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A little clutter

Standing in a bric-a-brac shop yesterday, talking to the owner, my eye caught sight of an old Coca-Cola sign with a £48 price tag. His shop is filled to the brim and beyond with stuff. People drop in off the street to browse. Sometimes they buy something. Mostly they leave without buying.

It is the opposite of the modern convenience store. What are shoppers looking for? Something valuable that my friend has not noticed? Something to complete their mantlepieces? Props for stage set? A gift for someone who has too much new stuff?

He knows his proposition. He buys stuff that looks like someone might value it and then hides it away on shelves filled with often unrelated stuff. Shoppers with time to kill are happy to hunt it out. What do you have in a convenience store that provides the same joy to your shoppers? Perhaps nothing. Perhaps your magazine range? Perhaps you greetings cards?

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