#popshelf

[celestialsister0918]

Popshelf find. Brutasha hang with me on the way to work now.

[dausy]

So I did another art challenge. I found some cheap art supplies at my local Pop Shelf which is essentially a fancier dollar store. I was really impressed that they had gouache paints and watercolor pencils..but mainly the gouache paints.

because professional gouache as it is is hard to find outside the internet. I mentioned elsewhere but I have a local custom framing store that sells art supplies to like..college kids..and this framing store holds your normal Bob Ross level professional paints. They have the oil paints and the old crusty papers and canvases. Its not your hobby shop like hobby lobby or michaels. But even they have like 5 tubes of regular gouache and they been sittin' there a while. Rust on them. Packaging looks 15 years old. You're lucky to live near a Blick and get you holbein acrylic gouache but even good luck finding just gouache gouache...so I was really curious about these cheap paints.

I mean there wasn't really a high expectation it was just curiousity..because why gouache? watercolors and acrylic I get..but..why..gouache!?!?

they did suck lmao. I did struggle quite a bit but I managed to successfully do a thing. I got as far as I could which was majority of base colors before I cheated and went back to my regular art supplies to do some last ditch smoothing and final touches. She came out cuter than expected.

Especially because this was kind of like..a reject..sketch. I didn't want to ruin something I actually liked with crap paints but I also just..didn't..like this drawing. What I wanted to actually do was something else but it would have been really monochromatic and I didn't think that was going to be a sufficient paint test. So kitty and birds I think I used almost every color.

[soulreaveralu]

661 and counting we habe some put away in the closet until we get more shelfs and more bat displays. We goinv to do a #rickandmorty wall. Soon funkophotoaday #funkopop #funko #funkofan #funkocollection #funkocollector #pophunter #popshow #popcollections #popcollector #toycollector #toy #toyphotography #popgames #toycollectotion #pophunter #funkohunter #toycollection #popphotography #funkophotography #popshelf #popdisplay #pop4life #poplife #funkolife #funkocrazy

[nickgerlich]

Oil And Water

Oil and water do not mix. You can try, but the water will sink to the bottom, leaving the oil floating on top. It is a fundamental truth literally as well as metaphorically, as retailers have been quick to leverage.

Like the folks at Dollar General, the discounter with more than 20,000 stores in the US. In fact, if number of stores is the criterion, they are America’s biggest retailer. Four years ago they sensed a market opportunity to target a slightly different demographic from its primary customer base, one with more money yet still in search of bargains. Specifically, these are suburban moms in their 40s with household incomes between $50,000 and $125,000.

Now if that isn’t filling a niche, I don’t know what is.

To test the waters, they launched Popshelf as a shop-within-a-shop concept inside 200 Dollar General locations. They learned a lot in the last four years, including that their initial target was spot on, but also that college students and single women in their 30s and 40s were also customers. They also learned that having to enter a Dollar General was a deterrent for some customers.

You know. As in beneath their dignity. Finally, they learned that their core customers did not have the money to buy the Popshelf merch, and avoided it like the plague. Oil, meet water.

So Dollar General is kicking out Popshelf from those 200 locations, and establishing stand-alone stores for their new brand. It’s a smart move, because given Dollar General’s typical location strategy of rural or distressed urban neighborhoods, they can now locate these stores closer to where their target demos live.

Maybe Dollar General has been watching TJ Maxx, and figured out there are plenty of well-heeled customers who still love bargains. While the merchandise is very different between the two (and Popshelf won’t carry food items like its much larger sibling), the idea is much the same.

Dollar General will not need anywhere near as many Popshelf stores, since they can be scattered across suburban areas. Dollar General, though, has made a point of being in practically every rural town, sometimes even those with as few as 500 residents. Essentially, they became the local convenience store. I often joke about being in “Dollar General country” on my travels, which is code for “I am way the heck in the middle of nowhere.”

If by now you are thinking that Popshelf sounds a lot like Dollar General’s response to another somewhat upscale discount chain, Five Below, you might be right. A lot depends, though, on Popshelf’s price points, and whether it blows past the $5 mark. Higher-priced items mean costlier inventory, but if the customer sees these as bargains, they may achieve success similar to TJ Maxx.

To help boost the proposition, Dollar General has also dropped an updated app and loyalty program, things that the target demos of Popshelf routinely use. Customers can browse and order from their phone, and then schedule when they’ll pick up their purchase.

Inflation has hit everyone, even those living comfortably. Good on Dollar General for having the business sense not to use a one-size-fits-all strategy. Oil and water in retail don’t mix.

Dr “Curious Enough To Give This A Try” Gerlich

Audio Blog

[shinydreamtacoprune-blog]

[shinydreamtacoprune-blog]

[shinydreamtacoprune-blog]

going to the most coquette store ive been to so far 🎀

[mylittlesecrethaven]

Popshelf Is My New Favorite Store

HOW HAVE I NEVER BEEN IN A POPSHELF?!

THEY'RE LIKE DOLLAR GENERALS MIXED WITH 5 BELOWS BUT BETTER!

I CAN GET FUCKING ANYTHING I NEED!

WHAT IS THIS MAGICAL PLACE?!