Wednesday
Cary Towne Center
We met at Cary Towne Center Wednesday because their store
was falling far behind their goals and plan. We rearranged the floor according
to price points and different sales going on. The next week their business
jumped by 25%! Success!
Thursday
Crabtree Valley Mall
We spend Thursday with Megan Wakefield, the ASM (Area Sales Manager)
of Men’s Polo in Belk. We first started with the history of Belk and Ralph
Lauren, learning that Belk has four flagship locations; SouthPark mall
(Charlotte), Crabtree Valley Mall (Raleigh), The Summit (Birmingham), and
Phipps Plaza (Atlanta). We also learned that Belk is one of the last privately
owned retail chains in the country.
Megan then led us through all of the “numbers” behind the
company and Ralph Lauren. She reviewed how to read weekly/monthly/yearly sales
plans, as Cynthia had taught us. We were given a deeper explanation as to what “market
share” really means. The definition of market share, according to handouts that
Megan gave us, is “the percentage of an industry or market’s total sales that
is earned by a particular company over a specified time period. Market share is
calculated by taking the company’s sales over the period and dividing it by the
total sales of the industry over the same period.” Thus, the market share is a
good metric to give a general idea of the size of a company to its market and
it’s competitors. Belk at Crabtree competes with only one department
store, Macy’s. A company always wants to increase their market share and can do
so by appealing to larger demographics, lowering prices, or through
advertising.
Megan had us interns look at the Polo market share versus
the total store. There are a ton of numbers to intake but it’s easily broken up
on a spreadsheet which categorizes the information in different columns by
market share, the tier of Polo, the division it’s in, sales, gross margin, Key
items (BSR), market share MTD/YTD, and selling specialist/associate breakdowns.
Another piece of information Megan shared with us was the Merchandise, Location
and Assortment Planning spreadsheet which held information such as Sales
numbers, inventory levels, stock sales, gross receipts, etc. Then, we went back
to our familiar handy dandy spreadsheet of Belk’s Sales numbers that Cynthia
reviews with us each morning.
This is long winded, I know, but hang on tight!
FUN FACTS ABOUT
RALPH LAUREN BSR:
- · Stands for Basic Stock Replenishment
- · Represents 28% of the total Polo Ralph Lauren business for Belk for spring season
- · These items are ALWAYS carried, refilling automatically via computer generated order
- · These products are extremely dear to Ralph Lauren because they provide full profit margin (AKA, they never go on sale, so no money lost is money gained!)
- · #1 seller: S/S White Classic Mesh, Belk sold 5,300 units of this in 2010!
Megan wrapped up the day with a fun contest between us
interns, we drew questions out of a bag and answered them with the information
we learned that day! Great way to end the day! Thanks Megan!!!
Gina
…dying for more?
BSR FUN FACTS, round 2!
- · Mesh is 68% of total knit business
- · Custom fit mesh is 10% of total mesh business
- · Interlock 32% of total knit business
- · Tee’s are 12% of total buy (includes graphic tee’s)
- · Shorts 13% of the total buy
- · Oxford Woven shirts represent 21% of total buy
That’s all folks!
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