When we first opened our retail store ten years ago, we tried to figure out what our business hours were. So I had a brainstorm, and here it was. rnrnNobody that owned a retail store in our area was open before 9 AM, and most closed at 8 PM.rnSince I was working in the store alone, this made for very long days. I didn’t mind the hours as long ads they were profitable, but dead time was to be avoided. So I opened the store at 8 AM, and closed it at 9 PM, and kept records of when I made sales in the store. I only recorded sales above one hundred dollars, because they were really the only sales that were profitable. I recorded the time I wrote up the sale.rnrnAt the end of thirty days, I noticed something; I only made one sale, that entire month, after six PM. Your experience may be different, but that was mine.rnIt took a little longer to figure out that even though I made sales before ten AM, they were almost all small sales, that weren’t profitable. So I started opening at ten AM. rnrnIn our community, no small retailers are open on Sunday. So, even though I was open, nobody even called the store on Sunday. So after a month, Sunday became my day off.rnrnSaturday was fickle. Most Saturdays, nobody came in after two PM. So what I would do is put 2 PM as the time we close in our ads (mostly to give me the option of closing ten), but I usually stayed a couple of hours after that. Eventually, we just closed at 2 PM on Saturday, but would stay longer if someone called us and said that they couldn’t make it in by our closing time. Of course, these appointments are always profitable. It’s very hard for a customer no to buy from you when you keep the store open...just for them. So, the best way to determine your best store hours is to be open as long as possible for a month, and let the customer’s buying habits determine when you should be open. rnAdditionally, your store hours should be posted in front of your store, and should be visible from the street. If people have to pull into your parking lot, and go up to your front door, just to find out that you are closed, they will resent it. It isn\'t fair perhaps, but they won\'t be happy about it. So I recommend a lighted \"OPEN\" sign that can easily be seen from the street, and store hours that are also visible from the street. rnrnLighting is also important. You want the inside of the store to be lighted well enough so that it\'s easy to tell if you are open from the street. We use natual full spectrum lighting in our store, and it makes everything in the store look brighter than if we used regular bulbs.
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