Our First YouTube Video

I have wanted to make a video for the store for a while now, and we finally did.  It was so much fun, and I learned alot.  I have a new respect for television personalities - it is very difficult to be in front of the camera and act natural.  I only said a couple of lines, but we did so many takes because I was either too monotone and dull or way to perky and cheerleader-ish.  I finally found somewhat of a middle ground, but I still don't love it.  Anyway, we just wanted to share a peak inside the store and some of our great clothes.  And this one is just the beginning!  Check it out!

Do these jeans make my bottom look big?

This is one of the hardest questions I ever have to answer…I definitely have a new understanding of what the men in our lives go through!!!  Women ask me a version of this question every day.  When they are in the store trying on a new dress or pair of pants, they want to know how they look in it.  I always give my honest opinion.  I would never, never tell a customer that something looks good on her if it doesn't.  If I don’t think something is flattering, I try to say “that’s not my favorite dress on you” or “that top just doesn't do anything for you” and I help her find a better option.  I want women in my store to feel great about how they look.  The challenging part comes in when a customer doesn't like the way she looks, but I honestly think she looks great.  I’ll say, “that dress is so cute on you” and she’ll wrinkle her nose and say that she thinks her hips are too big.   I know we are usually our own worst critics, and we bring a lot of issues with us when we go clothes shopping.  We think about what we looked like before kids, or when we were 20.  We compare ourselves to other women who may be more fit, or wear a smaller size.  But come on ladies, we need to give ourselves a break.  None of us are perfect.   No matter what size we are, we can find things to wear that enhance our best features and camouflage the areas we don’t like.   Stop in the store and I’ll help you find the perfect look!  And you’ll never have to ask your husband that dreaded question again!

UNF Small Business Blog: SBDC Interview With Tammy Berning, Owner of Ms. Mu...

UNF Small Business Blog: SBDC Interview With Tammy Berning, Owner of Ms. Mu...: Our client Tammy Berning stopped in and we couldn't resist interviewing her about  Ms. Mulligans Consignment Boutique located in Manda...

I can't believe how long it's been since I have posted...oops!  Working and being a wife and mom has been keeping me so very busy.  Business is great and I will have some extra help this summer...I can't wait.  Also happening in just a few weeks, my oldest will be graduating High School!!!  I can't get over how fast this last school year flew by.  With so much going on, my updates across all social media networks has suffered.   I am committed to getting back to it, so look for regular posts and updates again starting today!  And congratulations to my Jamie Kay!  I'm so proud of you!!!

Dollar Sale Fun!

Sometimes it's the little things - like getting something for a dollar - that just makes your day!!!  At Ms. Mulligan's, we recently held our second Dollar Day Event and what a blast it was for everyone.  There is nothing quite as much fun for a shopper than finding a great pair of jeans or top for less than the price of a soda (or just about anything for that matter). 
For weeks before the event, we began holding great pieces from our inventory that were ready to be donated so we could make them available again at this great event.  Then on the Friday before the sale, we closed the doors at 3pm and began reloading these items into our store.  I thought about putting up a couple of racks to hold all the inventory we were offering at a dollar, but realized there would be a mad rush to that one spot in the store, so why not spread it out throughout all the racks.  This proved to work out great.  Shoppers went to the rack containing their size shorts to find dollar shorts in and amongst the regular inventory.  It was like a little treasure hunt, and there were enough items marked at a dollar that it wasn't difficult to find at all.  We had about 2000 items up for grabs for the low low price of one dollar.  We open at 9am and by 9:15, there were more ladies in the store than have ever been in at one time.  (I was so glad the dollar items were not all in one place, or there could have been an issue)!!!
A few customers found items they had seen weeks ago in the store, but didn't purchase.  They were now getting those items for a steal.  Others were shopping for themselves, their mothers, daughters, sisters, neighbors, friends.  Ladies were purchasing 30, 40, even 60 items at a time!  Several shoppers came back to the store multiple times that day, bringing different friends with them each time.  And that's really what the day was all about.  Great fun, great bargains, and great publicity.  At $1 per item, even if all 2000 sold, after splitting the sale with the consignors, the store wouldn't make a huge amount of money.  But what a testimonial it is when a customer rushes home to show her friends a beautiful dress she just bought for $1 at a great new consignment boutique down the street!
The store closes at 7pm on Saturdays, but for this event, the last customer did not finish up until 8:45.  At the end of the day, there were probably a couple of hundred pieces that didn't sell.  So we left them on the floor for another week.  Customers who couldn't make it Saturday were still able to find a few deals, and some who just heard about the sale from friends were also able to get in on the fun.  It was a lot of work putting the sale together.  I was very lucky to have the help of my mom Sandi and daughter Jamie.  When it was over, we were all exhausted, and already planning for the next one!

Do it Yourself Key Painting

Having my own store means I get to still be creative every day.  I love to re-purpose old items and I'll paint anything that will stand still.  Recently, I saw on Pinterest (my new obsession) that you can use nail polish to paint keys so I was inspired to try it on my Ms. Mulligan's door keys.  Here's what I did...

First, I chose the base color I wanted to use on each key and painted two coats to each side.  Make sure the polish is completely dry before turning it over to the other side.

Next, I added black stripes using a nail art polish with a fine tip brush.

It was really easy, and I can see this being done in any color, pattern or design you want.  Give it a try - I plan to do all of my keys!

Ms. Mulligan's Price Tags

Retail stores handle markdowns in a number of ways from creative signs, sale racks, or color coded price labels.  When I opened Ms. Mulligan's, I planned on physically marking down price tags so that items that remain unsold after 30 days are discounted by 15%, after 60 days, they are discounted 30% and so on.  Luckily, the consignment shop software I am using handles all the pricing and markdown information for me, according to this preset schedule.  So, after my first 30 days in business, with red pen in hand, and with my mom's help, we gathered the list of necessary markdowns and began the hunt.  This proved to be one of the most difficult things about running the store.  There were hundreds of items that needed to be marked down every week, and locating these pieces was so tedious and time consuming, we just couldn't get to all of them.  Often times, potential buyers had no idea what was on sale.  We knew there must be a better way.  We considered color coded price tags,  using a different color each week and assigning a correlating sale schedule, but this just seemed too complicated.  Then, while printing price tags one afternoon, I noticed that the markdown schedule could be printed on the tag from the very beginning.  Problem solved!!! Or maybe a new problem created??? 

From a business standpoint, what would a customer do if she wanted an item, but knew it would be dropping in price if she waited a few days or weeks?  Would I be creating a scenario in which customers only bought items that had been sitting in the store for 75 days and had dropped to half price?  This could be disastrous!!!  I decided to do it anyway.  I wanted my customers to have all the information up front - how long had this item been sitting in the store? has it been marked down? when does it expire?  And their reaction has been overwhelmingly positive.  Yes, customers do wait sometimes for an item to be marked down, but if they really love something, our prices are so low already that there's no reason to wait.  And that thought process pretty much sums up my philosophy on shopping.  If you don't love it, don't buy it (no matter how little it costs)...If you do love it, buy it today.  Yep, problem solved!