Camera Center

19 days til we open…

I'm starting to get really nervous.

My back is not responding to treatment well. Can't sleep, can't stand up for more than a few minutes, and I certainly can't do any construction work myself. So I'm having to concentrate on areas where I can sit down or where hired help can handle the job. Fortunately my wife Thelma is a go-getter and is more than pulling her weight.

This is the week I make many final decisions.

The slatwall and slatwall fixtures are ordered and should arrive early next week. Found a helpful supplier on-line at Storefix.com and their Mark Roberts is getting me exactly what I need. They'll pre-cut my slatwall panels to fit into the display modules.

Selected the Royal Alpha 580 cash register in order to get started. It's inexpensive - less than $200 at Staples - but does most of the things we need. There are 40 departments and 500 PLUs can be programmed. Right now it's sitting in my home office and I've been programming it in blocks of time.

As I've been ordering merchandise I've been building the purchase orders in Microsoft ExCel, the popular spreadsheet program. That lets me know exactly how much each order will amount to, and make sure that each order qualifies for prepaid freight and maximum benefits. Then I copy the product description and cost price into the master catalog spreadsheet. So far I've generated about 200 PLUs and plan to have about 350 programmed by opening day. That way the register will print out receipts with alphanumeric descriptions and also accumulate information for my statistics.

Credit Card Service: After agonizing over several proposals, I've selected a credit card service provider and started the set-up procedure. The service providers usually handle only Visa and MasterCard directly, and a separate agreement is needed with Discover and American Express. Choosing the best deal is not easy. Does a straight 1.91% discount compare favorably with 1.59% plus $.22 per transaction? The (1.59% + .22) would be cheaper on sales over $14.00, but you also get charged transaction fees on returns! Transaction fees, "batch" fees and monthly fees can really add up. I got numbers from the PMAI, from Sam's Club and BJ's Club, and several other providers. Then I made up a spread sheet to compare each proposal. Here's how 2 providers compare on a monthly basis:

Over a period of 4 years, it's cheaper to buy the electronic terminal with printer and PIN pad than it is to rent it. If start-up money is really tight, one might look at a "lease-to-own" program.

Passport Photos as a profit center:

Today Americans are travelling more than ever. They all need passport or ID photos, and the photo specialty store should be their source. The Aiken Post Office has a passport office open 5 days a week.

Although there are now several systems that make digital passport photos - Sony has a great one - I chose a camera using Polaroid film because it was under $400. Sure, the Sony costs less on a per-shot basis. And you can take several shots and examine them on the built-in viewscreen before printing out, and you can print out as many as you want of the same photo - but the system costs 4 times as much!

Burglar Alarms

Camera stores need security, and burglar alarms help. Chances are your insurance company will also require it. Talk to your insurance agent about discounts for qualifying systems.

Many alarm companies offer inexpensive startup fees but more than make it up in monthly monitoring fees. In some locales you may be able to get a dial-up connection directly to the police station, but that's becoming very rare.

Get several proposals. Talk to your local police department and your business insurance agent. Find out who's got a good reputation or who's a bad apple.

By paying an extra $600 up front, I reduced the $33.75/month monitoring fee to $19.75 a month. After 43 months I'm ahead of the game and from then on I save $168 each year.

All my business decisions are based on the assumption that the business will last at least 5 years. Hope that's true…

What is a PLU?

It stands for Price Lookup Unit. Enter the number in the cash register and that tells the register the item, department and price. Think of it as a country cousin to the UPC (Uniform Product Code.)

Next installment

Our story so far

• The Beginning
• The Second Week
• The Third Week
• and we make a major design change
• Suddenly it's the FIFTH WEEK!
• Week Six, it's coming together.
• 19 Days to Go
• D-Day minus 12 days
• our ongoing Check List