Overview
Lakeland Antique Mall is a premier destination for antique enthusiasts and collectors located in the heart of Lakeland, Florida. With a rich and diverse selection of vintage items, collectibles, and memorabilia, this establishment has become a cherished hub for those with a passion for history and nostalgia.
The Objective
Lakeland Antique Mall needed a vendor mall POS and inventory solution in order to reopen the store and streamline its sales.
The Challenge
Lakeland Antique Mall was once a golden opportunity for its owners, but in 2019, the business went bankrupt two years after opening. The state seized the computers and padlocked the place. It seemed like the end of the road for the staff and the store for weeks. Then, a miracle happened.
The building owner unexpectedly reached out with an offer to reopen the antique mall. However, the owner had one condition: the previous team had to return to work. The team members were happy to return but faced a challenging task. They needed to open the store by Black Friday, which meant they had to enter every single item from the previous business' leftover merchandise into a brand-new computer system. It was a daunting task, with thousands of inventory items, but they were determined to make it happen.
The Solution
Thanks to SimpleConsign, Lakeland Antique Mall successfully migrated over 100 vendors with 100,000+ inventory items into their new system. As a result, the team was able to sell its existing merchandise, which was still tagged, on opening day.
Switching to SimpleConsign gave them other advantages, such as:
- Vendors have real-time access to their sales reports, so they always know where they are financially and which inventory items need restocking.
- The store has advanced reporting to see which vendor booths need improving.
- Barcoded items allowed them to sell more to a larger audience in a shorter period.
The Results
According to Phil Evans, Lakeland Antique Mall's manager, everything has sped up since the store moved to SimpleConsign.
"Before SimpleConsign, we might have done $6,000 on a busy Saturday. Now we do $32,000. So we have quadrupled our business since the system has gone in."
Evans explained the features that contributed to their success, highlighting the difference in reporting. According to Evans, "The old system gave us some reports... but with SimpleConsign, I can accomplish in 20 seconds what it would have taken me a week of spare time to do."
"The old system gave us sales reports, but to notify vendors, we had to go in and cut and paste their sales and then email people. We had about 200 vendors at the time and were doing that daily." By implementing SimpleConsign, Lakeland Antique Mall saved thousands of dollars annually in manual labor while providing vendors easy access to their sales data.
On top of this, Lakeland Antique Mall uses its reporting to amplify its sales. Evans adds, "It really narrows down quickly how well a vendor is doing. So I can look and immediately tell which booths have brought new merchandise in four months. I can also push one button and tell where all my vendor's sales are."
When he identifies booths that need a refresh, Evans reaches out to the vendor. "We have in our contract that if they don't make enough sales to cover rent three months in a row, we can ask them to leave." However, he prefers to check in first. "Generally, we have all the numbers in front of us. So the next time they are in, we can discuss it and show them exact numbers they may not be paying attention to." Sharing this data not only boosts booth sales, which earns the store a 10% commission but also reduces vendor turnover by 50%. That's a massive win for the vendor and the store!
When asked what he’d recommend for other store owners, Evans proclaimed,
“I have run both small and large stores, if I opened another one I would use SimpleConsign. It would pay off no matter what size the store is.”
Phil Evans
Manager | Lakeland Antique Mall
