00:02.71
Toma
So if you joined us last week, you had gin tonics with me and Derrick snuggled up in Dallas. And it was such a good conversation that I'm actually having a continuation. So we have continuation part two with Derrick Ricketts, jet setter Derrick, who also happens to be one of my besties.
00:25.87
Toma
And as I stated in last week's episode, one of the unsung heroes of the Sintero design industry. And Derrick, in the last decade of knowing Derrick, I have watched how his mind works. And he is a freaking marketing genius. He works in sales. He doesn't work in marketing, but he's a marketing genius. And you have on the ground, real life, real life experience that In today's episode, I would like to dig into marketing, retail merchandising, social media, ah keeping it real, um and a variety of other subjects around this topic. So without further ado, I darey i welcome you, Derrick Ricketts.
01:10.87
Derrick Ricketts
Well, thanks. It's good to be here.
01:13.59
Toma
So you are the only guest I have had on back to back two sessions in a row. So you you hold a special place in the business of antiques podcast history.
01:24.76
Derrick Ricketts
Well, that's nice. I appreciate it.
01:27.28
Toma
No, so I started this out by saying that you're a marketing genius. And it's one of the things from the very first time we met, I realized you think holistically about a company. So just in case listeners haven't heard who you are and what you do, why don't you back up and kind of tell a bit about your experience throughout the industry in the design industry, just to recap, um so they understand the baseline from which you're coming.
01:55.77
Derrick Ricketts
Well, as I said in the last podcast, I started the business in 2001 as a temp for a showroom at the Dallas Market Center called Getz Incorporated. And I fell in love with it. I came back, did it a second time, and then I ended up moving to Houston. And at that time, another showroom had opened called Kadaris.
02:11.41
Derrick Ricketts
I became their first Houston rep covering the Houston territory um until about 2011 when I left to move back to Dallas to become the national sales manager for Aiden Gray. And that's where you and I met.
02:24.09
Derrick Ricketts
And then from there, I went to the Dallas Market Center as VP of leasing for home and design. I spent five years at Ann Gish as the national sales manager for them. And then for the past two years, I've been at Palachek doing the director of hospitality position and diving into more hospitality versus residential design.
02:42.52
Toma
Okay, bravo. Seriously, you've had an interesting and diverse career.
02:46.68
Toma
Like just as you've explored different sides of the business, it's been interesting kind of following along in your journey. um So where you know that most of my listeners are antique dealers or interior designers.
03:03.04
Toma
And if they're interior designers, they're probably designers who have an interest in someday starting a store. Now, one of the things that I consistently tell my clients, my listeners, my followers is that in this day and age, if you're going to sell antiques, a concept store is the best way to go. Not like a totally only, not a complete only an antique store, but having a mix of products that bring people in at a variety of price points. And I think
03:37.37
Toma
This is where your specialty lies in understanding the right mix of inventory. I've shopped around the world with you from Buenos Aires to Berlin, London and beyond. And you walk into a store and you always notice what works. So just talk to me about when you go into a retail shop or a furniture store, an antique store, antique mall, flea market,
04:07.32
Toma
Like, what has your experience been in what's working and what's not? And I know that's a vague question. so take it any direction you want to take it.
04:17.05
Derrick Ricketts
Well, I think the answer is diversification. If you have an antique store that only sells antiques and you're not doing things that are pick up and go items such as books or candles, you're missing on the easy low hanging fruit because not everybody can afford to buy an antique 18th century Gustavian buffet or a grandfather clock, but they can pick up a book about something or an antique or a small giftable. And then I think the next step into that is merchandising it. It has to look good in the store together and it has to be very layered. And by layering, you might have a console with books, with lamps, with candles on it that layer next to a seating chair, to a coffee table, to an end table, to a side table, so that it's something that somebody can visualize, whether it's a book or a candle or a chair in their own home.
05:04.25
Derrick Ricketts
And that's very important from a merchandising standpoint in order to make sure that you're turning and moving the product more frequently than just having it set there.
05:12.74
Toma
I think you're so right. And it's, you know, the other day you and I were at the Kipps Bay Showhouse and we were walking through the rooms and it's, I can visualize exactly the type of layering you're talking about simply by walking from one room to another.
05:29.08
Derrick Ricketts
Right, yeah. I mean, they they're those designers did a great example from, you know, it's not a true home. It was a show home and they layered and layered and layered and layered and layered. And I think I learned that from all the showroom setup that I did with Aiden Gray. And one of the things I learned there is this fabric is a great accent piece.
05:47.61
Derrick Ricketts
um When you have fabric, it softens up the space considerably. And I think when you can do more soft textures mixed in with hard lines and hard finishes, it just brings the whole story together.
05:59.54
Toma
Now, one of the things Aiden Gray did was they had this theme, I would say a red thread that was an orange thread that ran throughout the store.
06:00.43
Derrick Ricketts
I mean,
06:07.81
Toma
So Randall loved the color orange, Hermes orange.
06:11.41
Toma
And in fact, he once bought me an Hermes orange, an Hermes, oh, you cut up on me, sorry.
06:17.75
Derrick Ricketts
I said it was actually Home Depot Orange.
06:19.70
Toma
Home Depot orange. I called it Hermes orange. He bought me an Hermes makeup bag when we were traveling together because I kept losing my makeup bag. Anyway, one of the things that I always think about when I think about Aiden Gray, of course, they had a de defined aesthetic, but they also had this orange thread that ran throughout the store.
06:37.36
Toma
And I'm thinking about color and how color plays a part in establishing a brand or making making your brand visible.
06:48.50
Derrick Ricketts
Yeah, I would agree with you on that.
06:49.62
Derrick Ricketts
I mean, color is a big part of it. um People are very much drawn to the color blue. When I was in high school, I worked at a cookie store and they did a lot of diving into what color should their corporate logo be in.
07:00.02
Derrick Ricketts
And they found out that red is a motivating color for hunger. So that's why they chose red as their signature color. And that became the signature color throughout their packaging, their sales techniques and all of their sales materials that they did. I think it's all about finding a color that appeases everybody, not just your favorite color, because your favorite color somebody may not like. So it has to be a color that is universal in a certain way, but also stands out.
07:24.47
Toma
That makes sense. It's interesting. So it this also, this point about red making you hungry, the problem is red is my favorite color. So this explains so much. I'm like, red is my signature color.
07:36.98
Toma
It's my signature lip. I've got my signature lip on today. And I'm like, well, crap, that's the problem. I've been to surrounding myself with a red.
07:44.34
Derrick Ricketts
Maybe. Yeah.
07:47.38
Toma
um Maybe. On that note, I'm leaving here after our recording our podcast to go to my dad's new cafe to eat lunch, um so where where I'm going to have fried pickled spears. I'm enjoying being in Oklahoma for the month. um So where would you take this conversation next?
08:06.52
Toma
I'm driving this, but the reality is you have so much to
08:10.07
Derrick Ricketts
Well, let let let let's talk about and a great example of somebody who knows how to have a perfect eye for antiques and one of the kinds and then layering it in with a traditional retail store. And that's one of my dearest friends, Daniel Cuellar, who owns a beautiful store in Houston, Texas called Area. I think Daniel and his team are masters at really balancing one of the kinds with new product introductions, with good lines that are already coexisting in their constantly flipping that store. And Daniel runs his store from his cell phone.
08:46.90
Derrick Ricketts
He knows his designers. He knows his best customers. He's immediately sending them text messages of new product when it comes in. His goal is to sell that product by the time it hits the floor and it should only be on the on the floor for about a week. So I think what I learned from Daniel is know your customer base, know what they like, know what they're looking for, know what projects the designers are working on and what the designers have coming down the pipeline. that's crucial from a retail perspective and you've really got to know your customer base and know them better than they know themselves.
09:18.17
Toma
Yeah, know what they're going to want. And before they even say it, it's funny because with Antiques Diva, when a client comes in, they always give me like Pinterest board of inspiration images saying, this is what we're looking for on our upcoming buying trip.
09:33.35
Toma
And one of our jobs is looking at their Pinterest board of what they want, figuring out what we think we can find, what what we know we can find, what what's accessible and available, but also saying, kind of that algorithm of if they like this, they'll probably like that.
09:51.60
Toma
And they probably need that. And that's, that's an equation. And I mean, so you work in sales and so my sale technique, my selling technique is I just tell people, this is what I do.
10:05.54
Toma
This is who I am. This is what I do. And I let them come to me. I kind of have a let them, I kind of have a let them themselves approach. And it's worked for me for the last 20 years, but I don't like selling.
10:17.61
Toma
And I think you do. I think you're phenomenally good at it, but I think you actually enjoy it.
10:24.86
Derrick Ricketts
Well, you've been telling yourself that you're not good at sales for 20 years, but yet you have to sell yourself every single day. So you need to get that mantra out of your head. I was just speaking to a neighbor who is an engineer and he said, I'm moving over to the sales side and I'm very scared about it.
10:40.93
Derrick Ricketts
And I go, well, you're an extrovert and we have great conversations. You're an extrovert, Tama. It's all about conversations. It's knowing what your product is. It's knowing the features, the advantages, the benefits, and how to grab them with the product that you're selling them, whether it's an actual product or a service. Same thing, a long-term friend of mine who works for IBM for 25 years just recently wade into sales.
11:02.23
Derrick Ricketts
He was scared to death to do it. And I said, you already know the product line, you know the base of the company, you know how to have a conversation and talk about it. It's just taking an outline in your head of the topics you want to cover and then having them come out verbally. And guess what? He's adapted to sales extremely well.
11:18.71
Derrick Ricketts
People are afraid of sales because they hear quotas and they hear goals and they're afraid that they're not going to hit those. But if you throw that part of it out of the equation and just focus on talking about what you know, then you'll achieve your sales goal.
11:32.89
Toma
Mm-hmm. It's interesting. it's It's true. I mean, once you get in the zone of talking about your product, it's easy. But I know a lot of my clients are selling at Round Top and it's terrifying for them when they're sitting in their booth and people are walking through and they don't want to be too much. They don't want to be like in their face. They want to give And they're nervous starting conversations. And so I know it's something that my client base struggles with.
12:06.56
Derrick Ricketts
Well, that's interesting because the first thing you should always ask somebody when they come into your booth in Round Top is, hi, where are you from?
12:13.44
Toma
Ah, that's a good starting point. Absolutely.
12:15.77
Derrick Ricketts
Yeah. How's your day been going? What do you think of the Round Top area? Have you been to Round Top before? but What motivated you to come to Round Top? Why are you here?
12:24.73
Toma
oh my goodness, no.
12:24.98
Derrick Ricketts
And then from there...
12:26.46
Toma
Genius. You're getting straight to their why. You're getting to their why. Why are you there? And the second you know their why, you're able to figure out what's next in the conversation.
12:36.47
Derrick Ricketts
That's exactly right. I mean, if they say, I'm there to look for things for my store. Okay, well then you're in the same boat that I am. Let's have a conversation about that. I'm here to look for something for my house. Great. What does your house look like? What are you changing in your house? What's your current style? I mean, you have to ask very open-ended questions and people will answer the questions for you. If they don't, then move on to the next person.
12:58.97
Toma
You know, this is the thing that I have learned is people will answer almost any question. And I've learned I have to be careful even on my podcast what questions I ask because you I'm not careful, someone may actually answer the question that I ask.
13:07.74
Derrick Ricketts
Yeah.
13:12.07
Toma
Say, oh, crap, I didn't mean to answer that. One of the things that I always do when I'm at dinner parties, um and you'll remember this girl. I'm not going to say her name, but you came to a dinner party at my house in Berlin um You know who I'm talking about.
13:27.42
Toma
And the first night I met her at a dinner party in Berlin, she was sitting to the right of me and I said, I'm like, so we don't know each other. Tell me your deepest, darkest secret. And she did.
13:38.11
Toma
And she goes, well, I was at a sex club and I met him two nights ago and he's still with me.
13:44.53
Toma
And my face fell. I was like mortified, stunned, And I learned to always ask that question. And I asked that question to almost every new person I meet here, meet now, because people really do answer it. It's like the second you give them permission answer a question.
14:05.21
Toma
It was crazy.
14:07.19
Derrick Ricketts
Yeah, so since I'm now in the world of hospitality, I do a lot of presentations about Palecek to hospitality design firms. And usually you're in a big conference room. They're all sitting at a table.
14:18.02
Derrick Ricketts
They're probably not wanting to be there. So I've learned to start the conversation off by saying, we're going to play a game. And the game is a word association game. And I'm going to give you a word and I want to know the first thing that pops into your mind.
14:29.78
Derrick Ricketts
And the word is always this exact same word. It's Palachek. And people will tell me their perceptions of what Palachek is. It's woven. It's natural. They can tell me it's expensive. They can tell me it's coastal. They can tell me, you know, that it's outdoor.
14:42.39
Derrick Ricketts
But what I say to them at the end of the game is, is this gives me a baseline of what your perception of Palachek is all about. And hopefully by the end of our conversation, you'll learn some new things. And maybe that perception has changed into a different reality. of what we can offer to you in a hospitality perspective.
14:57.40
Derrick Ricketts
So again, it's asking questions and getting them engaged and they actually have fun and they start to talk among themselves and get more engaged in the conversation instead of just sitting there being, listening to a boring PowerPoint.
15:09.28
Toma
It's huge. It's a really amazing way of doing it. So what's your impression of Round Top? One word.
15:17.68
Derrick Ricketts
Mud, because every time I've been there, it's been rainy.
15:22.36
Toma
You know what my impression was when you said it? when before you said the word mud, when I asked you the question, what's your impression of Round Top? The first word that popped in my head was boots.
15:32.98
Toma
And so it's funny because boots and mud kind of go hand in hand. Paris. Paris flea market specifically.
15:40.41
Derrick Ricketts
Oh, treasures.
15:43.34
Toma
Swing.
15:43.43
Derrick Ricketts
Lots of treasures. Lots of treasures. Treasures everywhere. It's fun just to walk around there and just to see what, it's fun to sit back and watch what other people are looking at when they go into the stalls. um You know, that's always a lot of fun. And it's also fun because the majority of what you're seeing there is unique and one of a kind versus going into a retail store when you can see the same products um down the street.
16:06.18
Toma
No, that's incredible. What about Sweden?
16:07.86
Derrick Ricketts
Yeah. Oh, Sweden was one of the best trips. um I love going. there there was that one place we went into where this guy just had thousands of chairs in this old house and we were climbing over all of them and we were going into attics, but I much more I'm drawn. If I was doing antiques, I'd be much more drawn to the Swedish Gustavian look. I like that cleaner line, the softer color palettes. I think there's more interesting design situations there because it's a little bit of a less is more. So I feel it stands out more.
16:38.16
Toma
That makes sense. Yeah, it completely makes sense. One of the things that I think is interesting having you as a guest on this podcast, you've been on so many of our Antiques Diva tours. You've traveled.
16:51.50
Toma
You've traveled through, you know, my life, of course, on a personal level as a friend, but you've been thrown into work situations because I'm in Bali and I say, hey, I'm going to be in Bali, but we're starting a new tour.
17:03.14
Toma
ah you want to come along? And so you've been the first client on a lot of tours, but I when I've been working out kinks.
17:10.14
Toma
So what would you say, Bali.
17:14.84
Derrick Ricketts
uh Bali um detailed carvings um we saw a lot of wood carvings a lot of unique well you know Indonesia is known for its teak so that's the number one thing that you're going to go there for is teak and teak wood and carvings and i also liked all the color palettes that they had the color was very rich um but it still had a little bit of a subtlety to it
17:34.81
Toma
Yeah, it's funny because we, so Antiques Diva Asia virtually doesn't exist anymore. In theory, we do. In theory, we we can still service clients if we have them.
17:46.87
Toma
But post-pandemic, we had a hard time, a slow time getting Antiques Diva going, excuse me, Antiques Diva Asia going. um We had a slow time getting it going. Chiang Mai eventually took off, Bali took off.
17:59.48
Toma
And when the pandemic hit, It never really, businesses has never really come back post pandemic in Asia. But I do believe Bali specifically, Bali and Chiang Mai are the two best places for sourcing in Asia.
18:14.69
Derrick Ricketts
yeah yeah I would agree
18:15.42
Toma
like But it's the color palette in Bali that is so, it's like the Paris flea market of Asia.
18:24.80
Derrick Ricketts
yeah yeah very true very very true i agree with you on that and i don't think we got off the ground very much in the from an antiques perspective but just for an Asian country when we were in Cambodia i fell in love with cambodia
18:25.76
Toma
It's that similar experience.
18:39.47
Toma
Yeah. Yeah. it's Same for me. You know, I've been back several times and I'm leaving for Vietnam now in about two weeks.
18:45.36
Derrick Ricketts
I ah know
18:46.71
Toma
I want to loop back in our conversation. We kind of, just because of the word association, I was curious what you would pop up on some of these, but going back to marketing and retail merchandising and sales one of the things my clients struggle with is social media.
19:17.85
Toma
And you and I've had this conversation a million times about it there's perception versus reality.
19:23.65
Toma
We talked about that last time in the last episode of what people have put out there. And you know that I've taken an approach since 2020 to just say, okay, I'm authentic.
19:35.27
Toma
I'm showing up as my most authentic self, whether you can handle it or not. And I'm curious just what advice you would have for for our listeners and my clients.
19:51.96
Toma
They have small stores. They have small businesses. They need to show up on social media. And I think everyone has social media fatigue. I think every single one of my clients is social media exhausted.
20:06.35
Derrick Ricketts
Well, social media is boring because you see the same stuff over and over again. ah No matter what category, if you're watching a you're watching cooking that's coming up, it's something in a pan and it's something going in an oven. um If you're looking at people, most of the people are doing the same things and a lot of that things staged. retail, I think you have to make it fun and you have to make it different. ah There's a great store in Louisiana. um Her name's Erin and she does Eros Interiors.
20:33.56
Derrick Ricketts
And she jumps on the beds. She jumps on the sofas. She walks on her sofas. she does the you know she's got a very Southern style and her palette's very clean and she does a lot of drapery. You can always see her going and pulling her drapes back. and then letting them fall so that they have the perfect fall and the perfect thing.
20:50.14
Derrick Ricketts
So I think it's really thinking outside the box and just doing fun stuff. I mean, you can watch boring stuff all day long, but figure out a way to make it fun. Maybe have a pillow fight with some of your pillows in the store, or you know hide somebody in a closet and have them pop out with something, or you know interview a customer who comes in who made a large purchase and say, why did you shop here? And what was your customer service like? It's just make it different because you can see the same boring stuff every day. I was just watching it five minutes ago before I got on here. You know?
21:21.56
Toma
Yeah, and stay in order to stand out, you can't be posting the same content as all of your.
21:27.26
Derrick Ricketts
no you can't. You can't. It's gotta be different. it's just and it doesn't have to be like, Meaning you don't have to go out there and produce an iPhone movie on it, but just think outside the box. Think about what would make you stop and look at something when you're scrolling through your screen.
21:43.29
Derrick Ricketts
um That's gotta be the biggest key to doing it, I think.
21:48.06
Toma
Who are some of your people, favorite people to follow?
21:52.33
Derrick Ricketts
I don't know that's a good one off the top of my head because I actually bounce out a lot. ah
21:58.36
Toma
I know you you gave a good number of of people to follow. We're going to have to go back at the end of this and make a list so that we have a list for the listeners of all of you.
22:09.02
Derrick Ricketts
Okay, we can you do that.
22:10.18
Toma
I've been taking notes. But so from a retail destination standpoint, what do you think are, ah can you think of a retail shop that stands out to you?
22:23.83
Toma
as someone who's doing it right, maybe retail or wholesale, doesn't matter, just ah a shopping experience that our listeners could go to as a destination to learn.
22:36.06
Derrick Ricketts
ah Area in Houston, I think they set the bar.
22:39.45
Toma
Okay. And why?
22:40.60
Derrick Ricketts
Yeah. Well, because of what I mentioned, they're good at buying. They're good at doing a balance between new and antiques and one of a kinds. And they know their customer base and they know how to reset the floor um multiple times. It doesn't stay stagnant. Every time I've gone in there, the floor looks different. and I think that's another key selling point.
23:02.71
Toma
I think you hit the nail on the head.
23:04.55
Toma
One of the things that I always tell clients is they need to revamp their store, their antiques booth, their stall in a mall at least once a month and hold items off the floor that you're pulled items back from the container so that you can pull out new inventory, remove items from the store.
23:27.37
Toma
People are terrified. Dealers are terrified to remove items from the floor because they they're like, but if it's not out there, we're not going to sell it. But if it's not out there and someone has seen it, you can sometimes create like that sense of missing out and they walk into the store and it doesn't look the same.
23:43.09
Derrick Ricketts
Right.
23:45.95
Toma
So they know they have to buy because they know the items are moving.
23:50.07
Derrick Ricketts
Right, exactly right. Because anytime you walk into a big box retailer, you're seeing the exact same stuff on the floor that you saw a month ago. It hasn't changed. So a specialty retailer has got to be more advantageous in making sure that they flip it, change it.
24:02.32
Derrick Ricketts
Maybe if something's not selling, like you said, pull it off the floor, replenish it with something new, and then 30 days later, bring it back and put it in a different spot and see what happens.
24:10.81
Toma
Yeah.
24:10.87
Derrick Ricketts
And then within 90 days, if you're not selling it, mark it down and get it out.
24:15.19
Toma
Yeah. And you know, that's a controversial subject in the antiques realm. Some people never want to do sales. Other people have the let's clean out stagnant energy.
24:26.30
Toma
Let's move out the old items and out with the old and in with the new and getting back your cash because it does, I mean, you're so you're spending money simply by storing it in your store.
24:36.49
Toma
I mean, the warehouse itself.
24:36.72
Derrick Ricketts
Right, right, exactly.
24:39.13
Toma
What have you noticed about the flow of traffic when people come in? Because you've worked in a variety of showrooms and when you're setting up you're you're doing your retail merchandising, you're setting up your store Have you noticed anything about the flow of when people walk in the store, how they shop, what causes them to like, which direction they go or what causes them to stop and pause?
25:05.72
Toma
ah What, if there's anything that maybe could be a problem that you've noticed
25:12.58
Derrick Ricketts
Corners. Corners are a problem because you have a tendency to overlook a corner and the last gets shoved into the corner. So maybe when you're redoing your floor, start in a corner or start in the worst spot in the store and make that the most beautiful spot and build out from there.
25:29.18
Derrick Ricketts
um I've also found too that you know people are like animals, especially cows. If there's a path, you follow the path and you go down that path. So make sure that you're pointing them in the direction that you want them to go. So if you make this hidden jewel in the back of the store, make that path very accessible and easy for them to find.
25:46.07
Derrick Ricketts
um I think that you always do your best presentations in the front, which you should do, but it needs to continue all the way through to the back. So that's why I would suggest starting in the back and pulling it forward.
25:57.02
Derrick Ricketts
Because by the time you get to the back of the store, your energy and your creative juices are depleted.
26:02.20
Toma
It's, it's smart. And even, I wonder if it's something that you rotate and one time you do the back of the store first and one time you do the front of the store first. I mean, maybe, maybe that's a way of, of keeping it, keeping it fresh.
26:16.03
Derrick Ricketts
Yeah, that's easy to do. and I think that's a great idea. Yeah, that's your challenge, everyone. One month you start at the back, the next month you start at the front.
26:23.59
Toma
Yeah, I think it's a good challenge for this one. Okay, we've talked about social media a little bit. We've talked about retail merchandising. I want to talk about thinking out of the box. So in the last episode, we told about how you had the idea to bring Diane Keaton 'With the House That Pinterest Built' to Dallas Market Center. And it was a totally out of the box idea. um I think event marketing has big advantages. So I would just like to think about event marketing and um just exploring out-of-the-box marketing ideas.
27:09.18
Derrick Ricketts
Well, I mean, so one of the things that's been interesting about being on the hospitality side of the business is hospitality is a long game, meaning it could take 18 months to two years to get a purchase order from the time you got part of the project to the end of it. So it's a lot more presentations and it's a lot more, as I call, whining and dining.
27:27.64
Derrick Ricketts
So I partnered with my local reps here in Dallas and we have a trolley system that runs from uptown Dallas to downtown Dallas. It's about one hour to go through the entire track. And I said,
27:39.29
Derrick Ricketts
you know you can rent those cars. So we looked into it. We rented the trolley car for two hours. We invited about 25 to 30 hospitality designers and purchasing agents. We had pizza on the trolley car. ah One of the reps was really good at making batch cocktails. So we made a couple of batch cocktails on there. And then we had a let's make a deal game where we asked trivia questions about Palecek and another co-sponsoring ah partner that we had on board. And we rode around for two hours throughout downtown and uptown Dallas. And they had a great time. They had a fantastic time and they're still talking about it. um So we're trying to come up with other things that we can do.
28:14.64
Derrick Ricketts
Maybe go to Topgolf, maybe do a pickleball tournament. I mean, some of these don't apply to a retail aspect, but also I think sometimes people want to get completely out of that and have different conversations. um You know, things you could do for a ah a customer appreciation. oh, oh. So what we did Aiden Gray owned a retail store called Gray Living in McKinney, Texas.
28:34.81
Derrick Ricketts
And leading up to the holidays in December, we sent out an email saying we're going to have a closed event that is invitation only. It is a VIP event where everything in the store will be 35% from until Well, it wasn't really a closed event. We just wanted to see how many people would register for it. I think we got over 100 who registered it. And then we said the event was closed and we had a great night of sales. So that was something easy to do. Another thing I did at Aiden Gray, we were coming to the close of our fiscal year in a leap year when we were actually at February 29th. And I got an idea from JetBlue, who for that one day $29 fares. So we did
29:19.03
Derrick Ricketts
a one-day only sale on February 29th where all inventory was 29% off. It was huge. It was unbelievable. We cleared the inventory we needed to to clear, and it was only on in-stock items. So if it wasn't in stock, they couldn't buy it um because our goal was to clear inventory out to make sure that we hit our goals for the end of the year. So that was one way we did it as well too. Sometimes you get your ideas from seeing what other people are doing. I mean, there's nothing wrong with that. That's that's one of the best ways to get ideas.
29:48.86
Toma
No, it's one of the things that I think you should be looking at what your competitors are doing.
29:55.13
Toma
And it's ah it's a hard mix because I I don't like focusing on my competitors. I like focusing on where I'm going. But if I understand what my competitors are doing, i also understand like what what I can be doing or maybe what I can be doing better or knowing knowing where to compete or saying, you know what, I can't compete in that.
30:16.73
Toma
I'm not even going to try on that particular category.
30:18.55
Derrick Ricketts
Right. And, you know, I think book signings are another good thing too, especially if it's somebody who really has a draw potential. You're not always going to find somebody at the level of Diane Keaton, but shockingly, her fee was not that expensive. You know, it was, it was very affordable depending upon the size of what you're doing and everything and her expenses weren't that bad either.
30:38.62
Derrick Ricketts
I just got very lucky with it. But you know, there's always somebody wanting to promote a book. So how do you figure out how you parlay that into something else, you know, and if if it's a book about a destination, maybe you work with somebody and partner to give away a trip to that destination, or maybe give a private consultation if it's somebody like a Ray Booth who's out promoting a new book right now.
30:58.51
Derrick Ricketts
um Maybe you get a consultation with him or something like that for one hour. I mean, there's there's lots of different ways you can put things together if you really think about it.
31:06.58
Toma
Yeah. Well, and I think one of the things that I think is important is brainstorming on how do you compete without it being on price? Meaning that when you're holding a promotion, what are the ways you can hold a promotion that's not a price-based promotion? Because it's it's easy to dangle a discount. And I really like the leap year idea. I'm curious when the next one is, but thinking what are the ways you can add an added value? That's not a price based. ah
31:41.13
Toma
It's not training your buyers to wait for a sale.
31:47.68
Toma
That's always my fear with giving discounts is someone may come in and not buy because, Well, I know they always do a sell in January, so I'm going to see if it's still here in January.
31:57.72
Toma
So it's like, what are those ideas that you can be percolating on that are not driven by discounts?
32:04.66
Derrick Ricketts
Well, I think throughout the entire year, you know the saying in real estate is location, location, location. And I think in our business, it's customer service, customer service, customer service.
32:16.47
Derrick Ricketts
No matter who walked through that door, you greet them, you treat them with respect.
32:20.76
Derrick Ricketts
You somehow build a personal connection with them. They may not buy something today, but if they keep coming back, eventually they will. um And that's how you build a great clientele. It's all about giving the best customer service that you can. The added values are simply a smile, um simply saying, if you've never been in, here's something new. If you've never been in why did you come in? um you know and it's always fine to say, I'll let you look around the store and if you need something, let me know. And then you can pop back in and say, hey, did you see this over here? you know there's there's a lot of different ways that you can do it. But I believe in customer service is what brings people back time and time again, no matter what the industry is.
33:00.79
Toma
Agreed. So yesterday i did a Substack article ah for the Business of Antiques Substack. I did a Substack article called Gratitude Marketing. And of course, we're the week of Thanksgiving.
33:12.38
Toma
So it was an appropriate theme. and of course, I was saying thanks for the memories. I actually sang on video, by the way.
33:20.06
Toma
Um, Even more, I sang, just called to say I love you. Yeah, with the dancing involved. ah You may want to go over to the Business of Antiques Substack and watch that.
33:32.07
Toma
You have blackmail material for years. Anyway, I did this post called Gratitude Marketing. And of course, I was giving my own thanks. But more than that, I was talking about people.
33:44.73
Toma
So first of all, people buy from people. They don't buy from businesses. And that's, I think the number one thing in our industry is you hit it on, you hit the nail on the head with customer service, but people buy from people that give them good customer service, but people buy from people that make them feel valued as human beings, that they trust.
34:08.80
Toma
that That's the key word. And trust. It's like, what are those things that you can do to build trust? And, w ith antiques, it's a very important category because you have most people who are coming in to buy an 18th century Rococo chair don't necessarily know if it's Rococo period or if it's in the style of.
34:35.64
Toma
And there's a big price difference between the two. So a lot of a lot of sales and antiques come down more to trust than I think even in other sectors of the design industry.
34:49.07
Derrick Ricketts
Yeah, no, I would agree with you on that.
34:51.51
Toma
it makes sense.
34:53.30
Derrick Ricketts
Yeah, it does.
34:53.75
Toma
I just heard your doggy, by the way. Okay.
34:55.48
Derrick Ricketts
Oh, yeah. They're getting a little rowdy. Yes, they need it.
34:58.28
Toma
Well, we, we will wrap up here. We'll, we'll bring this to a close because I'm certain you're going to have to take Remy and Ryder for a walk. I did find an amazing brand yesterday that you're going to be getting as a future hosting gift.
35:12.84
Toma
I think it was called Lone Wolf. I need to look it up. They make, you can Google this. They make dog baguettes as toys and they have the cutest advertising. And I do think using your dogs in marketing is actually a really amazing way of
35:39.58
Toma
a lot of my clients don't want to show up with photos of themselves on social media. They want to keep private
35:44.42
Derrick Ricketts
I totally agree.
35:45.69
Toma
And I said like they're like, I want this to be about my business. But you go back to this. People do business with people, not with businesses.
35:52.47
Toma
But if you don't want to show your face, how do you sell how do you sell without um how do you sell without showing your face? And I do think showing the face of your dog is a really smart way of doing it.
36:07.68
Toma
You look at Lolo Antique.
36:08.73
Derrick Ricketts
I agree i totally agree yeah Because especially if they're dogs that are in the store, then people come to see them.
36:15.38
Toma
Yeah, they form a relationship with your animals.
36:19.60
Derrick Ricketts
Right.
36:20.41
Toma
So.
36:20.95
Derrick Ricketts
I mean, people in the neighborhood don't know me. They know Remy and Ryder.
36:24.28
Toma
Exactly. I have a suspicion they know you, too. You're pretty memorable.
36:29.32
Toma
OK, as we close, what would be your parting advice for our listeners? Again, keeping in mind that they're probably a store owner or wanting to start a store.
36:42.41
Derrick Ricketts
Don't take it too seriously. Have a good game plan and constantly change it up. Make it fresh, inviting, and invigorating so that people want to return more often.
36:54.56
Toma
I think that summarizes it quite nicely. And you have taken million Antiques Diva tours over the years. What would you say is the main benefit of taking an Antiques Diva tour?
37:10.07
Derrick Ricketts
Inspiration. I mean, inspiration because i don't know, it's kind of fun just to see things. Like I said, I have a vivid memory of climbing over stacks of chairs in an attic in Sweden, and it's one of my best memories.
37:24.02
Derrick Ricketts
And then you go to the Paris flea market and you see something that's much more curated. And then you go to Bali or we go to Chiang Mai and you see things that are a little bit more relaxed. So I think if there's a way to combine those, you can really make a great aesthetic in your own store. It's harnessing the power of what you got excited when you purchased the piece on a buying trip and how do you replicate that into your own environment.
37:51.13
Toma
And take a million pictures because when you go home, you're going to use those photos to help you relive and revive that moment.
37:59.81
Derrick Ricketts
Yeah, that's exactly well just like that photo I saw of your place in County where you have the powered paints in there in the jars. I mean, that's a great way to do a display.
38:09.14
Toma
I think it was a genius idea because my total out of my total out of pocket expense to fill that enormous, enormous bookshelf. I mean, this bookshelf is crazy. ah But my total out-of-pocket expense was about 150 euro. And it has total Instagrammable. has a totally Instagrammable effect.
38:33.86
Derrick Ricketts
Yeah, that's exactly right. And it was simple and it was easy to do.
38:36.76
Toma
Yep, simple, easy, cheap. We love all of those things. And speaking of love, I love you. Thank you so much for taking the time to here.
38:44.28
Derrick Ricketts
It was great to be here. Thank you. I appreciate it
38:46.58
Toma
I appreciate it. Okay. So tell everyone how they can find you.
38:51.48
Derrick Ricketts
um While I'm on Instagram is Jet Setter Derrick.
38:51.58
Toma
on its follow Jet Setter, Derrick, or potentially the Palecek showroom as well. I would imagine.
39:02.36
Derrick Ricketts
Sometimes, yeah. Sometimes I am there, so it just depends.
39:04.88
Derrick Ricketts
But I travel a lot, so you never know where you'll find me.
39:07.83
Toma
can imagine. Okay. Love you. Thank you for being here and listeners. Happy Thanksgiving. Thank you for taking the time to listen to our podcast. if you enjoy If you enjoy these episodes, do me a favor.
39:21.91
Toma
Go in, leave a review on Apple, Spotify, Audible, wherever you're listening to the Business of Antiques. We always appreciate a view review. Thank you so much and talk to you later, Derrick.
39:35.42
Toma
ah Wait, wait, wait.
39:35.71
Derrick Ricketts
Okay, see you soon.
39:36.38
Toma
Hold on.
39:36.61
Derrick Ricketts
Wait.
39:37.24
Toma
Wait. We can't say goodbye yet because next week is your birthday. So the moment this podcast is dropping is also Derrick's birthday.
39:41.83
Derrick Ricketts
Oh, yeah.
39:45.06
Toma
So if you're listening and you want to go wish him a happy birthday, you can leave a message at to JetsetterDerrick on Instagram to say happy birthday.
39:53.94
Toma
And I'm going to tell you he's one year away from a very significant birthday. It won't make me
39:58.90
Derrick Ricketts
yeah we won't say which one
40:02.74
Toma
I did not out you on that. Okay. Love you. Talk to you later.
40:05.68
Derrick Ricketts
Okay, well, thank you. I appreciate that.
40:06.64
Toma
Bye. Ciao. Ciao.
40:08.15
Derrick Ricketts
right. I'll see you soon. Bye.