Issue 36/08

Tuesday, 11th December 2007

We did not smash the targets this week but came in with a very healthy 110% of combined targets and it was nice to see 96% of last year. It was a GRAND JOB from you all [John Collins, Europe]

California Fires

Europe Notes from John Collins

So how did we do this week?

WEEK 36

It was a good week again for our area, beating target once again and just missing last year’s numbers. We achieved 113% of target and 101% of last year.

Here are the figures for week 36.

AREA L/Y TARGET ACTUAL % TARGET LAST YR %
J. COLLINS - FORCES 93,595 81,416 89,888 110 96

We did not smash the targets this week but came in with a very healthy 110% of combined targets and it was nice to see 96% of last year. It was a GRAND JOB from you all.

The end of the Ready To Wear Thanksgiving Sale saw some very good figures coming out of your branches but the Made To Measure sales were again very thin on the ground with only three branches bringing in trade. Those branches being Lakenheath, Mannheim and G.B.Shape for a total of $5,592, which was a disappointing week at only 56% compared to last year. We cannot have everything I suppose, as Ready to Wear sales were 101% of last year, although the top two branches this week did have both Made to Measure and Ready to Wear trade.

The top branches this week on combined targets were:

  • LAKENHEATH 178% of target and 130% of last year, which was $3,071 on, made to measure and $12,736 on ready to wear for combined sales of a brilliant $15,807. Once again another great week for Gary who was also training Andy Isaac the new Bermuda recruit whilst pulling in these sales.
  • MANNHEIM 145% of combined target and 102% of last year, this was divided into $1,926 made to measure and $5,022 on ready to wear for a combined score on the door of $6,948. Well done Melvyn nice to see you up the table once again.
  • HEIDELBERG 144% of combined target and 126% of last year and sales of $10,541 Alan may have won the competition for November but that is not stopping him from carrying on the good work through December. Well done Alan.
  • RAMSTEIN 140% of combined targets and 117% of last year, with sales of an amazing $15,152, a very busy weekend indeed Well done Trevor and Rob.
  • STUTTGART 104% of targets but only 57% of last year, nice to see Vince again after just missing out on the top spot in the competition. AVIANO Vince’s part time branch in Italy also came in with another good week in sales with $2,140, We definitely put the right stock in for the customers on the last visit Vince.
  • GRAFENWOEHR was 96% of target with sales of $5,400, Paul just missed target this week keep it going Paul.
  • KAISERSLAUTERN was 95% of combined target Well done to Leigh.

I would like to say Well Done To You All on a good and satisfying sales week. It was a good end to the Thanksgiving Sale and we need to carry on this momentum through to the end of the Holiday Season.

Take a look at your SALE stock and re-arrange it so it is all together, take a further look - do the Sale Swinger Tickets need replacing ?? Do you have enough SALE stock ?? If you are running short of sale garments let me know.

We all need to work together to succeed

Thank you, good luck, and good trading.

John Collins
ASM

USA - Notes from Andy Schofield

A great week last week everyone, WELL DONE TO ALL OF YOU!

Everyone pushed hard and made every sale count this week. This the last week of the 20% off RM sale, made a big difference to our numbers and we came close to hitting $100K and making target – Great result.

Made to Measure did struggle however this week, but that’s to be expected with it being the last week of the Ready Made sale and the Christmas holidays looming around the corner. We finished on only 49% of target and 38% of last year – that shows you how well we did on RM’s if we came close to hitting overall target!

Ready Made’s were the star of the week finishing with 106% of target and a whopping 118% of Last Year… This really was a great result, especially since many of you had the “$99 Suit Guy” in your forecourts. This really does go to show you that other Vendors and AAFES can give their rubbish away but when it comes down to it, you can’t beat the expertise of our staff and the quality and renown that Alexandre Suits bring with them.

Well done all of you…. Let’s show them who’s the boss again this week!

Overall we closed the week with 96% and 100% of last year.

Don’t forget those Accessories when selling the big ticket items – every penny counts!

WEEK 36 - STAR PLAYERS

Some big results this week guys, from some of your team mates:

  • ANDREWS AFB – Top Dogs this week were Roger ably assisted by Nathan and Tim. Whilst the week started out strong with $3000 done by Wednesday, Roger managed to pull in a whopping $9,000 plus over Friday, Saturday and Sunday giving the branch a huge figure of $12,000 and 134% above target…. Roger even found time to sell some measures to “Outside” sales… another $800 will go onto the road show branch this week. Hard work guys – and it paid off this week, big time!
  • FORT SAM – Jostling with Quantico for the number two spot and just beating them with 121% was Jeff. You’ll remember that Jeff won the GPS last week in the November competition, well he managed to “Find His Way” again this week coming in second with over $8,300 in sales and almost $4000 of that on Measures! – Excellent result Jeff… well done.
  • QUANTICO – As mentioned, it was a race to the finish but Mark & Amanda pulled out all the stops this week. They may have been beaten into the number 2 spot to take 3rd , but they are second this week in overall sales! The new shop and the team did an excellent job this week with over $12,000 in total sales – all on RM’s! Finishing with 119%. Well done Guys.
  • FORT LEWIS – Here’s a branch that you don’t see up here very often. Dave has had a hard time of it lately as many of the troops overseas are from this region. That said, Dave got down to the biz and pulled in a very respectable $5,000 and 115% against target. A great week, but even better – this was 207% over last year’s numbers!

Other branches that hit target last week were Fort Bragg (114%), Henderson Hall (108%), Macdill (107%), Langley (105%), Buckley (101%), Fort Dix (100%).

That’s ten branches total that made target last week – These guys are getting it done!!!

MADE TO MEASURE - QC on OASIS

You will have all seen my email in regards to making sure you complete the Garment Quality section on Oasis correctly when the garment comes in. Please make sure you take the time to complete this otherwise I can’t help you with fit & finish issues when they arise. There are only three sections to fill in and it will take you less than 5 minutes to do so.

BACK CHAT

Remember that your additions to this months “Back Chat” are required and should be sent to your CDM this week – Everyone needs to contribute something this week please…. It can be anything – Stories about customers, Sales stories, About work or not… Jokes….. anything!

ADD ON SALES

This was a topic that I touched on at the last sales conference. We know that it’s quieter in the stores this holiday season than in past ones, but there is a way you can increase your turn over – without having the customer flow. Remember that if we all sell just an extra shirt and tie to every customer that comes in and purchases a suit, we could make an extra $1.5 million this year! – That’s a lot of commission folks!

Good Luck this week everyone – Andy.

RED AND WHITE SALE CUBES

Within the delivery which left Goole for the USA last Friday and the deliveries leaving for Germany during the course of this week, we have despatched to all stores 2 bags of red and white SALE size cubes as per the picture below.

The cubes are to be used when you do not have red and white sale tickets on the garments and will allow you and your customers to easily identify sale suits by size.

We have also despatched 2008 diaries to all stores and plain black ties. For USA we have packed the black ties in polythene bags in an effort to keep them straight whilst in transit therefore when they arrive please excuse their packing.

PRE CHRISTMAS DELIVERIES READY TO WEAR

You will see allocations on OASys for your store this week which on some lines take you over your pars. This is to take into account the lack of deliveries which will occur between week’s 38 – 40 during the holiday period. We have predominantly allocated white shirts, overcoats and black suits and are hopeful that this will keep the sales going during this busy period.

MADE TO MEASURE DELIVERIES - CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS

Our Overseas factory will close for Christmas holidays on 19th December returning to work on 23rd December with no further closure.

The final delivery to leave the factory for both USA and Europe will be 17th December for pre-Christmas delivery (US customs permitting) and for USA deliveries will continue once the factory are back to work on 23rd.

Our Goole factory closes on Friday 21st December and there will be no further deliveries from the factory until Friday 4th January.