Issue 32/08

Monday, 12th November 2007

With our “Ducks” lined up this week, we smashed target and also beat last year’s figures. We had a great result with some huge numbers coming in from the beltway branches and beyond. Who made the number one spot this week??? – See below for that answer!

California Fires

Europe - Notes from John Collins

So how did we do this week?

WEEK 32

We had a very good week and achieved 110% against target and 90% against last year. Well done to each of you.

The top branches this week on combined targets are:

  • Stuttgart 186% of combined targets and $7,155 in combined trade. Top of the league Newcastle won again, good job Vince.
  • Ramstein 152% of combined targets and $10,053 in combined trade. It was a very busy Saturday in Ramstein with Trevor doing $2,918 on made to measure and $2,555 on ready to wear. A tiring and very rewarding day well done Trevor.
  • Kaiserslautern 140% of combined targets. Nice to see this branch beating target. Well done to Leigh and John, disappointingly no measures this week but $10,940 on ready to wear.
  • Heidelberg 138% of combined targets. Alan had a great week on made to measure this week with $3238 of combined sales of $6,478.
  • Wiesbaden 128% of combined targets. Well done to both Geoff and Rob with most of the troops downrange it was a very good week indeed.

Just scraping into the top spots were.

  • Grafenwoehr 108% of combined targets. Paul just made the mark with just under $2,000 on made to measure which helped him to push him over the 100%.
  • Mannheim 104% of combined targets. Good to see Melvyn in one of the top spots again.

The business week

Made to Measure

Extending the 50% off sale seems to have paid off in some branches with the area beating target by 128%, the down side was that we were only 85% of last years sales as we were on 50% off last year at this time. The made to measure sale now on with free vest and trouser or an extra pair of trousers is very attractive to our customers looking for extra value and life in a suit. Do not forget to bring in the made to measure option to your customers even though we will now be having large ready to wear targets to achieve. The radio advertising for the new made to measure sale should now be coming over the Aafes airways, please let myself or Trevor know if it is not.

Ready to Wear

We were 106% of target but disappointingly only 92% of last year. Even so some very good figures this week with two branches going over the $10,000 mark.

The preparation for the Thanksgiving sale should be well underway by now. As we have done over the past few years:-

  • Ask your computer people if they could change the barcodes to reflect the 20% sale so when the original barcode is scanned it will come up with the sale price from 19th November 2007.
  • Red sale swinger tickets should be written out in preparation to put on each garment when the sale starts.

We have some very high targets to do over the next few weeks which are actually a little lower than last year’s actual sales so they are beatable.

So who will be on top of the table week 32 ??? Watch this space...

THE COMPETITION IS NOW ON

WHO WILL WIN THE €250 PRIZE??

Anybody can win this competition as it is based on percentage increase not on $$ dollar sales in full time branches.

Good luck to all and may the best man / woman win.

Vince is in the lead with a very good start. Keep up the chase lads don’t let him get away. We all need to work together to succeed.

Thank you, good luck, and good trading.

John Collins, ASM

Here is the leader board for Europe for week 31 and week 32. On your marks GET SET GO...

Store Description Actual Target Variance % of Target
Aafes - Europe
3230 Stuttgart 13,949 8,805 5,144 158.4
3268 Wiesbaden 12,163 10,758 1,405 113.1
3197 Kaiserslautern 19,276 17,327 1,949 111.2
3282 Mannheim 7,271 6,684 587 108.8
3192 Heidelberg 10,716 10,347 369 103.6
3259 Ramstein 14,228 14,136 92 100.7
3162 Lakenheath 12,523 13,008 -485 96.3
3156 Schweinfurt 5,525 2,541 -286 95.1
3256 Grafenwhor 6,863 7285 -422 94.2
3215 GB Shape 1,490 1,713 -223 87.0
3281 Chievres 5,253 7,224 -1,971 72.7
3362 Aviano 435 1,561 -1,126 27.9
3216 Brussels Embassy 1,505 500 1,005 301.0
3223 Bamberg 1,225 1,225
Aafes - Europe Totals 112,422 101,889 10,533 110%

USA - Notes from Andy Schofield

Anyone want to go "Duck Hunting"??

With our “Ducks” lined up this week, we smashed target and also beat last year’s figures. We had a great result with some huge numbers coming in from the beltway branches and beyond. Who made the number one spot this week??? – See below for that answer!

Ready Made saw the arrival of the Harris Tweeds this week and were well received by the stores that got them. Obviously AAFES can’t compete with our quality on Tweeds so we have that part of the market cornered!

The Fort Stewart road-show did well with over $6,500 in sales from the Georgia BX. We will continue with the unmanned branch until the New Year and see if we can’t get a full time branch out of it – the prospects look good and the Store Manager is with us all the way!

Finishing with 101% against target and 113% of Last Year this was a great start to the holiday period.

Measures also performed very well and your customer’s took advantage of the last week of the extended sale. Finishing with over $30,000 in actual sales this week we closed with 123% of target and 102% of Last Year – An excellent result all round Guys, well done to all of you. We closed the week out cumulatively with 108% of target and 109% of Last Year.

A Job Well Done!

Now that we have this ball rolling, let’s keep that momentum going…. Remember, we have an excellent Measure sale on right now…. When else can a customer get TWO pairs of trousers for FREE??? Or better yet, a FREE pair of trousers and a vest?! It’s a great offer and customers love to hear that word – FREE!

Week 32 - STAR PLAYERS

Some excellent results this week for most of you, but one of you is way out in front and well on their way to winning this months *competition – (*See Tracey’s notes and the current league table below)

  • TRAVIS AFB – The star of the show this week is Dominic, who really picked up steam this weekend. Handing out his flyers, calling customers and emailing them about the last minute offers on MM and RM reductions paid off BIG time this week! Coming in with over $9,000 in sales and 183% Cumulative target achieved is Travis AFB. Excellent result this week Dominic – Well done!
  • ANDREWS AFB – Roger, Nathan and Tim, certainly stepped it up a notch this week! Roger prepped the store mid-week with his new Tweeds and re-merchandised the department and reaped the benefits at the weekend. With over $11,500 in cumulative sales, Andrews closed the week 161% above target and 150% over last year – Well done Gentlemen…. Fantastic result!
  • FORT DIX – Not to be out done by the boys! Nicky came in with some good numbers too. With $5,000 in sales and 158% of target you can see that it was a tight race to the finish this weekend – Great result Nicky - keep it going!
  • FORT BRAGG – Just behind Dix and hot on everyone’s tail is Adelle, she closed her week with a very respectable $4,279 in total sales. This was 142% of target and 137% of last year. Adelle is certainly showing us all how to do it and is well ahead of last years totals! – Well done Adelle!

Pushing every last sale right to the end last week was Steve, Nathan and Tim at Fort Belvoir! They made 129% of target but had the highest sales of the week – Over $13,000 in sales last week with it split 50-50 on Measures and Ready’s. Well done guys, that was one busy week!

Honorable mentions this week for these branches who also made target and some excellent sales numbers: Jeff at Fort Sam (110%), Trevor at Fort Meade (107%), Zoran at Macdill (98%).

Great effort and some well earned results guys….. Where will you be in week 33??

Come on guys, let’s pull out all the stops – “Every Sale Counts”

“There is less to fear from outside competition than from inside inefficiency, discourtesy, and bad service! “
Tom Peters

Good Luck Everyone, Andy.

Here is the leader board for USA for week 31 and week 32. It’s still all to play for and this is only the beginning. So go for it...

Store Description Actual Target Variance % of Target
Aafes - USA
3503 Travis 15,503 11,661 3,842 132.9
3507 Fort Bragg 8,572 6,852 1,720 125.1
3519 Fort Dix 9,229 7,394 1,835 124.8
3504 Fort Sam Houston 12,519 11,507 1,012 108.8
3501 Andrews AFB 17,976 17,758 218 101.2
3502 Fort Belvoir 23,507 24,903 -1,396 94.4
3509 Fort Meade 10,062 11,093 -1,031 90.7
3505 Fort Myer 8,038 9,398 -1,360 85.5
3506 MacDill AFB 4,786 5,605 -819 85.4
3508 Fort Lewis 5,766 6,865 -1,099 84.0
3514 Colorado Springs 4,601 6,035 -1,434 76.2
3520 Nellis 3,045 5,622 -2,577 54.2
3541 Buckley AFB 2,175 4,292 -2,117 50.7
3602 Henderson Hall 9,339 19,165 -9,826 48.7
3600 Quantico 8,235 18,320 -10,085 45.0
3510 McChord AFB 2,210 5,069 -2,859 43.6
3518 Langley AFB 3,113 7,398 -4,285 42.1
3511 Bolling AFB 220 1,301 -1,081 16.9
3527 Fort Hood 1,390 1,863 -473 74.6
3546 Stewart AFB 6,590 6,590
Aafes - USA Totals 112,422 101,889 10,533 110%

ROADSHOW IN BAMBERG

Dave Tindell alongwith John Collins set up a roadshow in Bamberg, Germany during week 31 and a picture of how we currently look in the store is below. Initial sales of $1225 in the first few days helped the area’s performance and suggest that this is going to be a good unmanned store to trade in on the run up to Thanksgiving and Christmas.

MADE TO MEASURE TROUSER SHAPES

There has been talk recently about the width of our made to measure trouser thighs and some customers preferring a closer fitting thigh than our standard trouser.

TIP

We have 5 different shapes of trouser leg available. Our standard is tapered which is how 99% of our trousers are manufactured, however we also have options of:-

  • T - TAPERED
  • C - CLOSE
  • F - FLARED
  • K - BAGGY
  • P - PARALLEL

Should your customer wish to have a narrower thigh measure, the Close fitting option will reduce the thigh measurement by approx 1” to the Tapered option.

MADE TO MEASURE LININGS

  • 192RED – Red Circles - is now PSO therefore please remove from your bunch.
  • 1857 – 4 – Purple Diamond – is now TSO until further notice.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

happy birthday
  • Rahim Ouanina - 16th November