Company Blog
It’s Cool to be Cool
by Adam Zack — April 9, 2015
So have the words “cool” and “grocery store” ever been used in the same sentence? Unless it has to do with the ambient temperature of your store, or the way frozen food feels when the refrigeration system has been down for hours, then the answer is a definite no. And why is that? Can a grocery store, any grocery store, be considered cool? Of course it can, and there are some wonderful stores that embrace food trends, create cutting edge products, have a great rapport with their customers, where the cool people shop and hang out. Wouldn’t you want the cool people (and the warm people too) to be representing your brand by wearing your bitchen’ design on a t-shirt or hat? Carrying your reusable bag that gets peoples attention?
It never ceases to amaze me how some really cool restaurants, with their really cool shirts and hats turn around and charge $20 or $25 for them. Really, you don’t have to be a marketing professor to realize that more people are going to pay you to wear your logo around town for others to see if you sell it at a value price. A shirt that costs $5 tops (seriously) that people want to pay to wear, and you’re going to mark it up 400%? In-n-Out Burger gets it changing the design annually and selling them for about $10. Who wouldn’t pay $10 for a cool In-n-Out t-shirt?
So what does this rant have to do with you? Well let’s start with whether you are selling shirts, hats and reusable bags. If no, why not? If yes, proceed. Do they just have your stores logo on them, or are they creatively designed? Would someone you consider to be cool carry your bag with something other than your groceries in it? Would they wear your shirt or hat around town? Lastly, what are you charging for them? If it’s more than $3 over your cost you’re charging too much. Remember, people are walking advertisements for your store. Whether it’s word of mouth or visually, your customers are your unpaid public relations. Heck, we should be giving them free shirts to wear around!
Read More: More Cool
Filed Under: Company Blog
