A representative from Lowe's was quoted as saying "Spring is our Christmas." in a recent New York Time article. Makes sense right? Don't most of us spend more time in garden centers and hardware stores when we are sprucing up the outdoor space in April, May and June?

Sort of knocks down a commonly held belief that Christmas is King when it comes to selling seasons. Why do we all accept that? It seems that each business has its own seasonality.

Hopefully you are tracking your POS info and you have a good handle on what your best months are in your store. Even better I hope you do this frequently enough to identify if a bump in traffic or sales is due to a specific ad campaign or store display.

It sure is dangerous counting on three months of the year to make or break your business. Unlike boardwalk vendors at the Jersey Shore, most retailers can create other seasonal hotspots to take the edge off the stress of making a great selling season.

So, Spring won't be the same as the cardmaking and paper crafting flurry caused by Christmas but certainly there are some ways you can pump up the sales volume:

1. Promote your products for party planning and table decor. All of the TV shows that focus on party planning include a visit to the craft store.

2. Think about life events and plan displays and promos around them. Graduations are really about memories- consider kits that help folks collect them when there are a few brain cells left.

3. Encourage folks to get family histories down.  You can do that ANY time of hte year. Work with local genealogists to come up with some great programs on tracing genealogy Then you can come up with kits  related to certain elements such as leaving the old country, military service, family trees, favorite family recipes could be really fun.

4. Get some events going around Mother's Day - mother/daughter, grandma/grandaughter or grandson.

5. Reach out to school teachers. Make the connection before they leave for summer vacation so that they think of your store when planning lessons and bulletin boards in August.

There's nothing worse than depending on a specific season for business then losing it  due to circumstances beyound your control. Mother Nature is a tough old bird. Politics change every day.

By creating excitement in the down time, you can take advantage of a more leisurely pace. And- so can your customers. Your busy time is busy for them as well- come up with opportunities to get them in your store when they are not feeling rushed.

Have a great weekend--Beth