Unique gift idea for man

Marc Winkelman knows a lot about retailing--1030 times over. That's about how many retail operations he has. His business, Calendar Club LLC, runs the gamut throughout the industry's product ranges and across the country. In addition, he's a pillar of accomplishment, professionalism and a classic gentleman.

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Calendar Club LLC is the parent of five operating concepts.

Calendar Club has more than 500 locations, in the United States, selling a broad selection of wall, desk, daily, pocket and other types of calendars. Some stores also feature related gift products. Calendar Club has kiosks in malls and other locations from September through January. It was created in1993.

Go! The Game Store consists of more than 300 locations selling traditional and contemporary board games, puzzles, and related items. Primarily seasonal, it has approximately twenty five locations now in operation.

"About six years ago, we were approached by a game retailer that operated both permanent and seasonal stores. They were having issues with the temporary side of the business and we formed a joint venture to expand the business together. The JV operated stores for two years and then the other partner was sold to a much larger entity. The buyer wanted to go his own way and bought us out of the JV. The following year, we both operated seasonal game stores. Another season or two went buy, the buyer was purchased by an even larger company, and they got out of the retail game business," Winkelman explains.

Christmas Corner and Christmas Clearance stores will fill 80 locations this season, featuring a broad array of products to decorate the home for the holidays. Ornaments, trees, figurines, table top, etc., from the leading vendors of Christmas merchandise, including Kurt Adler, Roman, Department 56, Midwest of Canon Falls, Sterling and Big Sky Carvers. Christmas Corner stores are generally found in regional and super-regional malls; Christmas Clearance (selling product at 50 percent or more off the retail price) is in factory outlet centers. Notes Winkelman, "We purchased Christmas Corner in 2000, a company which had operated as many as 40 holiday stores, primarily in the east. After the first year, the selling management left the company and we moved its operation to Austin."

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San Francisco Music Box Company has approximately 70 seasonal locations this season. "We acquired this company out of bankruptcy last summer. At one time, it operated more than 150 year-round stores, in major malls and tourist venues, throughout the country. Stores feature approximately 1,000 skus of musical giftware, most proprietary designs. SFMB is a licensee of Wizard of Oz, Gone With the Wind, Phantom of the Opera, Flower Fairies, Betty Boop, and others. We also wholesale SFMB products to approximately 2000 retail accounts in the U.S. and Canada, and maintain a showroom in America's Mart, Atlanta, GA.," Winkelman states.

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Calendars.com is a Web site, featuring more than 4,500 different calendars and related gift items. "It is the most comprehensive offering of calendars anywhere," Winkelman declares.

He adds, "In addition, with affiliated entities, we will operate almost 500 locations this season in Canada (Calendar Club and Go!), United Kingdom (Calendar Club). Australia (Calendar Club and Go!), New Zealand (Calendar Club), and Holland (Calendar Club)."

During the coming season, in the U.S., Calendar Club LLC will operate approximately 550 Calendar Club locations, about 60 percent of which will be kiosks; 70 Christmas Corner and Christmas Clearance stores, all of which will be storefronts; 70 San Francisco Music Box stores, all of which will be storefronts and 340 Go! The Game Store, about 60 percent of which will be kiosks.

Winkelman interjects, "While the total of the locations above is more than 1000, we'll actually operate approximately 900 unique locations. In some places, we operate 'combos,' stores featuring more than one product. A combo store might sell games and Christmas or even calendars."

Running seasonal stores carrying any number of products is a challenge-one Winkelman meets willingly. He comments, "In better malls, and with the choice of locations being equal, we'd prefer an inline for calendars and games. In an inline location, we can offer more products-both selection and depth. If we have more of what the customer wants--sometimes at the risk of offering too much selection--our sales will generally be enhanced. In some malls, the advantage of being right in the traffic flow, with a kiosk, is the way to go. In slower malls, an inline would also require more inventory (to fill the store) than perhaps makes sense."

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He adds, "Seasonal retailing makes a lot of sense since the idea is to be in the malls when the traffic is best. Prospective retailers should know that many mall landlords are concerned only about rising rental streams and may therefore not be loyal or supportive. If a new concept comes along that pays more rent, some landlords won't hesitate for a moment to replace you. Chose a product that isn't likely to attract a lot of competition and/or that offers a large margin."

On top of design trends, Winkelman's records shows that dogs, followed by sports and art are the best selling calendar subject categories. "Thomas Kinkade was our biggest calendar subject last year - in three or four different versions. The top 2005 dog calendars titles are Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers, Airedales, and Cairn Terriers. Planning calendars, particularly for moms, are also strong titles, e.g. Mom's Plan It (Avalanche), Mom's Family (Workman). Dilbert, Anne Geddes, Jeff Foxworthy, Far Side, Lord of the Rings, and the Simpsons are perennial bestsellers as well," he further explains.

The classics are the perennial favorites in the world of games themes, too. Variations of Monopoly, from the standard edition to Simpsons, I Love Lucy, states, cities, universities, are the top sellers. "A small, inexpensive dice game, called LCR Dice, is also very popular," declares Winkelman, "as are Dirty Minds, Friends Trivia, Cranium, Apples to Apples, Crazy Maze, Scene It, and many versions of chess."

Having seen the seasons come and go, Winkelman has well defined feelings about business. "The most dramatic negative is the occupancy expense in malls. Over the last five to six years, the cost of seasonal occupancy--rent plus extras--has risen 40-50 percent as a percentage of sales. The Christmas season has also contracted. Thanksgiving, while still an important date, is not nearly as dramatic. Now, the period from approximately December 10th through January 1st is 'make it or break it.' On the positive side for our businesses, malls no longer feature as many outlets for products other than fashion, shoes, and jewelry.

"Another negative is the training and expectation of customers. The department stores, primarily, have created an atmosphere in which customers wait for promotions. In the Christmas business, a number of them mark up specifically to mark down. Two weeks after they open, it seems, they're discounting 30 percent from their opening prices. Only then are they generally competitive with ours."

Looking forward, Winkelman professes, "I think it's almost impossible to predict what's coming during the next year. The media notwithstanding, I think the economy is substantially weaker than we'd like. For a while, retail was somewhat supported by lowered tax rates and refunds. For the average family, any advantage has now been offset by higher fuel expenses. Real income gains are generally non-existent, and many white collar employees laid off in the recession are having trouble finding comparable positions. As a result of the fuel price increases, we've been hearing about price increases overseas. Further, with the expiration of accelerated depreciation, business purchases are now lagging. Economic growth has slowed in recent quarters. As an observer of these trends, I am not optimistic. As a retailer, I'm always hopeful."

by Tony DeMasi, editor