PLATO'S CLOSET: PACIFICA - SAN MATEO - MONTEREY, CA
Owner: Marcie Shaw Webster, discusses her Winmark journey
1. How did you come to own a Winmark franchise? What did you do prior to owning a Winmark franchise?
I have always had a dream of owning my own business. Actually, I did own my own business right out of college - a smoothie bar. But something I realized in that experience is that if you're going to own your own business, it might as well be something that you love because you'll be immersed in it 24/7. I also came to realize that perhaps before owning my own business, I should learn the ropes on someone else's dime first. I thought to myself: I love clothes and shopping, so I dove headfirst into clothing retail. Over the years, I held positions ranging from Store Manager to Director of Store Operations for Pottery Barn, Williams-Sonoma, and The North Face. After 20 years of corporate, I was ready to go out on my own. A simple Google search yielded Plato's Closet Pacifica and within about 2 months, I had the keys. That was 2018, and I now own 3 Plato's Closet locations and have never been happier than I am now in my career.
2. What is one thing you know now that you wish you had known when you first opened your store?
All my stores have been transfer locations, so I'll tell you what I wish I knew before acquiring an existing store. One thing that I wish I knew before was how important it is to move on from dead inventory. There are certain things in our merchandise selection that no matter what you do, won't sell and it's better just to cut bait and move on. Also, I can't understate how important it is not just to buy, but to buy right. When you start you think just buy-buy-buy and have no idea the intricacies of what will/won't sell. The sooner we learn this, the more profitably our stores will run.
3. Have you implemented any new tactics to keep your staff motivated and to help with employee retention?
100% we have. My entire role at this point as an owner is staff retention. I think it's important to mix it up and keep the lines of communication wide open. I try not to wait until someone asks for a raise, I get ahead of it. If I think that there is an employee who I would hate to lose, I try to preempt them and give them a nice raise before they even ask. I remember losing someone who I did not want to lose back in 2020, and I did a deep dive exit interview with them. One thing he said that has stuck with me was that he didn't really know where he stood. I have taken this as a huge corrective action for myself. Just because I think someone knows what they mean to me and the business, they probably don't and it's always better to err on the side of over-communicating it vs. under-communicating. So, it's not just money - money is important, but words of encouragement, responding to their requests, ensuring everyone has a break, investing in training, sending surprise and delight treats and those types of things also keep our folks engaged and knowing that I care about them as people and not just as people doing a job.
One thing that has been new for us is that we have started giving out store credit bonuses any time we hit our sales goal for the week. I do weekly goals that are calculated each month based on my budget. The store credits are $20 per employee, and everyone gets really excited when they start earning those. Have I felt it in my profitability or margin? Nope. Since we started doing them, we are now hitting our 2023 budgets so I'm going to venture to say it's working.
4. How has the partnership with JMM benefited your business?
JMM has been a godsend for us. I used to do all my own marketing (which was a full-time job in itself). I have also used another competitor of JMM and was not satisfied. Since I moved to JMM, I have felt confident that they have my back, and I can really focus on what I spoke to above - employee retention! So as an owner, I am no longer having to worry about what ads are running and what emails need to be built out, and what's happening with the web - they take care of all of that. Also, JMM seems to be the only agency who can deliver on all the platforms where we know Gen Z and Gen Alpha are actually using - TikTok, Snapchat, Streaming Audio, and our old fave Instagram. Anyone who knows teens knows they aren't spending the same amount of time they did in the past on Instagram, so if we aren't on those other platforms, we are missing a huge chunk of our core customers So the #1 reason I moved to JMM was because they are able to deliver TikTok ads. The other thing I love about working with them is that they understand the style of my stores. We are going for an Urban Outfitters vibe, and they picked up on that right away and have done a great job delivering short-form video assets that speak more to our core consumer. Since the shift to JMM, our sales trends went from good to great. We are seeing huge double-digit increases in sales, customer count, and buy count. Lastly, I'll say that working with JMM has also been a fun experience, Terri is great - her follow-up skills are on point, she's flexible, creative and at the end of the day she really gets the job done.
