Page 69 - untitled
P. 69
BUILDING A REPUTATION
The store’s success hasn’t gone unnoticed in the vendor community. The buyers—who include DeWayne’s sister—have been asked for feedback on new lines, or even to provide input for product design, and they’ve been invited to speak at corporate sales meetings.
Because of the store’s large scale, cross-merchandising is important. A display of plants might have a flag mixed in, for instance. “We try to build displays that pull customers to different parts of our stores,” says Tina.
An in-house print shop allows DeWayne’s to make banners, signage and other marketing materials on the fly, and last year
the store put out an Ideation catalog, which mailed to 15,000 to 20,000 customers.
DeWayne’s stopped carrying live Christmas trees several years ago, and no longer offers fresh produce. But one holdover remains from the store’s origins: every fall, the yard in front of the store fills with fresh pumpkins, which is how it all started.
For more information, visit dewaynes.com or ShopDeWayne’s on Facebook. Images by Exum Photography
51
