In the weeks to come:

• What you’re putting into the customer’s bag (in addition to their photos)
• How will you sell more greeting cards and calendars this year?
• “Our No List – Make it Yes!” Whether you use the McCurry notepad or one of your one, this is a super way to let your customers tell you what products and services you should be offering. Tell us your best!

This Week – Feedback from the PMA/IPI Fall Conference in Chicago (Part 1)

Idea #1 – We can learn from the great retailers of other products
Jerry Sullivan, Precision Camera, 3810 N. Lamar Blvd, Austin, Texas  www.precision-camera.com 

For those who missed the Fall PMA's Retail tour to American Girl Place they missed the most important retailing experience they may ever have the pleasure to see. American Girl Place is the most incredibly interesting merchandising and marketing concept I've ever witnessed. I'm told they did $375 million dollars last year out of two stores (the other is in Manhattan) and an internet site! Moms and Dads were happily dropping $250-$450 at a time.... people fly into Chicago from all over the country and the world to take their daughters there to spend the DAY. They pull their daughters out of school to go there. The 3 floor store was packed... they even have a hair salon for your doll. They seat your doll in little spinning barber chairs, put a smock around her, spray her head down with water and comb it out and style it...takes MAYBE 10 minutes. The cost is $20 (with a four hour wait) You and your child and her doll can go to High Tea ( for $18 a person) if you have made reservations 6 months in advance for one of 7 daily seating......

They have a portrait studio for your doll... it too was packed, with a several hour wait.....http://www.americangirlplace.com/agp_chi_dontmiss_studio.php ...little wonder Mattel bought out the founder for $75 million, not a bad ROI with $375 million in sales a year.  WOW! Nothing quite like that in Photo...we're too busy trying to figure out how to make a profit competing on 17 cent prints and cameras at cost. 

 When I returned home I told my staff about the AGP and was surprised to learn that Justin, our call administrator, worked for US-JHI, the manufacturer for a large percent of the American Girl product- mainly the accessories, clothing and books. Justin said "Working in the marketing department at US-JHI we talked to marketing over at the American Girl warehouse, about 2 doors down from US-JHI, every now and again. I can tell you that what's most important to them is having a solid, as close to perfect as possible, product that's original. So much work, from conception to final product, goes into each of the dolls that they think of them as pieces of art. 

The way they market is to:

1. get the adults (who have the cash to buy the doll) with ads that play on tradition (moms giving their daughters dolls) and quality (since American Girl is high end).
2. get the kids by playing on individuality (each doll being different with a different personality) and having a story they could love and be interested in (the books and such). The store in Chicago is one large faction of the "tradition" advertising- moms and daughters spending the day together doing "girly things" or dad and daughter spending quality time together."

When we were talking about how to translate this experience into our photo business everyone was pretty much at a loss to put a handle on it, but we could all see that what they were doing they were doing extremely well and it was certainly working. I think the feeding frenzy is part of it, but the real driving force is simply genetically wired into little girls and their parents. American Girl exploits that for profit, but you can tell that they are very careful to not offend or be overtly commercial. It is a very quality conscious environment and they guard it with very close attention to every single detail. Even the store fixtures were designed to go all the way to the ground so that the kids could see (and grab) the merchandise, the place was a textbook example of experiential marketing. The only negative thing was Michael had mentioned that the some of the staff was not quite up to speed the day before when he went by to check it out. As in our business, the best laid plans can be sent reeling by a couple of ill-mannered, ill-tempered employees. Personnel remains our biggest challenge on a day to day basis.

Now to implement what I've learned across two completely different channels. The funniest thing happened while we were there. My wife Rosemary was amazed by the place as was I. Upon entering she commented that it was incredible that people would spend the kind of money they did on dolls and that since our two daughters are grown she wasn't really interested in anything anyway... but then as we went through the whole place...the magic happened.... so much so that when we were leaving she said that she really wanted to buy something for someone and wished she had a little girl in the family circle so she could buy something. She knew it was totally irrational, but she was caught up in it and couldn't help herself. Now that is marketing! Keep on working it American Girl... and buy stock in Mattel.  

Thanks to Michael St. Germaine for making this tour happen....what an eye opener.

(editor’s note – our readers can learn a lot from another great retailer, Precision Camera. Check out their website and you’ll see part of what I mean)

Idea #2 - We can learn from the great retailers of other products (wait a second, wasn’t that idea 1?)
Chris Lydle, Chris’ Camera and Digital Lifestyle Center, Aiken SC. www.chriscamera.com

Marshall Field and Company is a magnificent department store, with style galore and service to match. In a gallery on the sixth floor I found a small plaque spelling out the mission statement of the founder, which could have been written for digital imagers today. Words to live by…

The Marshall Field and Company Idea

To do the right thing, at the right time, in the right way; to do some things better than they have ever been done before; to eliminate errors; to know both sides of the question; to be courteous; to be an example; to love our work; to anticipate requirements; to develop resources; to recognize no impediments; to master circumstances; to act from reason rather than rule; to be satisfied with nothing short of perfection

Next Week – more from Chicago, keep those cards and letters coming in!

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