Unique Counter Top Displays

Counter top displays are great ways for any storeowner to showcase additional merchandise. These displays - generally constructed of colored or clear plastic containers - offer customers a look at extra items while allowing those smaller items to stay in clear view of the store's employees and safe from sticky fingers.

Whether your store sells food, non-edible merchandise, or a mix or both, you can use these displays. Below are some of the most common places you can use counter top displays in your store, as well as ideas for the kinds of merchandise you can display.

Convenience Stores and Specialty Shops

Convenience stores are probably the most popular location for counter top displays. Convenience store customers can find a wide assortment of food and nonfood items like within these displays. Gumballs, bulk candy, children's toys, travel-sized hygiene items you might have forgotten to pack - you can find them all within the plastic containers that make up convenience store displays.

However, specialty shops that don't focus on convenience items can also use counter top displays. Jewelry boutiques, for example, might arrange these displays to hold samples of jewelry cleaner or small clothes designed to clean rings, necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. At the same time, hobby shops like those that sell sports memorabilia might use counter top displays to offer customers a look at key chains or cards that feature their favorite team or player as they check out.

Bakeries and Delis

Bakeries and delis - like yogurt shops, ice cream shops, and bagel shops - can use counter top displays made of plastic containers to both display and store their food items. Deli-style restaurants can use the containers to hold and store their sandwich makings, but yogurt and ice cream shops can make extra use of these containers when they use them as yogurt topping dispensers and ice cream topping dispensers. They can position these dispensers into attractive counter top displays that are convenient for both the shop's employees and customers.

These kinds of shops can also use clear plastic containers to hold nonfood items like utensils, napkins, and drink-related items like cups, lids, and straws. Chances are that every customer is going to need these kinds of items, and counter top displays make it easy for customers to get what they need without waiting in line or asking wait staff for assistance.

Cafeteria Environments

In most cafeteria environments - such as those you'd find in a hotel, hospital, school lunchroom, and institution - food preparation and storage goes on behind the scenes. Plastic containers are helpful in these situations - as well as for buffet-style cafeterias that place all food items out for customers - but counter top displays come in especially handy for showcasing additional food items for which customers or diners don't need a server. Such items might include:

• Additional meal items like bags of chips, dinner rolls, and fruit.
• Dessert items like brownies, pieces of cake, cookies, or candy bars.
• Nonfood items like utensils, napkins or hand wipes, and drinking cups, lids, and straws.

Commercial Kitchen Use For Acrylic Dry

Commercial kitchens across the board depend on clear plastic containers, such as acrylic dry food dispensers, to keep operations running cleanly and efficiently. When you think of commercial kitchens, large kitchens in restaurants and hotels - the kinds of kitchens we use when we prepare food for sale - probably come to mind; however, because of their functions - and often their sizes - other kitchens like those in schools and other institutions require the same kinds of equipment, and this equipment includes plastic food containers.

Below are a few ideas for how you can use these containers within your commercial kitchen setting.

Using Food Grade Plastic Containers Behind-the-Scenes

Food grade plastic containers are essential when it comes to keeping a commercial kitchen clean and organized. You'll need these kinds of containers to:

· Keep food that you've prepared until you're ready to serve it.
· Hold food that you're ready to serve, and hold it while you're serving it.
· Hold leftovers suitable for upcoming meals.
· Store ingredients when you're not using them.

Generally, you'll want to choose food grade plastic containers with lids for these kinds of uses. Plastic containers with handles might also work well depending on the kind of food item you're preparing and storing.

Display Food Along A Buffet

Your commercial kitchen might be part of a buffet-style restaurant or a cafeteria setting like the kind you might see in a hotel, school, or institution. Displaying food close to the dining area means plastic food grade containers play just as important a role up front as they do in the actual kitchen.

Think about the last time you dined at a buffet-style restaurant. Most of the food items - including the main dishes, side dishes, and deserts - were probably in some kind of plastic container or acrylic dry food dispenser. A buffet-style restaurant depends on these kinds of clear plastic containers to safely hold and display nearly every kind of food item the restaurant offers customers.

Keep in mind that many food grade plastic containers come with lids, and these are especially important when you're transporting the food to and from the dining area, or want to keep the food covered when it's not in use. For smaller food items, you might even find you need plastic containers with handles so your staff and your customers can easily access the food.

Showcase Goods In or Near the Dining Area

Even if your commercial kitchen isn't part of a buffet-style setting, there are still plenty of uses for acrylic dry food dispensers in or near the dining area. Depending on the kind of serving and dining areas you have, these containers might sit alone or atop wire displays for counter tops, and are perfect for food items your customers can select and retrieve themselves such as:

· Breakfast Items: Acrylic dry food containers are ideal for holding food items like cereal, donuts, bagels, biscuits, and muffins.
· Lunch Items: Extra items that customers might want to add on to their meal purchases, such as bags of chip, candy bars, and bottled or canned drinks, fit conveniently atop wire displays for counter tops.
· Dinner Items: Clear plastic containers are great for extra dinner items like rolls.
· Desert Items: You can place desert items like brownies, cake, and ice cream toppings such as sprinkles in a variety of clear plastic containers and acrylic dry food dispensers.

You can also use these dry food dispensers and other clear plastic containers to hold utensils, napkins, straws, coffee stirs, and packets of seasonings, salad dressing, sugar, and sweetener.

Keep in mind that even if you don't offer food items in or near the dining area, you can always use plastic containers to hold items like breath mints, chewing gum, and toothpicks near the register.

Retail Profit In An Economic Downturn

Despite what you may have heard, profit is not extinct. The potential for profit in retail is always there, we just need to look a little harder for it these days. So, while retailers leave no stone unturned, they also must stay relevant and forward focused during this economic downturn. And, yes I have seen many retailers that can chew gum and walk at the same time.

That is what retail is all about. Juggling customer relations, employee issues, multiple tasks and thoughts (some of them great...but always forgotten) at the same time. Wow, aren't retailers great! You bet they are, but it's all this multi-tasking that hinders our potential greatness. Because of this we sometimes loose our focus and enthusiasm. That's when, during good times or bad, we lose profit. So, in this first part of the article, let's get refocused together and take an introspective look at our possible "low hanging fruit" or profit making potential.

1. Look For The Obvious
Let's start with your exterior. That's how you attract or scare away customers. The outside of our building is who you are as a retail business. It relates to your most important commodity...your brand. No, I am not telling you to spend a ton of money right now on a new exterior design, but I am telling you to make sure the weeds are pulled, the trash is picked up, lights are working, the parking lot is in good condition and you have a fresh coat of paint on your building. The same goes for your interior. Are the bathrooms clean? You need to bring customers in and keep them in the store longer in order to support your retail profitability plan.

2. Expense Control - Comparison
Before you even think about making big cuts in expenses, have an idea of what your retail industry averages are for your type of retail business. A comprehensive comparison will help attain clarity and will be the basis for a new retail profitability plan. Now that you know what to aim for, let's move forward. Let's say that after your comparison you have found major issues with the following expenses. What steps will you take to cut expenses and improve profit?

-Rent is too high - Right now is a good time to renegotiate with your landlord. Commercial property is going through the same issues that the housing market has been facing. A paying tenant is better than no tenant. Lower costs improve profit.

-Utilities are high - Lighting can account for 40% of a retailers utilities cost. Make
sure all unnecessary lights are turned off. Review any light timers and reset them. Heating and cooling costs are always an issue with retailers. Look at raising your thermostat 1 or 2 degrees in the summer months and lowering them in the winter months.

3. Profit Margin
During your comparison of similar retail businesses you have noticed that your margins are almost 2 points lower than the average. Where would you look to gain more margin?

-Buy better - Work with your suppliers to obtain lower costs. Consolidating suppliers could give you some bargaining power and simplify the buying process. More Profit.

-Raise your retails - Do some comparison shopping and raise your prices. You're in business to make money. Provide good service and customers will pay a little more.

-Training - Invest in retail sales training for your employees. The add-on and up-selling results will begin to benefit your retail profit picture immediately.

4. Address the dead weight
In every retail business there is dead weight. It has many forms, and needs to be addressed during an economic downturn. Let's examine two possible problems.

-Inventory - At any given time at least 20% of a retailer's inventory can be deemed dead or obsolete. These products are eating up space that could be occupied by more profitable products. Turn these items into cash. Have a side walk sale to clear out these items and use the cash to reinvest in more profit producing endeavors.

-Employees - It is hard to let go of any employee. You have invested time and resources in them. However, the time is now to cut the unproductive part of your wage expense. Review each employee and ask yourself this question: is this person good for my company? If the answer is yes, hold on to them. If the answer is no, get rid of them now.

Economic downturns do happen. It's how you react and how soon you react that determines your future as a retailer. The important things to keep in mind are to maintain a positive attitude and to take a time out to do some research. Once you have developed a plan to cut expenses and maximize your profits the feeling of empowerment will return to you. With expenses under control and a system in place to keep them in check, it's time to go on the offensive. Profit can be found or made, it's up to you.

Barcodes and Barcode Scanners

When you stop to think of it, barcode technology is one of the things that has completely revolutionized the world of commerce. Barcodes can be found simply everywhere, and on almost every single thing we buy.

We sometimes get used to the everyday applications of this technology as we grab a few things at the supermarket. We are vaguely aware that each box of crackers, or each plump grapefruit is being scanned, magically added to our bill, and subtracted form the store's inventory.

Many of us remember the small neighborhood grocery where we could buy just about anything. We'd run in for a loaf of bread, a bottle of milk, and perhaps some licorice pipes.

Everything would be itemized on a bill pad, and added up the old fashioned way. Or the clerk would enter the price by hitting the manual keys of a cash register. We'd hand over our money and the cash drawer would fly open. Then our change would be counted back. When is the last time something actually counted back your change? These days it's merely dumped into our waiting hand.

It's no wonder it was the grocery industry that first began pioneering the use of barcodes. With so many items to keep track of, it was a natural beginning. There had to be a better way than shutting down for stock taking, and eyeing the shelves to see what needed to be ordered.

It wasn't so long ago that the first real test of a barcode system took place. It was in Cincinnati at a Kroger store, where employees placed codes printed on sticky paper on items for sale. It was the summer of 1972, and the experimental codes were in the shape of a bullseye.

Due to printing problems and smeared ink, the codes were often distorted and not readable. This problem was solved by developing a striped linear code that was printed in the direction that the paper was fed through the printing press. That way, if there was any stretch, the code would just appear a bit taller, but would still remain readable.

Then in Troy, Ohio, on June 26 1974, history was made. A gentleman by the name of Clyde Dawson approached the checkout counter at Marsh supermarket with a package of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum. Sharon Buchanan made the first official scan of an item actually being purchased at 8:01 that morning. Visitors to the Smithsonian Institution can now see that pack of ten sticks of gum, along with the receipt.

Today, as summer approaches and we tend to our backyard spaces, I sometimes marvel at the fact that every pot of petunias, every bag of soil, and every clay pot, has a barcode on it. However, there's no barcode at the gas pump, or at the drive through coffee shop on the way home. Not yet anyway.

It seems that barcode technology has found a brand new use, one that will integrate our everyday world with the internet. This is how it works. A barcode is photographed with a camera phone, and instantly a mobile web site is accessed. The barcode could be on a print ad in a newspaper or magazine, an object, or a poster advertising an upcoming concert. Imagine the possibilities.

Learn Which Kind of Wholesale Poker

Wholesale poker sunglasses have gained immense popularity over the years. However, this journey from the world of oblivion to popularity has been studded by severe controversies over the use of these sunglasses while playing poker. While one school of thinking advocates that the use of any kind of an accessory to mask your face or your eyes while playing poker is unethical, this opinion is downplayed by many players and poker lovers, who state that they gain immense control over their game due to the added confidence that they obtain when they wear their sunglasses.

However, you cannot just wear any kind of sunglasses while playing poker because normal sunglasses will darken up your vision and make indoor vision difficult. Instead, you should go specifically for lighter lens glasses only. They have gained immense popularity over the years. One classic example of such excellent shades is the Smith & Wesson Sunglasses.

Firstly, you should go for metal-framed ones instead of plastic ones. This is because metal frames appear much more trendy, they match with almost any kind or shade of attire, are much more durable and most importantly, they are much more comfortable than their plastic counterparts. You should go for this type, which are provided with strong metallic frames and silicon nose pads, which are very comfortable to wear while playing, and which do not hurt the wearer or strain his eyes at all even on prolonged use.

Secondly, your wholesale poker sunglasses should have a gold or silver mirror coating to provide you with a much needed masking effect on your eyes. This is a very essential attribute that is required in any poker sunglass because the coating helps in hiding the eyes of the player completely from the view of the opponents. As a result, the opponent is never able to gauge the wearer's intentions or predict his next move. The wearer has complete freedom to contemplate his moves and bluff as he pleases. However, the coating does not obstruct normal view of the wearer. Since the glasses are clear, they do not hamper the clarity of vision and one can get an absolutely clear view of things indoors.

Thirdly, you should go for such kind a kind of wholesale poker sunglasses, which suit your facial shape and structure, are comfortable to wear for a prolonged period, and are also capable of hiding your eyes effectively, even from the edges, so that you can easily bluff while playing.