September 12, 2011

Over the summer I took a cruise for a family vacation that offered a stop in Key West on the way to Mexico. We stayed for a total of four hours, and while there we were driven into the main town on a cross between a shuttle bus and six golf carts hooked together. The drive in took us along Duval Street in the city area of Key West, and while riding there were shop owners lined up outside their shops yelling at us to come in when we got off. Most of them all held the same handwritten cardboard sign in their hand, promising $5 T-shirts for sale.

Contrary to what you might think, this is not an anti-T-shirt article. In fact, I love T-shirts and wear them regularly. But I guarantee you no one started their vacation, read about Key West and decided that getting a T-shirt was going to be their first priority. I’m not trying to be idealistic about selling something of real value. Most people in business understand that T-shirts are easy things to sell, and generally the profit margin is pretty good. Chances are, quite a few people ended up leaving Key West with more than one $5 T-shirt. But it is not enough. It brings me to the big question: If I were a business owner on that same street with a limited window of time to sell as much stuff as I could to a cruise ship full of customers, how would I do it?

The first thing I would do would be to avoid selling what everyone else has. Sure, I’ll keep some in the back, but instead I would try to focus on something that only one venue along that entire street really did well—create an experience worth talking about. At the end of that main street was a store called the Key West Toy Factory. Inside they had an open play area, unique toys, and a live magician performing tricks and teaching the kids how to perform several of them at the same time. It was a perfect way to spend an hour with two kids—but more than that it was one of the few experiences in that entire area that stood out.

They did not have $5 T-shirts. In fact, the T-shirts they did have were more expensive, but they also had something that all of those shops along the road didn’t have: Customers buying products. What’s the lesson here? Often the best thing you can do is to focus on creating a great experience instead of trying to offer a great deal. Especially if you happen to own a store in Key West.

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Rohit Bhargava, Article, vacation, entrepreneurs, retail store, innovation, business travel, Key West Toy Factory, Key West

Join the conversation ( 1 )

• Sandor ( Sandy ) Lenner,CPA 8 months ago

  

  From a South Florida resident who occasionally visits Key West,its disheartening to return to your favorite restaurant, especially those local charming restaurants, like this great pancake/breakfast place that I can't recall its name, to learn that it has been replaced by a T shirt store. Further, the local streets are beginning to resemble the t shirts stores on 42nd street in NYC. I just hope they don't sell miniature copies of the Statue of Liberty. All i can say, i would think that since these T-shirt stores remain year after, that there is a market for their products and they are turning a buck. Sandor Lennerwww.SL-cpa.net