Issue 47/08

Friday, 29th February 2008

Only 5 weeks left to go! Where will your branch be at the end of week 52? Up or down? Last week was a quiet week but it certainly picked up speed once the weekend hit. One branch in particular had a “Crazy” Saturday and hit record highs, whilst others struggled to get off the starting blocks [Andy Schofield, USA]

California Fires

USA - Notes from Andy Schofield

Only 5 weeks left to go! Where will your branch be at the end of week 52? Up or down? Last week was a quiet week but it certainly picked up speed once the weekend hit. One branch in particular had a “Crazy” Saturday and hit record highs, whilst others struggled to get off the starting blocks.

Made to Measure continues to trade strong, finishing the week 163% above target. Thanks to one of your team mates Steve Hill from Belvoir who managed to pull $8,000 from one customer… who originally only wanted to buy two suits!! (Now that’s selling guys!). This was a good result and we also closed higher than last years numbers by 117% too…. Well done everyone – REMEMBER – 50% OFF STARTS SATURDAY (last one chance!)

Ready Made performed lower than expected and is probably due to the decreasing stock sizes and many customers still waiting for their tax returns. Keep plugging away at your RMs, make sure you have them tidy and ticketed at the front of the department. The stocktake has been completed in record time in the warehouse this year and the two new containers are already unloaded, hung and in pick – again, this is ahead of last year and I am confident this will help us in the coming weeks. Look for new ranges touching down this week / next week and have them prominently displayed in your branch.

Note: There’s a “TOP TIP” below in regards to this….

Week 47 - Star Players

  • FORT BELVOIR – From out of nowhere this week and quote “All on my lonesome” Steve rocked the foundation of the area Made to Measure target with over $13,200 in measure sales this week. The area target was $14,800 so you can see thanks to Steve we made target! With over $6,800 on Ready Made, Steve made the $20K CLUB by the weekend.

    An amazing result Steve and some good old fashioned “Selling” on Saturday…. Steve would have been ably assisted by Nathan on Saturday but due to a cold, called off sick. Steve pulled up the slack and “Let ‘em have it” with a record result… just in time for the end of the year. Well done Steve…. What a star player, he didn’t even get a break or lunch
  • FORT BRAGG – This result would normally have Adelle in the top spot in any other week. But as it goes, Bragg is in second with 123% of combined target achieved. Adelle made target this week at Fort Bragg and is only $19,500 away from hitting a Grade “B” branch!! When asked if she thinks she’ll be able to hit the grade, “Not a problem, I can do that!” was the confident reply…. And you know what? I believe she can and will!
  • FORT LEWIS – Wanting to leave the week on a high note, before he starts his European vacation (That’s going to cost him more as of today, the dollar to the pound just fell again!) Dave also had a rip roaring weekend and closed with 118% against target and even better 231% over last year. Well done Dave, enjoy your time in Blighty.
  • FORT CARSON – Mr. “Tips” managed to go above and beyond this week with 115% of target and 125% of last year. Paul has been struggling lately with some bad weather over there in the Rockies. It’s not easy driving the hour or so covering Buckley and Fort Carson, but he made it work this week….. here at least. Good job Paul.

An Honorable mention this week goes to Fort Dix who was the only other branch to make target. Not letting us or herself down this week to keep her track record of hitting target weekly, Nicky managed to pull 102% above target out of the bag with some good old fashioned hard work before close of business Sunday. Fort Dix is only $20,000 away from making the grade to a “B” and Nicky is sure she will be able to hit that magic number of $201,000 before week 52…. Go Nicky, GO!!

PAUL'S TIP CORNER

My request fell on deaf ears last week, asking for a Tip from someone else…. No one want to give their secrets away??

One staff member did however come up with an idea to share with the team and one which I know the Senior Managers used to do (I remember myself doing this one in Bethesda)….. Drew from McChord / Relief fame says:

“AAFES stocks many of the popular style-related magazines in their Book Department – Esquire, GQ, Men’s Vogue, Details, etc. Throughout these magazines, many great suit-shirt-tie combinations are featured which can be emulated directly with our own merchandise (see for example, this month’s edition of GQ, pg. 154 which is emulated easily by using 466MJ, our lilac shirt, and a brown belt and shoes). Mannequins dressed to resemble these looks could be set up in a display alongside the magazine. As fashion is always changing, it also offers us (the Branch Manager) a chance to “brush up” on new and/or seasonal looks.”

Another TOP TIP this week from yours truly, but one that has been supplied in the past by Paul:

“Use your “WORD” program to make up signs that promote your “NEW ARRIVALS” or “SPRING / SUMMER” ranges when they arrive. Alternatively, ask your VM department to make some signs and get sign holders from them. Use bright, pastel colours for the shirts and ties to make them “Pop!”

The count down is on….. 5 weeks to go… Where will your branch be??

Andy Schofield

Made to Measure Price List

As per the email received this week, the made to measure price list will be amended on OASys at close of business today so all orders taken tomorrow must reflect this price otherwise OASys will not allow you to input an order.

Alexandre London's Heritage

The founder of the Alexandre London brand “Jack Lyons” died last week aged 92 in Switzerland. Below is an excerpt from his obituary in the Guardian newspaper from February 20th 2008 which attributes him to the reason why we are all working here today.

Jack Lyons was the son of a Leeds businessman who had built up the Alexandre Menswear business into a chain of stores backed by it’s own factories. After going to Leeds Grammar School for 3 years in 1932 he was put to work for three months in the cutting room of one of the factories. He left the factory in 1938 and moved to Canada to study retailing where he met his wife and married.

Alexandre merged with United Drapery Stores in 1954, Lyons joined the UDS board, chaired by his elder brother Bernard and remained a Director until 1980 when he became a consultant.

Isidore Jack Lyons born February 1 1916 died February 18 2008.

The above underpins the heritage that we have as a brand and I hope that you found it interesting.

Europe - Notes from John Collins

So how did we do this week?

WEEK 47

Europe Sales LY Target Actual % Target LY %
Made to Measure 8,480 6,359 4,001 63% 47%
Ready to Wear 43,759 50,728 36,020 71% 82%
Total Week 52,239 57,087 40,021 70% 77%

Oh dear what happened this week, as you can see for yourselves it does not make for good reading as it was not very good at all, especially as our mtm target was lower than last year’s actual trade. Only two branches beat their target. One of them will be very happy indeed, as this made him the top branch instead of the eternal second.

It was a difficult week around the area with all branches reporting very little footfall in the stores earlier in the week despite the holiday Monday, we saw better customer flow at the weekend which helped, but did not make up for the slower start to the week. After the long weekend there was a lot less money around but with payday around the corner and tax returns coming in people should start to have more money to spend on the finer things in life.

I have sent to you all an email that Andy sent to his stores with a great piece of POS for the 50% off sale that starts soon. As requested in the email please ask your Store Manager if they can put it on their buddy list and tell them that we have RM’s on sale as well, give them the lowest price you have and say “starting from”. The more people know that we have suit reduced the better.

So how did the individual branches do? Who is the number one branch?

  • No 1 Stuttgart: Vince Blackett 122% of combined targets and 124% on last year. Well done Vince you made it to the number one spot. It may have not been the best week you have had lately but it was the area’s best this week. Perseverance pays off.
  • No 2 Heidelberg: Alan Self 112% of combined targets and 124% of last year. So the top two have been reversed this week. Well done. Alan made it into the top five once again. These were the only two branches to beat their targets this week.
  • No 3 Wiesbaden: Geoff and Rob 83% of combined targets. Although target was not beaten a good job from Geoff and Rob.
  • No 4 Mannheim: Geoff Heath 82% of combined target again below target but 111% of last year. Thanks once again Geoff for doing a good job while the Branch Manager is away.
  • No 5 Schweinfurt: Dave Tindell 83% of combined target. Well done Dave with $4684 of trade, not a bad week in fact it was more than the previous year’s trade in Wurzburg.

I know it can be very frustrating when it is slow, so take advantage of the slower times to bring our house in order. Keep checking the swinger tickets and check that all garments are correctly labelled and that all sale garments have the red swinger tickets - let the customers know what is on sale even when we are not there. Keep the garments neat and tidy in between customers – time does go quicker when you are doing things.

Well done. Let us make this week that much better.

TIP: Use the Aafes “Manager Buddy List” for ALL promotions. AAFES also need to find things to keep their customers informed of what is happening in their stores.

Thank you, good luck, and good trading.

John Collins, ASM