April 1, 2017
► Events during the next couple of weeks:
April 1: April Pre-Seasonal Pool Supply Sale begins.
April 1: Spring store hours start: Mon – Fri 10-8, Sat 10-5, Sun 11-5
April 1: Jim has his fifteenth Anniversary: Have some anniversary cake in the coffee shop while supplies last.
April 8: Stephanie’s Birthday: FREE birthday cake in the coffee shop while supplies last.
April 22: Ryan, Amber, Ally, Jack, Morgan, and Eric have their one-year Anniversary: Have some anniversary cake in the coffee shop while supplies last.
► Customer Feedback: The Pacellas from Tewksbury, MA rated their general shopping experience as Excellent. Did any of our team members do an unusually good job? “Great service from Allison.” Sales help, operations people, communication, and product performance were all rated Excellent. They would recommend us to a friend. What can we do to improve? “Prices are on the high side – maybe more frequent sales/discounts. Encourage customers to buy more: more you buy, more you save.” What do we do really well? “The relationship you have with Joe for shipping is awesome. He was great. Great selection in store – best around.”
► The Great April Sale has begun! Actual advertising, promotions, etc. start Sunday, April 2: “April Sale”. But probably everything changed over the last several days. Please be careful. This month’s color is light pink.
► Big weekend coming up. We go to April hours on Sunday, April 2. That means opening at 11AM on Sundays, and being open until 8PM all week days.
► Happy Fifteenth Anniversary to Jim on Sunday, April 2. Thank you for your loyalty and patient, steady work over those years.
► By coincidence, Happy Birthday to Stephanie on the same day!
► And Happy First Anniversary to Morgan on Thursday, April 6th.
► If it comes up, here is our policy on advertising the April Sale: we try not to advertise too early, because:
- The sale goes an entire month.
- It’s not a clearance so the selection does not get worse over the month.
- In fact, the selection improves as the month goes on, because our distributers often do not finish shipping to us until late April: our industry thinks people don’t want pool supplies until it gets warm out. As a result, the Seasonal News and first April Reward$ email come out in the second week of April.
► Fun fact: August is the opposite, because it is a clearance, and people are using pool supplies at the time. August advertising is geared towards the very beginning of August!
► The Lowell Home Show is April 1, 10-8 and April 2, 10-6 at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell.
► Marquis is running a coupon for $750 off a Promise or Wish tub, from April 1 to April 30 only. Tub must be taken by customer by June 15 and warranty registered. Par 3. There’s a copy on the back and on the advertising shelf.
► From Anne-Marie: Just a reminder to please remove the pull-tabs from your soda cans to save for the Shriner’s organization. There is a container in the lunchroom (hanging from the bulletin board), and also another one on top of the green wooden recycling station in the store. This benefits the Shriner’s hospitals.
► From Patrick & Anne-Marie: Please use item #4 for cash discounts. This is a special jackpot number exclusively for this purpose. You should not need to use #8 miscellaneous very often, instead if you have an item that is not in the computer, it should be entered as a jackpot for the corresponding department. I.E. furniture parts not in the computer should be entered under #2 (patio furniture jackpot ) instead of miscellaneous. If you have any questions, please see a manager.
We have also added a discount item for employee purchases. When you press F5 on a receipt or sales order line item, the menu displayed now lists “EMPLOY” for employee discounts.
► Quarterly Bonuses will be paid on April 7th.
► That’s Outrageous! by Reader’s Digest:
Animal Magnetism: Made for that special bovine in your life, Farmer’s Cologne is “beautiful for a man or woman, and also pleasing for cows,” says creator Lisa Broder. One whiff of this all-natural cologne crafted from essential oils and Bessie’ll give milk till the …well, you-know-who comes home. A two-ounce bottle costs $115.