Shreve & Co.’s Historic Move
San Francisco, California
STRATEGIC STORE RELOCATION EVENT
San Francisco’s coveted downtown has been home to Shreve & Co. since March of 1906. And although the earthquake and fire that year couldn’t move Shreve & Co from its historic building at the corner of Post Street and Grant, the company was essentially forced to leave after a bidding war with a jewelry super-power when its lease expired. Shreve took this as an opportunity to find a bigger store in the same area to better serve the jewelry needs of its long-standing, upscale clientele. Having done successful sales with The Gordon Company in the past, Shreve engaged them yet again, this time to conduct moving sales for both the San Francisco and Palo Alto stores.
The Gordon Company Challenge:
Time was of the essence because Shreve’s lease was expiring and the company needed to move fast. The Gordon Company quickly formulated a concise plan to remedy the situation: deploying every resource they had speaking to vendors about merchandising needs, writing radio and TV scripts in anticipation of a unique marketing strategy, and developing ways to get new and existing Shreve customers through the door. In addition, the primary concern of Shreve was how The Gordon Company would accomplish its fundamental goals while maintaining the quality and prestige of Shreve’s coveted brand.
The Gordon Company’s Specific Goals:
- Dispose of aged inventory in order to raise the cash needed to bring in new inventory and help finance the new locations
- Put into place a $1 million advertising plan in expedited fashion, while remaining cost-effective and true to the image of Shreve’s famous brand name
- Provide the highest quality of augmented inventory possible, particularly with respect to Shreve’s strict merchandising and quality control standards
According to owner, Lane Schiffman, “The first day of the sale was the biggest day in our 109 year history at Post and Grant.”
The Gordon Company Solution and Accomplishments:
- Due to timing, there was no choice but to conduct the events in the summer season, which also made it necessary to capitalize on the vast tourist traffic in those months
- A downturn in the Chinese economy led to a 20% reduction in Shreve’s historically important Chinese tourist business; The Gordon Company was able to overcome this during the sale
- Sales for both stores during this timeframe were more than double the amount in the same time frame the previous year
- Total customers in San Francisco were 2.8 times more than the previous year in that time frame
