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When it comes to selling military-related giftware, pins, medals, badges and more, most army/navy retailers are finding that their cup sales runneth over, among other hot-selling items.
A typical example of the success of many small, impulse and gift items that sell are military-themed beverage mugs, according to Marty Cohen of Mickey's Army Navy in Warren, Ohio.
"Although they are somewhat of a seasonal item, coffee mugs have been very good for us, especially those with Marines or Army graphics," Cohen said.
Cohen gets most of his mugs from Cuppa.
"They're a great company to deal with, and there are always a lot of choices. We also do well with "Mother of" and "Father of" mugs," Cohen explained.
Lisa Harris of The Army Store in Fairfield, Ohio also sells mugs from Cuppa.
"They're beautiful mugs, but sales are slow right now," she noted.
Military-themed coffee and travel mugs are always profitable impulse and gift items, even more so in many tourist areas and at certain times of the year such as Father's Day and Christmas.
By a wide margin
There are two top incentives for army/navy retailers to sell a wide assortment of pins, badges, insignia, decals, bumper stickers and other small, inexpensive impulse items; first, there's the likely advantage of local exclusivity; second, profit margins on most of these items is quite attractive.
About the only downside is usually the necessity of stocking and displaying a large number of items, requiring strong inventorizing and organizing skills.
Those retailers who are particularly adept at merchandising and theft-deterrence also will fare well with these items.
"These items are such good sellers and so profitable that our goal is to increase the size of this category of sales," said Cohen.
To attract both the impulse buyer and to keep an eye on the merchandise, most small items such as pins and badges should be displayed at point of sale, preferably in a compact countertop display or an enclosed glass case if pilferage is a concern.
For Lisa Harris, the glass display case not only protects the merchandise from the five-fingered discount, it also enhances the beauty of the product.
"We use glass showcases to protect and display the merchandise. We also bought shadow boxes from Indian River with velvet square inserts. We usually display up to 50 pins per insert," she said.
Harris uses 11 glass showcases, including one just for patches and challenge coins. These are laid out individually in the case. She buys most of her patches from American Insignia, challenge coins from Eagle Crest.
Not all of the store's pin selection is displayed under glass. Harris sells an assortment of 99 cent pins on top of the counter.
Harris buys her pins from Hoover/HMC Honors as well as from Eagle Emblems.
Another one of her prominent vendors is Mitchell Proffitt. The company's silicon bracelets are selling particularly well for her store right now. Harris also sources flags, commemorative dog tags and license plates from them.
Harris also seeks out military-themed gift items that are somewhat atypical for the typical army/navy store.
"We're doing very well with Rothco's baby gift set, and there's a line of waterproof notebooks and pens from a company called Rite in The Rain that are very popular with our customers," she stated.
The Rite in The Rain line features stationery items that have a military look.
Popular flags in Harris's store include the basic American flag and Marine, Army, POW-MIA and the "one-star" flag which is flown by families who currently have a relative in active service in the military.
She would like to expand her flag selection to include car and motorcycle flags, which do particularly well in the summer.
Military ball caps are another big item for The Army Store, and Harris has enjoyed success with Eagle Crest's line of branch of service caps. She noted that the American-made caps sell best since it is a factor that her customers seem to prefer.
Up in northern Ohio, Marty Cohen is building his "chachka" sales into a profit-generating machine.
"We do very well with pins and all other military-related gift, decorative and commemorative items," he noted.
If you pin him down to naming a vendor, he will particularly extol the virtues of Eagle Emblems.
"Eagle Emblems is the hero of our pin line. We have five panels consisting of three for military and two for non-military," Cohen stated.
He also cited Mitchell Proffitt as another company that he values as a vendor of various items including flags, decals, bumper stickers, license plate holders and more.
Hats and caps are also important to Cohen's business. He usually stocks them from Rothco and Rapid Dominance.
Ball caps for veterans are good sellers in his store.
"Korea, Vietnam are two of the most popular caps, especially those with 3D embroidery and and plenty of adornments," Cohen said.
Cohen noted that there is no shortage of customers for these items, which is why he is expanding his sales department for military gift items.
"There are plenty of military personnel and their families and friends," he said.
author: BY MARK HAWVER