Weekly Performance Charts

If I cannot see the net, how do I know if I scored a goal? The same applies to team member productivity results in a thrift store, backroom or thrift warehouse.

The goals have to be clearly stated and visible so that your team can work toward the goal. Setting the overall goal based on required results should be presented by management. Meeting the goal should be a group effort with input from all team members. A self-imposed individual commitment will be met more easily than a goal set by “the boss” or “management.”

Setting the goal can be a daily, weekly or monthly process that accounts for variable conditions and also builds on past results. Once your team has committed to reaching the goal, management can determine if it falls short. If so, then going back to the team and asking if they can stretch just a little bit should help to arrive at the required result. Your team should be responsible for maintaining the chart. Celebrate winning goals with recognition.

That which gets measured, gets done!

Biggest Impending Threat to Thrift

Consumers in general, and clothing retailers in particular, have come to realize that the current linear economy is not sustainable anymore. For that reason, American retailers are starting to recover in-house the products that used to be donations to charity thrifts.

An example of this sort of project has been recently announced by the company The North Face. Under the name of The North Face Renewed, the company defines the program as “a collection of refurbished clothing remade to explore.”

So with this stream of donations getting leaner, what does the future look like for these thrift stores? Also, how is this going to impact to the global customers of credentials and mixed rags?

The Old is Still Good

Salvage textiles are not the end of the story for donated clothing. Actually it can be just the beginning of a sustainable second life. For instance, what was once a pair of jeans or a denim jacket –apparels iconic to the American culture –could become fashionable garments, recycled bags for instance.

“Sometimes if you want to see a change for the better, you have to take things into your own hands.“ C. E.