Mid-century Department Store Marketing: Perfumed Ink, Animals and More

April has arrived!  And you know what that means? It’s time to implement your April Sales Plan!  Well, if you’re a department store, that is. 

The Ken White collection contains a lot of material referencing store planning and marketing, but mostly from the 1980s and 1990s.  That’s why I was surprised to find this sales planning guide from 1949 in the collection.  This book is full of great ideas such as…

Hiring Reggie the Rabbit from Rinnikinink to visit your store:

There’s also an Easter checklist that lists tasks such as: organizing when your Easter Bunny should arrive (4 weeks before Easter), organizing a storewide egg hunt, acquiring live bunnies and chicks for window displays (probably frowned upon in today’s marketing books), and sending out promotional ads printed with perfumed ink. 

But April isn’t just about Easter, it is also the beginning of spring and therefore moth season: 

Which gives you the perfect opportunity to push your fur storage business:

The following pages go into specific detail on how to start your own cold storage department in your store, and how to promote it. 

This book is a fun look at mid-century marketing strategy - and given the number of notes throughout the pages, an inspiring book for Ken White as well!