First of all, he goes everywhere wearing a shirt bearing the company name and logo. "Why should I advertise anyone else’s business?", he asks in reference to clothes that bear brand names. In his speech, he says, "I am going to tell you the secret of making money." Everyone leans forward to listen. Then he announces, "Get some merchandise. Sell it. Get some more merchandise. Sell that." Some people look confused, but most of us get it. The point is, success in business comes with getting those two things right. First you get the merchandise your retail customers want to buy and then you sell it to them. It is as simple as that.

In the resale/consignment industry we can translate the message to mean: how do we lure the right consignors to supply us, and how do we entice the retail customer to buy it. Visiting a Buffalo Exchange store shows one of the best examples of how this can be done. I visited one of the stores in Austin, TX recently. When you walk in the door everything about the place speaks to hip young people from pre-teens and up. I mean, everything. They have their market niche down pat. My hip young daughter, age 23, ran around like she was in heaven. I, on the other hand, found nothing that appealed to me in the way of clothing and none of it would have fit anyway. I had to spend my time at the soap and candle display.

The displays, music, and even the employees, who were "hip" themselves, created a wonderful atmosphere to draw the right kind of suppliers and the right customers. It didn’t hurt that the sales staff were like the customers and could speak their language and relate to their needs. I’m sure I couldn’t get a job there unless I stayed in the back room!

Spencer Block, a co-owner of the chain, teaches a workshop on employees at the national conferences. His stores are staffed with well-trained employees who are experts in customer service. Such friendly service I have seldom seen. The employees are well paid, enjoy an elaborate reward system, and are keep informed of the financial success of the business through regular employee meetings. By the way, the Austin store had enough employees on duty to fully service the store and customers. Do we sometimes tend to be understaffed, causing our staff to run around trying to do three things at once?