A while back I wrote about our decision to create a secondary plush location in the middle of our stationery department. We needed to fill this gap until we made some other shop floor moves and to accommodate plush we could not fit into our plush department.
What was a stop-gap move has worked a treat. Sales from this spot in the photo have been excellent. Even the two rows down the bottom have been selling which is amazing given that we have these items in a spinner in the plush department.
The success of this spot is a reminder that breaking with rules and traditions is often good for business. It is also a reminder that shoppers do browse and purchase on impulse based on what they discover in-store. This spot is over half-way into the store and on the other side of the shop to our cards and gifts.
Footnote: Plush is now a separate department for us. We report on it separately and track its performance against key related departments – gifts and cards. What was once a seasonal focus is now key to our business plans for 2013 and beyond.