Frame Juggling Act
The magic of managing frame minimums, returns, and excess inventory
By Marcy Bruch
Illustration by Jon Krause

As a frame buyer, you know too well that your boards will always have a mix of perennial favorites, rising stars, fading bestsellers, and just plain duds. To complicate matters, there's manufacturer minimum and return policies to consider. The good news is inventory-tracking software can make the job of managing all those frames that much more cost effective. Here's a look at how some dispensers are successfully handling the frame-juggling act.

"I've worked very hard to get my frame inventory lean and mean, so if one of my reps starts talking about minimums, I simply say no and show him the door," says James Kennedy, owner of Kennedy Opticians in Kenilworth, N.J.

Other dispensers, like Dennis Chaiken, director of Direct Optical in Farmington Hills, Mich., take a different approach. "If I think a collection will sell, I don't hesitate to buy a collection with a minimum," he says. "You should always showcase a new line in increments of 12, 24, or 36; otherwise, you're not properly representing the collection and doing it justice."

Since Chaiken shows close to 10,000 frames in an 8,000 square foot space, he usually opts for the maximum buy-in.

For opticians who don't have the luxury of such space, carrying a 36-piece collection isn't always viable. Thanks to a smaller dispensary, a display of 300 frames at a time is the max for Terry Valentino, an optician for Frontier Optical in Tucson, Ariz.

"I don't mind minimums, but the most I can carry in a collection is 12 frames," she says. "Manufacturers should adjust their minimum polices based on the size of each dispensary."

One space-saving method Valentino has found effective is buying a three-piece rimless mount demonstration kit that feature a variety of lens shapes as well as bridge and temple colors that are showcased compactly in a top-of-counter display.

"The kit cost $800, but it is worth every penny, since I don't have to carry stock and the manufacturer sends the lens and three-piece mount components directly to the lab."

Once a dispenser has committed to a collection, invariably there will be some frames that will turn over, and others that will just sit.

"I put a time limit on how long a frame stays on my boards. If it's been sitting for five months, it's gone," says Harvey Finkle, owner of Winter Park Eyewear in Winter Park, Fla. That's when Finkle calls in his frame rep, hands over the old frame, and asks for new product to replace the dusty stuff.

Manufacturer programs that actually send him frames on consignment have also worked well, Finkle says. "The advantage of carrying frames on consignment is that you only pay for the frames that sell. The frames that don't sell, you simply send back after a certain amount of time. It's frees up cash."

Return frame policies are a good thing, especially when frame reps periodically pull out old frames and replace them with new ones, says Melissa Gleeson, office manager of Eye Image in Silver Spring, Md. "After eight months, manufacturers often won't accept frames, so my rep makes sure I don't miss that date and constantly rotates the old with the new," she says.

By contrast, Chaiken refuses to return any frames. "The onus should be on the dispenser to unload the frames," he says. "At the end of the winter season, department stores don't return unsold winter coats, they just keep marking them down until they are gone," he says. "We are in the business of retailing frames, so why should our industry be an exception to the rule?"

In fact, Chaiken is so adamant about taking responsibility for his buying decisions, that he will even sell a frame at a loss. "If I bought a frame for $100, retailed it for $200 and it hasn't moved, I will sell it for $50 just to dump it," he says.

When a collection is discontinued, Chaiken will even run a promotion giving frames away for free. The only cost to the consumer is the lenses. "Believe it or not, we do a lot of volume with these sales because we get people to upgrade their lens options, thereby substantially increasing the bottom line of our business on an annual basis," he says.

KNOW YOUR MARKET

Still, the best way to prevent being in the predicament of dumping old frames is to buy smart from the get-go. "I cater to a geriatric crowd, so in order for me to keep frames turning, I have to buy for my market, not for what I would want to wear myself," says Valentino.

Chaiken says he agrees. "You should buy with the intention of selling, not with the thought of returning down the road," he notes. "That's why inventory-tracking software can be such a cost-effective tool. It gives you hard data that helps you hone your frame assortment to the max so you can buy smarter in the future."

WHAT'S HOT, WHAT'S NOT

Yet, even if you're tapping into technology to keep your frame boards lean and mean, juggling the winners with the losers is always an issue. "At one point, I had an entire cabinet filled with stock in my back room," says Kennedy. "But I made up my mind I wasn't going to tie up some $7,000 of cash in stock."

As a result, she got rid of the cabinets and now keeps two boxes of frames in the back. "One box consists of frames that are what I call my hot numbers. They are key styles of frames that have recently started selling like wildfire that I want to have available to sell. The other box includes frames that are my bread and butter. These frames have always sold well and always will," Kennedy says.

And what about those frame duds? Sometimes they may be frames that sold well a year ago and simply aren't moving any longer. Other times, they are a few sorry frames from various collections that just never found a home.

"I usually have an end-of-the year sale in November and December because that's the time when our dispensary is slow anyway," says Kennedy.

Having done all that, the last line of defense to get rid of excess inventory is to give the frames to charity.

"If we've got discontinued frames or have had anything sitting for more than a year that we can't sell, we just give them away to the Lion's Club charity," says Gleeson. "It's a nice gesture to do during the holiday season at the end of the year, and opens our board space for all that's new to come."