Anyone here make their own shelf talkers?

[jeffmazen]

If so what program do you use for a template?

[Max Marinucci]

If so what program do you use for a template?

I am a Mac...I use Pages.

[Peter Tryba]

ditto

[mike.m]

I'm PC, I use Excel. I just made a little box for all the info and price. It looks ok, it's about time for a shelf talker revamp though. I'd like something a bit more professional.

[Roberto Rogness]

We do all of our own POS here and do it on 8 1/2 x 11 sheets for case displays with AppleWorks on a Mac. We had signboards made for us to fit.

[Brent C l a y t o n]

Word.

[Randy Bowman]

Simple set up in word to do twelve at time, then cut them. Time consuming but it works.

[John Davis]

Print Shop 2 and I don't like it very much. Used to use Microsoft Publisher which I did like but probably b/c I was used to it. Looking for something new for my Mac.

JD

[chaad thomas]

Another Mac / Pages user. Mine look like this:



EDIT: BTW, Jeff, I'm happy to send you one of my files to use as a template if you'd like! You've gotta have Pages, of course, though. I hope your well!

[chaad thomas]

Simple set up in word to do twelve at time, then cut them. Time consuming but it works.

Same trouble with mine, although I went for big/bold, so only get 6/pp.

[Veronica Castro]

Simple set up in word to do twelve at time, then cut them. Time consuming but it works.

Yep! Works for us.

[Daniel Posner]

Can I see the Boone's Farm shelftalker?

Never made a shelftalker.

[John Liotta]

Shelftalkers are lazy.

[Mark.Ricca]

I'm a PC.
We use Word.

[Thomas Keim]

Shelftalkers are lazy.

Why would you make that observation John? So many customers who walk in the door of a wine shop like to browse. They would rather pick something out themselves rather than listen to you or your staff. So a nice shelftalker tells the customer exactly what he wants to hear about each wine and he doesn't have to talk to a clerk.

You have no idea how many times a customer will walk up to the counter with a bottle and state "This wine has 17% Carignan in it and I love Carignan!"

Now how would they have found out about that without a shelftalker?

And don't say that you would have told them that because they already refused your request for help.

It used to make me made as hell to walk up to a customer and ask them if they need any help, only to have them say no, I want to browse (looking at you very distrustfully). Then they walk up with a bottle of wine stating that "it sounds good!"

And you know you wrote the damn shelftalker....

[John Liotta]

Shelftalkers turn wine shops into slow-pitch softball leagues . . .

[Mark.Ricca]

Shelftalkers turn wine shops into slow-pitch softball leagues . . .

[Mark.Ricca]

I write shelftalkers for lots of different types of wine, some I like and think are valid some are not. The challenge lies in not projecting my tastes onto all of my customers and not using verbage that it too highbrow or technical.

I also have written descriptions for many store websites. It takes good temperament not to overwrite or be too fluffy in your descriptions. Think of it like a good boxer: Get in, hit, get out.

[Randy Bowman]

I use a simple format and will use the notes from WS or WA whenever possible. Will admit we haven't been using shelf talkers since we moved to our new location. This is about the size of them and nothing glitzy:

Winery: Badge
Wine: Pinot Noir 2005
Santa Rita Hills
Score: 91

“Rich and complex, showing
layers of firm, ripe black
cherry, plum and wild berry
fruit that's well-structured,
with the flavors sailing on
through the finish. With good
tannins and fine balance,
this should provide lots of
fun drinking over the next
five years.
Drink now thru 2011. 800
cases made.”

(DS)
Wine Spectator

[Thomas Keim]

Shelftalkers turn wine shops into slow-pitch softball leagues . . .

Are you in retail John?

[chaad thomas]

I use a simple format and will use the notes from WS or WA whenever possible. Will admit we haven't been using shelf talkers since we moved to our new location. This is about the size of them and nothing glitzy:

Winery: Badge
Wine: Pinot Noir 2005
Santa Rita Hills
Score: 91

“Rich and complex, showing
layers of firm, ripe black
cherry, plum and wild berry
fruit that's well-structured,
with the flavors sailing on
through the finish. With good
tannins and fine balance,
this should provide lots of
fun drinking over the next
five years.
Drink now thru 2011. 800
cases made.”

(DS)
Wine Spectator

Not to pick on you, but this is the kind of shelf talker that turns shops into "slow-pitch softball leagues," as Liotta put it.

Just regurgitating scores and/or third-party notes wrecks the market and cripples your credibility.

Implicit here is the notion that it is not your shop that are the experts, but Wine Spectator (et. al). It also builds this paradigm where wines without ratings don't sell to the public because their viewed as inferior, and the commerical buyers don't buy them because they think they don't sell.

While these kinds of shelftalkers may be an expeditious way for a retailer to do business, they really degrade the integrity of the market overall.

[John Liotta]

Shelftalkers turn wine shops into slow-pitch softball leagues . . .

Are you in retail John?

Seems like every day . . .

[Thomas Keim]

[b]

Shelftalkers turn wine shops into slow-pitch softball leagues . . .

Are you in retail John?

Seems like every day . . .

[/b]

Well, that must mean yes in kidspeak - I would be very careful in dismissing things that you have no experience in if you are going to stay in this business - shelftalkers are the easiest way to reach the consumer that just does not want help -

And please don't give me that superman shit about every customer who walks into your store asks for help - it that is the case, you must work in a very small store and receive your customers one at a time.

And John - when a customer actually does ask you a question - are you that vague with them?

Do you ever wonder why they never come back a second time?

[Mark.Ricca]

Chaad,
While I understand where you're coming from, there is no denying that some people resonate to scores and popular press reviews.

I think incorporating some of that into point of sale merchandising along with store generated descriptions is effective in reaching the ultimate goal of branding yourself (or your shop).

Building a rapport with your customer base that gives you the benefit of being the resource for recommendations whether or not the pop press has reviewed them should be everyone's dream, but there are many ways to get there.

Thom,
I don't think Liotta was being literal, at the risk of interpreting....

[Peter Tryba]

Shelftalkers turn wine shops into slow-pitch softball leagues . . .

Are you in retail John?

Seems like every day . . .

Well, that must mean yes in kidspeak - I would be very careful in dismissing things that you have no experience in if you are going to stay in this business - shelftalkers are the easiest way to reach the consumer that just does not want help -

And please don't give me that superman shit about every customer who walks into your store asks for help - it that is the case, you must work in a very small store and receive your customers one at a time.

And John - when a customer actually does ask you a question - are you that vague with them?

Do you ever wonder why they never come back a second time?

When you have nearly 1000 unique walk-in customers per day like my shop, shelf-talkers help the customers who don't want personalized assistance. Our staff of 10 winos help everyone else with personalized selections.
That being said, well over half of our signs are staff tasting notes, not magazine reviews.

[John Davis]

I own a grocery store with a good wine section given my size and locale. My job, without a staff to hand sell, is to give as much info as possible. I sell gruners, viogniers, chenin blancs, Spanish, Austrian, etc... Stuff people aren't going to see in a usual grocery store set in Indiana. I deal with a lot of wholesalers, big ones and the tiny ones and I taste everything I put notes on. There is NO way I would be selling these wines without talkers. Once they realize that New Zealand makes good SBs they might venture out to a NZ pinot.

My section is nothing special and not much in the big scheme of things. But I have been into a lot of wine shops, like everyone else here and shelf talkers are everywhere and they do work. And, as someone mentioned there are those who do not want to ask for help.

JD

[Thomas Keim]

Chaad,
While I understand where you're coming from, there is no denying that some people resonate to scores and popular press reviews.

I think incorporating some of that into point of sale merchandising along with store generated descriptions is effective in reaching the ultimate goal of branding yourself (or your shop).

Building a rapport with your customer base that gives you the benefit of being the resource for recommendations whether or not the pop press has reviewed them should be everyone's dream, but there are many ways to get there.

Thom,
I don't think Liotta was being literal, at the risk of interpreting....

So true Mark -

Many times - a shelftalker can start a conversation with someone who originally just wanted to brouse -

I like using a little card that tells consumers the basic grape makeup in each wine - this is so valuable with Rhone/Provence/Languedoc reds where everyone knows Grenache, Syrah & Cabernet/Merlot grapes - but usually don't know that is the basic makeup of Southern French reds - it simplifies things so much - and gives the consumer needed info without hitting them over the head with it -

And I originally thought John was being tongue in cheek, he just missed the cheek -

[chaad thomas]

Chaad,
While I understand where you're coming from, there is no denying that some people resonate to scores and popular press reviews.

I think incorporating some of that into point of sale merchandising along with store generated descriptions is effective in reaching the ultimate goal of branding yourself (or your shop).

Building a rapport with your customer base that gives you the benefit of being the resource for recommendations whether or not the pop press has reviewed them should be everyone's dream, but there are many ways to get there.

Thom,
I don't think Liotta was being literal, at the risk of interpreting....

Mark,

When you say, "along with store generated descriptions," I think we're on the same page, here. As I said earlier, "just regurgitating scores and/or third-party notes" is the problem, so I agree that they can be *part* of a successful mix.

I would be surprised to see a serious, professional, wine specialty shop to use a talker like the type Bowman posted, though.

Hmmm, this might be a good topic for a poll...

[Randy Bowman]

Guess the sample I posted wasn't well received, but it was a sample of the format. Our tasting notes and/or the wine makers notes were used also. The notes are simple, not glitzy like grocery stores and bevmo like warehouses and they take minimal space. They worked well in our old hole in the wall shop.

We don't use shelf talkers any more, now that the wine is displayed in a temperature controlled cellar. But, we still get the people through here that want to know WS or WA scores and notes, (Point chasers).

[chaad thomas]

Guess the sample I posted wasn't well received, but it was a sample of the format. Our tasting notes and/or the wine makers notes were used also. The notes are simple, not glitzy like grocery stores and bevmo like warehouses and they take minimal space. They worked well in our old hole in the wall shop.

We don't use shelf talkers any more, now that the wine is displayed in a temperature controlled cellar. But, we still get the people through here that want to know WS or WA scores and notes, (Point chasers).

I don't get why you don't use them anymore, Randy? Is it something to do with the type of racking in the cellar?

[mike.m]

We use them in my store.

Right now we have a number of Distributor generated ones, but only ones that look nice.

I also make little ones in Excel to highlight the wines that we choose to bring in the store. They are simple and mounted on a piece of green construction paper. They look ok, but they are personal and people are reacting pretty well to them.

I am waiting on delivery of business cards that will be used for our new tasting notes. They just have a strip across the bottom with our store name and logo and the top is where we can handwrite tasting notes. Just a sentence or two about the wine and then the price. Simple and clean, I'm just concerned about my crappy handwriting!

We don't use points on any of our store generated notes, and I'm hoping to slowly get rid of the few that distributors gave us. Mostly those are on case cards, but there are a few shelftalkers too.

I'm not into the 100 point scale, so I'm conflicted about using them. I know it makes people feel better to see a 90 pt raiting on a wine. They just aren't for me.

[Randy Bowman]

Guess the sample I posted wasn't well received, but it was a sample of the format. Our tasting notes and/or the wine makers notes were used also. The notes are simple, not glitzy like grocery stores and bevmo like warehouses and they take minimal space. They worked well in our old hole in the wall shop.

We don't use shelf talkers any more, now that the wine is displayed in a temperature controlled cellar. But, we still get the people through here that want to know WS or WA scores and notes, (Point chasers).

I don't get why you don't use them anymore, Randy? Is it something to do with the type of racking in the cellar?

It's not the racking, as we are still using the same type of racking. Some of it has to do with limited time but mostly, Carrie likes to spend the time with people. As we've grown in knowledge and understanding, we have gotten better at reading what the person is looking for in a wine by their descriptions and examples of what they've liked in the past. Carrie is excellent at matching wines to people and visa versa, giving them suggestions of wines they might like. The personnal touch results in more return customers. The drop-in point chasers and some of those who want to "shop for themselves," are generally looking for deals and shop sporadically. When we were heavy on Aussie wines, the shelf talkers were helpful. With 1001 wines, 872 displayed in racks, shelf talkers get cumbersome.
One other point the others have touched on, shelf talkers can be negative. Think about the last time you were in a grocery or low end wine store. The shelf talkers were BS on swill, sale pricing on plop or a paragraph of drivel from an untrained store employee. Contrary to those who don't condone shelf talkers with WS and WA ratings, they are more believable and respected than those of an unknown store employee.

[Mark.Ricca]

We're 25,000 ft. overall and about 80% of that selling space. Lots of case stacks! Shelf talkers are necessary help on the floor. We use Word as the template with photo of a member of the wine staff and a description that may or may not incorporate a pop press review/score. We use those as an embellishment to our worded description where we feel it is warranted. One of my favorite examples being Bob Varner's Foxglove label Chardonnay. Three vintages in a row RP gave it 90 pts. and after tasting the wines I felt that it was more than justified so I include that in my note.

People do read them and they are comprehensive enough that they appeal to novices and experienced wine enthusiasts alike.

[Greg Taylor]

i use an actual person... sitting on the shelf... talking...gets quite noisy sometimes, all that babbling going on...


btw....

[Roberto Rogness]

Creativity works. Dig this: The LA Weekly did a story on our SIGNS...

http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/wine ... a-tequila/