3 Actions To Deal With Deeply Decreased Sales When You Own A Dollar Store

In today’s economic environment many retailers are feeling the impact of lower sales. While this can be the ideal time to own a dollar store, there is still a risk of decreasing sales. While there are many actions that can rebuild sales even today, for some other actions must be taken to reduce costs. Taking the right actions will provide the time required for them to renew their business; to get back on the road to success. In this article I present 3 options to deal with deeply decreased sales when you own a dollar store.

1) Temporarily reduce the size of your existing store. If sales are down and money to purchase replenishment inventory is tight, one action to consider is to downsize the size of your store. You might want to add a temporary wall to reduce the actual sales area in your store. While that move likely maintains the current rent costs, other costs such as inventory and labor can be reduced to the right levels to support the new, smaller store size.

2) If you own a dollar store where belt-tightening action is required, consider permanently reducing the size of your existing store. For many this is a time to make the adjustments to permanently eliminate sales area. There are many options to deal with the excess space if you choose to stay in the same location. However, a better move is to reduce rent costs by moving into a smaller location. Look for smaller spaces within your current location, or simply work a sublease for a portion of your existing space.

3) Move into a new, smaller location. If the right lease changes cannot be negotiated at your current location, and it’s possible, move into a new, smaller location somewhere else. Check the demographics before you move. Be sure you are prepared to start over and build your new business in its new location.

No matter what action you take, reduce non-essential merchandise inventory. Focus on maintaining consumables and the other best selling products currently in your store. Selectively expand the hottest and highest profit departments and products/product lines while reduce the poor performing departments and products. Add new products that are continually being requested the most. Work hard to locate new suppliers with lower costs. Cut payroll appropriately. A smaller location should mean you can spend more of your time stocking and cashiering to reduce payroll even further.

Making any of these moves will be challenging. Stay engaged in your business throughout this time. Become a more hands-on owner/manager. Implement as many cost-cutting changes as possible. Don’t forget to budget and implement aggressive marketing campaigns to rebuild sales and profitability for your store. While these moves are difficult, with good execution you’ll soon be glad you own a dollar store where the actions were successfully executed.

To your dollar store business success!

By: Bob Hamilton

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Bob Hamilton is an entrepreneur, author, writer, business consultant and trainer.