Taking Stock
How do you follow your frame inventory? Keeping track of it requires excellent record maintenance, a targeted computer program, or a very good memory. Here, some experts share tips for keeping a handle on the dispensary's products.
By Erinn Morgan

Managing a frame inventory is a big job, even for a small dispensary. In this area, you have to be a jack- or jill-of-all-trades as well as master of each one too.

"It's the bane of my existence," says Bernice Olivetti, frame buyer at Leonard Opticians, which has two locations in New York City--each with 2,500 to 3,000 frame styles in stock. "It's a challenge to try to have the new things but also to maintain a good balance of strong basic sellers."

There are many means to an end when it comes to keeping track of your ever-changing inventory. Dispensers across the country use a variety of methods to perform this daily task, from following it with handwritten notes or keeping "sold" tags in a box at the register to setting up plan-o-grams or precise computer tracking programs. No matter which method you choose, be sure it is right for you, your staff, and your products.

"It's challenging to be setting up a new inventory management system," says Patricia Galko, director of retail operations for the 21-location Pennsylvania-based Northeastern Eye Institute. The chain is currently in the process of moving its current point-of-sale system to a more complex computerized system. "But we are confident that we will be in much better shape than when we were faxing orders back and forth to the lab."

The good news is that when it comes to inventory management, there's something for everyone, including the large chain in need of an organized computerized system and the small optical retailer searching for a simple, efficient method.

SYSTEMS LARGE AND SMALL

Large Chain. In addition to the computer system it is implementing, Northeastern Eye Institute also uses a plan-o-gram system to track frames. "We do not sell off the board, except for plano sun," says Galko. At the dispensaries, all frames on the boards are used as samples, and orders are shipped out of a frame distribution center to its lab nearby.

"We like to have the boards full and have the best styles and colors all the time on the floor. Otherwise you miss an opportunity. The frame distribution center is next to the lab, so the job can be completed quicker than if we had to send it from the individual dispensary. It works for us," Galko says.

She also meets with the chain's buyer about four times a year to go over what is selling and what needs to be changed in the inventory makeup. Then the makeup of the plan-o-gram is altered accordingly.

Small Chain (computerized). With six locations spanning the East Coast from Michigan to Florida, Au Courant has its work cut out to keep track of inventory. "We all have the same computer program and each store uses the system to keep track of things with stock numbers," says president Nancy di Cosmo. The locations are not hooked up to a hub and cannot check each other's inventory; they communicate their needs via fax and then move product between stores using overnight shipping services.

"The linked multi-store computer system is designed for much larger chains and is very expensive, so for a smaller chain like we are, it is not cost effective. For us, it works great to run the same type of system independently and use e-mail or fax," she says.

Multi-store. Leonard Opticians in New York City operates two retail locations about 30 blocks away from one another and uses a custom-made computer inventory system to track product.

"We scan the frames and the system tracks what we are selling," says frame buyer Bernice Olivetti. "We get reports once a month for what's sold and I can gauge what I need to reorder. We are too involved in the fashion trends to have an automatic reorder system," she says.

Single Store. At Block and Zuckerman in West Orange, N.J., inventory is tracked by hand and through invoices. "We don't do inventory and tracking on the computer," says Amy Block, frame buyer. "We have it easy with our system because we only have three opticians on staff, and we all keep track of everything together."

If the dispensary needs to order something new, the model is written down in a book to keep track of it. "This system is something we've used for a long time and it works for us."

Marla Cohn, owner of Montana Eyes in Santa Monica, Calif., started a manual system of tracking inventory, but did not follow through with it. Instead, she found that simply keeping a mental note of it herself was sufficient. "I have a lot of it in my head," she says. "I am here all the time every day so I really know what's going on."

SPACE TRACKING

One useful method many retailers use to monitor frames is tracking the number of frames stocked from each vendor carried. "Every frame vendor has just so much real estate," says Galko. "So if they have 50 or 100 spots on our boards, and the buyer and myself find everything is going well with that range during our periodic inventory meetings, we just leave that static."

If she has to add 20 to 25 new pieces, she also has to take out 20 to 25 pieces. "You just can't keep adding and adding. Those frames we return, we send in for credit wi.0th the vendors." Of the entire stock, Galko says she usually sends back about 200 frames each time. "The biggest challenge is to get the old pieces out and off the plan-o-grams and the new product in from the reps."

Berris Optical employs a similar space tracking process in its six stores. Each store has a manager/partner that tracks each vendor's line in the dispensaries. They also work closely with each vendor and their reps to fill in new product and exchange non-sellers.

When the rep comes in, he or she and the manager check how many of the manufacturer's frames have sold.

"Say they have an allotted 40 frame spaces in the dispensary for that vendor. They will work with the rep and go through everything and say, 'Okay, take these six back and reorder these four that we sold, and the number will be back up to the allotted 40,'" says Berris.

WORKING WITH REPS

Working with frame vendor's reps to keep inventory in line is a regular part of business for dispensaries. "Our reps usually come in four times a year," says Galko. "I set aside three to four days and they make it their business to be here to go over the frames."

With eight to 10 lines carried at Northeastern Eye Institute, this commitment represents a large but important amount of time out of Galko's schedule. "We really partner with our reps, and they look at their master lists and help us manage inventory," she says.

Berris also allots a certain amount of space to each vendor and tracks frame sales this way--if a rep has 40 spaces, to find what has sold, they simply determine how many frames there are less than the original 40. "Our managers/ partners take pride in tracking their own inventory closely and have fun with it," says Berris. "It's a great feeling to be working on something that you can see selling and doing well."

Smaller locations also find it important to see their reps at least twice a year. "We see sales people bi-annually and also order some things at Vision Expo," says Block. "We usually place our orders in April or May for summer and September or October for fall."

Revisiting product with reps is a constant process, Olivetti says. "I see the people I work with about every two months."