Lesson #18: Once You Learn What Your Customers Want, Be Relentless in Pursuing New Opportunities to Keep Them Excited and Engaged

Unlike Cadillac Ace, seasonal played a big part of business at GAYNORS. When the store opened, back-to-school was featured. I made sure we had plenty of candy for Halloween. But for holiday, I thought cosmetic and fragrance gift sets would be all we needed. I couldn’t have been more wrong. In fact, I would learn quickly that our customers wanted the unexpected. That meant they wanted to buy stuff at GAYNORS that they would not find at other retailers.

Also, unlike Cadillac Ace, I was shocked to see so many babies and kids in the store. Ace never had babies or kids. Sure, we sold diapers (I had to follow Toys R Us and sell them at cost or below cost) but what did I know about babies and kids? Perhaps a little bit as I had my first baby boy in December 1981, hello Michael! I also knew that there was nothing worse than the sound of a crying baby (some things never change, right?).

My entrepreneurial mind went to work, and I did my research. Remember my first ACE Hardware trade show? I soon realized that there was a trade show for every industry. In fact, there was a trade show for trade shows! When I found out that there was an annual baby and kids show in Dallas, I hopped on a plane and checked it out.

OMG! It was just like the Ace show except it featured all baby and kids’ items from furniture to strollers to soft goods and accessories. Unlike the Ace show in which I knew so many brands, I knew none of them here. I never knew that there could be so many pacifiers, baby bottles, baby foods, toys, stuffed animals, and you name it. Sorting through the booths, I always kept in the back of my mind that my customers wanted the unexpected. That’s when I stopped at the Aprica Kassai booth. Founded in 1980, they made the best baby strollers in the world and were based in Japan. Their strollers sold for $200 and up. Back then, anything over $50 was a lot of money. GAYNORS was one of the first retailers to bring Aprica strollers in. They were an instant success.

The next booth of interest was Wee Sing. Don’t ask me why, but there was something about the music cassettes that caught my attention. Wee Sing made music exclusively for babies and little kids. How does an entrepreneur sell baby music? I put in a sound system in the baby aisle (I’m coming to that) and from open to close, I played Wee Sing cassettes. We sold more than two hundred a week.

Golden Books and Random House featured kids’ books. I bought an eight-foot fixture and filled it up with classics like Dr. Seuss, Pat The Cat, The Little Engine That Could, and hundreds of others. I was shocked to see how many books we sold.

I bought plenty of cool pacifiers, baby bottles, and opened an account with Gerber. They just launched their natural baby food line, and I was all in. The magic really began when I stopped at the Russ Berrie booth. His story was amazing as he started with $500 and an idea. The booth featured stuffed animals and the most adorable hanging mobiles. Mobiles hung over the crib and attracted the baby’s attention so the baby wouldn’t cry. I had to have one for Michael. I had the rep come to our store, and we picked out an amazing selection. How does an entrepreneur sell mobiles? I installed hanging grids in the baby aisle and lined the entire aisle with mobiles. We sold hundreds.

To make room for the baby section, I got rid of all the bulk cleaning products at the back of the store and converted it to baby and kids land. The proliferation of moms and babies grew exponentially and of course, mom tossed a whole lot of other products into the shopping cart.

One last thing I have to mention. Babies cry, and kids whine. How does an entrepreneur solve both problems? The local bagel factory sold teething bagels, and I bought them by the gross (that’s 144 if you are too young to know). Moms would instantly dart to the baby section and get their baby a teething bagel. It was amazing. Next to the bagels were a dispenser of Dum-Dum suckers. Both the bagels and suckers would need replenishment at least twice daily, and they were always complementary.

Now that the baby and kid stuff was taken care of, next came educational toys and games. I learned that the big toy show was in NYC, and when it opened, I was once again like a kid in a candy store. This show was different. It was in a skyscraper building and each floor featured manufacturer showrooms. Usually only open by appointment, they were all open during the show.

It’s here that I found so many cool brands of educational toys that were niche enough you couldn’t find them at Toys R Us. It is also where I found Selchow & Righter. In 1982, they licensed the game Trivial Pursuit. It was among the first niche board games invented and would soon start an entire new category of board games. Their focus was on gift stores, not mass merchandisers like Toys R Us. I brought in the original version in early 1983 and we quickly sold out. In fall 1983, they were going to launch their next version, Trivial Pursuit Baby Boomer edition. I knew this would be big so I allowed our customers to preorder the game and this guaranteed that they would be the first to have it. Unbelievably, we took more than a thousand orders. It would be Selchow’s & Righter’s biggest order for a single store.

Remember Cabbage Patch Kids in 1982? If you were around then, you never saw anything like it. I missed that craze but was first in line when Coleco launched Furskins in 1983.

Last story about toys. I only tell you all these stories because they are all relevant to being an entrepreneur and how they molded me over the years. Little Tikes was a huge brand known for its durable toys. Their big business was their outdoor sets like their treehouse, slide, and fort. In 1983, I launched the first Little Tikes Truckload Sale. Customers would place their preorders in April at the best prices and then the truckload would arrive right before Memorial Day in the parking lot. Each year we sold a full truckload!

My next reinvention focus was the gift category. GAYNORS would be known for having the newest, coolest, and most innovative gifts that other retailers did not have. Once again, I did my research and learned that there were gift shows throughout the United States. This was indeed a big business. I headed to Chicago and McCormick Place. It was the largest convention show in the country, and it was filled with gift show booths. I was overwhelmed. But it was so much fun.

The thing was, I didn’t want GAYNORS to resemble a Hallmark store, and I wanted the gift selection to be transitional because our customers wanted something new every time they shopped the store. Remember the Itty-Bitty Book Lite? Remember the Salton Shower Radio? These were the kinds of gifts I brought in, and they always sold out.

Life Lesson Tip: We always want to know what the latest restaurant is and to check it out. Why?

Human behavior. Humans love new things. What do the most successful restaurants offer their guests? Daily specials. Why? Because those are chef recommendations. When it comes to your business, think like a restauranter: How can you make your product or service stand out to keep customers excited and engaged?