Start a Scrapbook Store

Want to help out your customers and their families and boost Christmas sales at the same time? How about a holiday wish list?
Just make up a simple template with space for customer’s name and the product they’d love to receive come Christmas, Hannukah, etc. Print out several copies, snap them into a clipboard and voila!
Your customers can drop the hint to loved ones that they’ve listed a few faves, or when shoppers who aren’t scrapbook-savvy stumble in looking overwhelmed, direct them to the wish list. Consider having a “guy’s night” when you invite husbands and significant others to shop. You could even offer a discount on items bought off of a customer’s wish list.

The shopping day that heralds the start of the holiday season, “Black Friday,” has increasingly become the domain of chain retailers, who whip shoppers into a frenzy by offering select “deals” and open their doors at 6 a.m. or even earlier on the day after Thanksgiving. You can compete with Black Friday, and similarly with “Cyber Monday” (The first Monday after Thanksgiving, when a great deal of holiday shopping is conducted online). Plan for an after-Thanksgiving Day sale of your own! Add an element that’s different from your usual sales, such as honoring a chain craft store’s 40-percent off coupon.