Here's a fellow who knows just a little bit about merchandising...
Headlined by the question "Can he really sell all things to all people?" we find Ralph Lauren and an article by John Brodie from Fortune Magazine.
This is truly a story of how to merchandise;
"Ralph Lauren was doing reconnaissance, lingering outside one of his stores watching customers. On this crisp fall Saturday afternoon a few years ago, he had driven one of his vintage cars from his estate in Katonah, N.Y., through the leafy back roads of Westchester County to the nearby town of New Canaan, Conn.
At the store Lauren made an observation that would add a new chapter to his legacy. The mothers were leaving with shopping bags, he noticed, but the daughters were exiting either empty-handed or with just a shirt for their dad or boyfriend."
Can you guess what his thoughts were?
There was a "demographic segment" evading his fashion empire!
Do you and I have the opportunity to think like this?
Actually we do...
You and I may not have the wherewithal to create an entirely new fashion line but the folks who ship merchandise into our stores have done that for us.
What we can do is observe our customers, talk to our customers, learn what they are looking for and where their interests lie, create lists then do some "clienteling" at an appropriate time in the future.
The Co. I work for has done such a good job of "training" their customers that the right time to "market" or clientele is a few days prior to an extra 30% off existing reduced merchandise.
And it works!
Some of that merchandise is Ralph's 
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