question:

Does your store do better than a 1.0 average inventory turn across the board?

Yes: 50%

• We’ve worked diligently to restock our fast sellers and stock balance or sell old stock at a discount once a year. — Kelly V., Geneva, IL
• Last five years have been unusual times with young people; they loved gold. — Arturo C., San Diego, CA
• Our average turn usually does over 2.0 every year, and that’s due to years of disciplined work on our inventory, taking the advice of experts and consultants to keep things turning smoothly. — Kyle B., Roswell, NM
• We turn any stock over 120 days; discount or whatever we can do to get it out the door. — Tim S., Mobile, AL
• Because we are always training our staff to reach out and touch the customers every day and we have tons of traffic in the store every day. Over 880 repairs taken in last month, and we try to touch every one of them with a store tour and then a wow, and sales show it. Also, keep a 20 percent or less aged stock in store so goods are fresh and we reorder fast sellers weekly so goods move!!! — Alan P., Wilmington, NC
• I don’t like inventory over a year old. I like to keep my customers on their toes and keep the store fresh. Constantly ordering, buying, moving and redesigning inventory. — Rick N., Fernandina Beach, FL
• Have learned to order three months out, not for the year. — Christine M., Boyertown, PA
• We shy away from commercial goods (read: same ol’ stuff) and manufacture our own very different work. You can only get it here, and if I make good decisions, I have all of the commerce I can handle. — Steven W., Chatham, MA

No: 50%

• We “invested” heavily and now own too much value in loose natural diamonds, both white and fancy color. This is dragging our numbers down. In core merchandise, we sell and replace with excellent turn and good profits. We are working on divesting ourselves of the excess value but we prefer to not sell them quickly at a loss. — Mark C., Rockford, IL
• Working on it! Just keep trying to get rid of old stock!! Almost there … oh wait, it never ends! LOL! — Natasha H., Bend, OR
• Due to the large amount of inventory fabricated from street buys, which results in a far larger margin, 1.0 is not needed to produce the same results as a 100 percent vendor inventory sold at, or near, keystone. “It’s all in the math.” — Rex S., Houston, TX
• Workin’ on it but not quite there. — Tom N., Spencer, IA
• Loose natural diamonds hold our turn numbers down. They are pricy, have a low markup, and a wide variety of stock is necessary. — Debbie F., Ventura, CA
• We love to buy and tend to buy collections rather than shop for needs. — Jon W., Virginia Beach, VA
• We’re working on it and very close. — Joe T., Lubbock, TX
• Don’t care to; we are 90 percent estate, and items date from 20-plus years to yesterday in our inventory. Eventually, they all sell. We like it this way, it is part of our plan and niche. — Medford C., North Charleston, SC