You can be cheap. It’s OK. Cheap is good, and doable, when it comes to rehabbing your store’s shelves.

Face it. Our industry spends immense effort and investment when it comes to the big automotive parts store items -- inventory, store decor, promotion. But retailers often forget to pay attention to the small stuff.

There’s reward in occasional micro-managing when it comes to the smallest in-store things -- shelf edge “stuff.” Because automotive parts retailers are very busy, it’s hard to focus on micro topics like shelf channel signs, clip strips, etc. Yet they should, occasionally.

Redecorating your home store Clean up so you can see what you have to work with Make sure every merchandise department is properly placed for best result Check out every piece of your furniture fixtures Decide what to change for a coordinated store look Buy and install knickknacks new cheap shelf edge items Enjoy the resulting “new” look

This focus can be short and sweet because there’s a world of help already established. Many multiple-product sellers publish comprehensive catalogs which show the latest in shelf-edge signage, holders, merchandise dividers, clip strips, rehab hang tags, all those paper-clip-like-things people seldom think about. These companies are established, reliable, and experts in their niche area of marketing. Automotive parts stores already have many of these items in-store, and the price was right. They were furnished at no cost by their individual product line vendors.

However, when an automotive retailer exclusively uses the merchandising aids furnished by its dozens of vendors, there’s a chance for clash. Different colors, different styles, different sizes. The result? Possibly a non-unified-look store, despite the major investment in the big ticket items.

It is easy and cheap to make an old, tired, disjointed-looking store sparkle with its original planned personality with a little micro focus, and a little investment in time.

Here’s how. It’s much like redecorating your home, or that old-fashioned spring cleaning.

First, clean all the shelves and fixtures. Wipe them down, get rid of any glue residue, touch them up with paint.

Second, ascertain that products are where you want them to be, compliant with your planograms. Rearrange departments if needed

Third, ask these questions, department by department, gondola by gondola, and list the answers:

1. What will improve product presentation here?
2. Is there too much “air” to make the section look as it was planned?
3. Does this section require a sign or two to explain its merchandise?
4. Are there too many items laying flat which should be standing up so that their package messages can be seen by shoppers?
5. Are dividers needed to keep merchandise organized in this section because customers, in their ordinary shopping, are rearranging the items? That’s a natural occurrence: merchandise dividers solve this problem.

(Today, merchandise dividers come as complete shelf units including a built-in bottom tray adjustable for products’ width, with a front channel for shelf strips or other messages.)

Practical, material, cheap answers to these questions are available from stock component suppliers whose catalogs are chock full of good items.

One could shop many catalogs, choose several vendors for a few items and waste time saving a few pennies. It’s best to shop a bit, then choose one supplier for these items and develop a customer relationship with that company. Then, when new items are available which fit, that company will notify you.

Some current practical items, besides the dividers discussed above, include:

Plastic peg hooks, available in colors, can replace tarnished metal peg hooks. Choose color merchandising components to segment products, coordinate with suppliers’ packaging, or add style to the drab background on fixtures. Fixtures should never be the star of a store. Stores sell products, not fixtures. Sign holders of many different types. Using adhesive tape to glue a card to shelf-edge is passe (a kind word!). Those cards get dirty and look shopworn. Use plastic card holders to make messages dramatic, neat, and more easily read by shoppers. Numerous styles, colors, and fastening configurations are available. Waterfall hangers, snap rails, cross bars for pegged products. These are available in metal, plastic, or chromed wire, and in color to add drama to ordinary displays. Color can be used to organize the “levels” of pegged products, too, either by quality, product use, or price. They are inexpensive (the $3 word for cheap). Pegged product hanger rehab products. Pegged products are the bane of existence for retailers. Hurried shoppers pull the products off, damaging the hanger, then try to replace the product. Products with torn hangers fall off the display, making the section and store look messy. Scotch tape won’t help much: although the product may be on the peg, it looks shopworn. Would YOU choose that taped piece?

Because automotive parts retailers are very busy, it’s hard to focus on micro topics like shelf channel signs, clip strips, etc. Yet ignoring these details can be detrimental to sales.

The answer to this annoyance? Plastic hang tags in various widths, heights, and strength to hold products of various weights. And a daily aisle walk-by from associates who carry these small miracles in their various sizes so they can be used to tidy up a section.

To sum up, periodic, thorough attention to little things can vastly improve a store’s appearance. They do mean a lot!

Stephen J. Alexander, president of Automotive In-Store Marketing, is a member of Aftermarket Business’s Retail Advisory Board. He can be reached at his Sanibel Island, Fla. headquarters, phone (239) 395-9203, or e-mail salexander@autoinstore.com.

Visit Alexander at the Aftermarket Business AAPEX booth 4013 in the Sands Expo Center during the show.