Green Certifier » Small Business http://GreenCertifier.com All About Green, Green Products, Articles, and Information Sun, 05 Feb 2012 05:14:41 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Retailing Tips: Get the Most Out of Earth Day http://GreenCertifier.com/251/retailing-tips-get-the-most-out-of-earth-day/ http://GreenCertifier.com/251/retailing-tips-get-the-most-out-of-earth-day/#comments Fri, 13 Jan 2012 21:41:55 +0000 Admin http://GreenCertifier.com/2009/10/retailing-tips-get-the-most-out-of-earth-day/

Try Out New Products and Eco-Friendly Activities

By Julie L. Jones

April 2008

Given the barrage of environmentally friendly product hitting the market, now is the perfect time to capitalize on “green” by celebrating Earth Day not only on April 22, but all month long. Aside from sporting earth tones and attaching seed packets to your business cards, what can you do? Read TDmonthly Magazine’s 12 tips below:

1. Notify Press Early. Contact local media in early- to mid-April and let them know your store is a source for kids to start thinking about being ecological ” and [has] toys and educational products that will reinforce this,” advised Jon Schallert, retail marketing consultant and president of The Schallert Group Inc.

2. Create a Special Section. “Thematically organize products that are green-oriented into a section of the store,” Schallert suggested. Products by Imagiplay and Uncle Skunkle Toys feature sustainable rubberwood, for example, and Kapla planks are made with wood from renewable pine forests.

3. Involve the Community “by having a wall of art from a local school with environmental messages,” suggested Executive Director Trish Poe of Kids For a Clean Environment. Doing so may encourage visits from kids who want to see their artwork on display.

4. Try a New Earth-Friendly Line. “I think [Ãœberstix] would be a nice product to bring in close to Earth Day,”Donna Frederick, manager and buyer for The Play House Toy Store in Durham, N.C., told TDmonthly. The company makes “scavenger” craft kits that encourage recycling.

5. Blog About It. In the weeks leading up to Earth Day, feature one eco-friendly toy a day ” on your blog, on your website, or in an email to customers. Not only do the press gather story ideas from blogs, Schallert told TDmonthly, but a blog immediately elevates you in search engine rankings.”

6. Become a Donation Post. “[Toy stores] could be a collection point for toys “gently used” and offer a percentage discount for items received per family,” Poe told TDmonthly. The toys can then be cleaned, disinfected and donated.

7. Help Customers Shop. “Create a shopping list of the top-50 green-oriented games and toys [you] sell,” Schallert recommended. “I’d teach every one of my sales people to put these lists in customers’ hands: Here are 50 toys we’ve highlighted around the store that are just great for teaching kids about ecology.”

8. Recruit an Expert. Bring in a schoolteacher or environmentalist to talk to your customers about steps they can take to help protect the environment. Have them award small prizes from your store to kids who answer questions correctly.

9. Partner With Manufacturers. See if any of the companies you work with are having special promotions. More than 150 retailers, for example, are participating in an in-store contest with Plan Toys’ Balancing Cactus Game, awarding prizes to players who balance the most branches.

10. Reinvent Your Window Display. Spotlight eco-friendly products and, on a sign next to them, indicate why they’re so designated. Or, build a dollhouse out of recycled soda cans. Get creative!

11. Teach a New Game. Children attending Earth Day festivals in major cities will learn to play Matter Group’s Xeko adventure game. What can you teach in your store?

12. Read About the Earth. Host a day with arts and crafts activities and a special story hour, Poe suggested. You can find a couple of earth-friendly book options in TDmonthly’s Eco-Friendly section, along with several other “green” products.

To read more, please visit: http://www.toydirectory.com/monthly/article.asp?id=3173

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]]> http://GreenCertifier.com/251/retailing-tips-get-the-most-out-of-earth-day/feed/ 0 Make your Dollarstore more Eco-Friendly http://GreenCertifier.com/212/make-your-dollarstore-more-eco-friendly/ http://GreenCertifier.com/212/make-your-dollarstore-more-eco-friendly/#comments Sun, 05 Jun 2011 14:58:52 +0000 Admin http://greencertifier.com/2009/06/make-your-dollarstore-more-eco-friendly/
eco friendly
Once you’ve opened a dollar store business you soon discover how huge the volume of product sold really is. You’ll be amazed at the number of items being sold on a daily basis. You’ll also be amazed at the amount of potential waste to be found in a dollarstore. Your challenge is determining what to do with all that excess material. You can take the time to sort and recycle or you can quickly and easily toss everything into the trash. This is a decision to make early on, and then to systematize into your business practices. In this article I present how to make your dollarstore more eco-friendly.

Make the goal of your dollar store business to eliminate waste. Start by donating shop-worn and damaged but usable items to a local charity. They will be thrilled to receive the items, the landfill will have less added, and you’ll be doing a good thing for your community. This does require a little sorting and handling, but you can quickly and easily train dollarstore employees to handle this work. As they become comfortable, they’ll take very little time to sort and box items for donation.

Donations of food and snacks are always appreciated by local food banks and other charities. Food management certainly does take more time and effort than just throwing away food items that can no longer be sold. However if this is managed on a daily and weekly basis, the workload is small. The rewards for helping to feed others who need the help now are immeasurable.

Recycle cardboard rather than just tossing it into the trash can. This is another task that requires a little work on a daily basis. However, your dollarstore is reducing its garbage bill while reducing the amount tossed into the landfill.

Recycle plastics whenever possible. You will soon discover it is a plastic world! Unfortunately plastic must also be sorted to locate those plastics which can be recycled. A little sorting means less garage, lower garbage bills and you are helping the environment. It’s truly a win-win-win for all.

Don’t forget the pallets your dollarstore merchandise arrives on. In some cases freight haulers will ask for exchange pallets. In other cases haulers will be happy to pay for the pallets. But there are other options for your dollar store business as well. Local pallet rebuilders will be happy to pay for rebuildable pallets. There are also often companies that offer free pickup of old pallets. While they generally don’t compensate, the pickup is free.

To your dollar store business success!

By: Bob Hamilton

About the Author:

Find out more about running your dollar store business.

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