suggest that they start by selling directly to the public at a crafts or maker fair. Often this turns out to be the best way to market an item that may be in limited supply and carry a significant price tag in terms of time or materials. It does happen, however, that I am able to work with the craftsperson to develop an item that becomes a good seller for our store. We love carrying locally made products, especially if they are exclusive to us.

The Willy Street Co-op, a well-respected natural foods cooperative here in Madison, Wis., has an incubator to help small businesses develop their product line. Their Retail Ready Lab is a program in which the co-op partners with small businesses to get their products into their busy retail store for a month. Those accepted to the program are given one-on-one counseling and the opportunity to have their products displayed temporarily on special shelves in the store. The accompanying signage asks for customer feedback. And as Willy Street points out, sales of these items give the store an opportunity to make data-driven decisions about what new product lines to adopt.

Customers love discovering items in your shop that they have never seen before, and working with local makers is a great way to help create unique products. You are also doing your community a service by supporting crafts and artwork, even if they don’t end up on your shelves. It’s a gift to have the opportunity to share your expertise with local creatives.

This is an updated version of a 2014 post. See more from Carol Schroeder, author of Specialty Shop Retailing and co-owner of Orange Tree Imports, in the Savvy Store Solutions tab.