MEGATHREAD Signing Tips, Tricks and Quips (along with howls of despair)

Hey guys I just applied for the signing position in my store! How do you know what needs to get done? Do you have any advice to stay ahead?
 
spookum said:
Hey guys I just applied for the signing position in my store! How do you know what needs to get done? Do you have any advice to stay ahead?
Click to expand...

that's a great question - and i'm sure a lot of people on here could chime in and help you - but wouldn't it be better to start a new topic for it? has anyone started a guide for it? in this thread you're going to have to sift through a lot of questions and answers coming in for completely unrelated things that are about the current sets going on.
 
spookum said:
Hey guys I just applied for the signing position in my store! How do you know what needs to get done? Do you have any advice to stay ahead?
Click to expand...

Never stop moving.
Signing is like being a shark, you stop moving you are going to die.
Actually you are more likely to be pecked to death by ducks, there is no end to the needy TM's, TL's and ETL's you will be dealing with.
I suggest a notebook to write things down because you will forget and it will come back to bite you.
The sharpie is your friend, mark your boxes in big letters with what they are (in better terms than what it says on the box) and when you want to do it (that will probably change but best guess).
Keep your stuff organized and hurt anyone who messes with it (seriously beat them, best them hard).
OK, you can't beat them but call them out on it.
The fixture room is going to be your bailiwick so make sure no one dumps and runs, shelves, baskets or carts.
Track them down and make sure they put the stuff away.
Whine, pout, cry if you have to, you won't be able to do your job if you have to fight to get your stuff every day.
 
greydot said:
that's a great question - and i'm sure a lot of people on here could chime in and help you - but wouldn't it be better to start a new topic for it? has anyone started a guide for it? in this thread you're going to have to sift through a lot of questions and answers coming in for completely unrelated things that are about the current sets going on.
Click to expand...

Good point.
 
spookum said:
this is gonna sound stupid, but i can't seem to find a "create a thread" button.
Click to expand...

It's the red button on the top left when you go into the forum, same spot the new reply button is in a thread.
 
Spent 2 hours yesterday and 3 hours today building Halloween and Shops. We have 4 8' tables, and the signing was easy compared to years past. Instructions were good, but a 3rd hand would have been nice on some of the steps. We will have real pumpkins, so all those floor bins and hay are stacked on top until the day of the set.

How long to build the overheads and FOS? Sunday is for The Shops and scraping that nasty pencil off the transoms. {dread} Hopefully I can complete Halloween on Monday since we don't set Halloween until Wednesday.....
 
I am a hard lines team leader with no signing tm. The shops overheads I can't seem to find. What is the box or boxes labeled?!
 
I did the Shops signing today. Didn't take too long. Just make sure you use the right frame for the right shop. The frames are marked so isn't too hard. Haven't started the Halloween signing at all.

Glad we aren't getting real pumpkins.
 
You set shops signing? Thought that was street dated? What were the overheads labeled?
 
My STL said put it up cause I am not there on Sunday to do it. Last time I came in to do the shops, but we are working overnight next week. So, I put all the OH signing up today.

Each shop, Odin of New York for example (Men's clothes), has a frame and a bar to hang from. They are specific to each shop. Thankfully each bar and frame have a label for what shop it belongs to instead of just a number.

Nothing too difficult.
 
i wish it was like......best practice to set this stuff early. like, the signs, the fixtures, etc. and leave off the merchandise til the street date. having the fixtures empty with something new coming soon signs would generate interest and excitement for guests who might not otherwise know about it. i used to have a SL ETL that was like, set it early! but since they harped really hard on street dates like 2 years ago and we have all new ETLs i gotta play it by the book.

btw - didn't get to prebuild any shops friday. i'll be in tonight/tomorrow morning to take care of that. had a surprise "its a holiday week, everyone come in an extra day and lets do all of seasonal" so i ended up going through and doing all the rear seasonal stuff. didn't get to the tables yet, but when i'm back in on tuesday thats where i'll be. i looked at all the timing estimates for the shops and it puts putting up all the shops and collecting and taking down all the BTS/BTC overheads a little over or a little under 8 hours for the whole thing, not including the fall FOS.

looking at VA for halloween, i think i am going to like the holiday set this winter. i really like the blue prism backer paper for the ETAT set. they have red in there but the blue is just a nice set of colors.

i'm glad they've minimized the Halloween signing this year. however - i do miss that one set where they had big cardboard letters for halloween? that one was a pain but kind of fun.

ps - what did you guys do with all the fixtures that came in for softlines? between the Men's set where we got like an entire pallet of shoulder hang bars, and then all the new stuff that came with the new table sets in RTW/Men's/Performance i have an entire pallet left AFTER all the tables have been built. I told the SL team to toss old fixtures that were bent and broken and cycle in the new ones, but that didn't happen at all. do you guys make them get rid of all the new stuff (either palletize and put up, or fixture room it) or do you just do it yourself? i would have to clear an entire vertical section in the fixture room, unbox/detrash everything and then put it all up, and i just don't have time for it.
 
greydot said:
ps - what did you guys do with all the fixtures that came in for softlines? between the Men's set where we got like an entire pallet of shoulder hang bars, and then all the new stuff that came with the new table sets in RTW/Men's/Performance i have an entire pallet left AFTER all the tables have been built. I told the SL team to toss old fixtures that were bent and broken and cycle in the new ones, but that didn't happen at all. do you guys make them get rid of all the new stuff (either palletize and put up, or fixture room it) or do you just do it yourself? i would have to clear an entire vertical section in the fixture room, unbox/detrash everything and then put it all up, and i just don't have time for it.
Click to expand...

I combined it all onto one pallet and put it up on the steel in the fixture room. Left them in the box so they stack better.
 
ISM Master said:
I combined it all onto one pallet and put it up on the steel in the fixture room. Left them in the box so they stack better.
Click to expand...

in the past i would have done the same but our STL is of the mindset that there shouldn't really be any palletized fixtures ("if we're not using them, we don't need them").

what would everyone here say should be on the "keep" list for palletized shelving?

14" riser shelves
the chrome baskets that come on and off plano
shoe baskets

what else? but by what else i mean, what is "essential". we have others that we hold onto but may have to get rid of like game cases, softlines shelves, shoe shelves, 18" shelves (not too many), one new shipment of 20" that came after our home innovation remodel, mixed misc (extra new euro baskets, holiday bow bins, sometimes the ball bin fixtures since they never come in on time, backpack hooks, new sidecaps.).
 
greydot said:
in the past i would have done the same but our STL is of the mindset that there shouldn't really be any palletized fixtures ("if we're not using them, we don't need them").

what would everyone here say should be on the "keep" list for palletized shelving?

14" riser shelves
the chrome baskets that come on and off plano
shoe baskets

what else? but by what else i mean, what is "essential". we have others that we hold onto but may have to get rid of like game cases, softlines shelves, shoe shelves, 18" shelves (not too many), one new shipment of 20" that came after our home innovation remodel, mixed misc (extra new euro baskets, holiday bow bins, sometimes the ball bin fixtures since they never come in on time, backpack hooks, new sidecaps.).
Click to expand...

I would keep, 1 pallet of Softlines shelving & 1 pallet of 18" (you will need in 4th quarter). Backpack hooks you will need for Halloween. Once Halloween is set, toss the extras. Keep the ball bin fixtures. Holiday bow bins should be tossed, because we don't use the endcap ones anymore, and we get all new ones every year for the run.
I would check to see if you used the 20" correctly. They sent a pallet for the last set of plastic storage. Otherwise I wouldn't keep too many of those. Game cases are to be seen. I have 4 that came off in the past year, but scared to toss because of the expense to replace them if they bring them back in the 4th quarter...
 
buckwill said:
My STL said put it up cause I am not there on Sunday to do it. Last time I came in to do the shops, but we are working overnight next week. So, I put all the OH signing up today.

Each shop, Odin of New York for example (Men's clothes), has a frame and a bar to hang from. They are specific to each shop. Thankfully each bar and frame have a label for what shop it belongs to instead of just a number.

Nothing too difficult.
Click to expand...

Bad STL! LOL! Shops was a definite street date for Sunday. I don't work Sundays either, but I am today. They let me determine how long I stay.

Once I'm done, I'm outta there, but I may just stay and scrape that horrible pencil off the transom window... IF Shops is done at least an hour before the store opens.
 
I've kept that huge frelling wood case for the little toy animals even though it looks like we won't be needing it because my STL had me throw it out before and then I had to order it when we did the reset and it cost over $500.
 
commiecorvus said:
Never stop moving.
Signing is like being a shark, you stop moving you are going to die.
Actually you are more likely to be pecked to death by ducks, there is no end to the needy TM's, TL's and ETL's you will be dealing with.
I suggest a notebook to write things down because you will forget and it will come back to bite you.
The sharpie is your friend, mark your boxes in big letters with what they are (in better terms than what it says on the box) and when you want to do it (that will probably change but best guess).
Keep your stuff organized and hurt anyone who messes with it (seriously beat them, best them hard).
OK, you can't beat them but call them out on it.
The fixture room is going to be your bailiwick so make sure no one dumps and runs, shelves, baskets or carts.
Track them down and make sure they put the stuff away.
Whine, pout, cry if you have to, you won't be able to do your job if you have to fight to get your stuff every day.
Click to expand...
<THIS!!!! LOL! Best advice ever!
 
buckwill said:
My STL said put it up cause I am not there on Sunday to do it. Last time I came in to do the shops, but we are working overnight next week. So, I put all the OH signing up today.

Each shop, Odin of New York for example (Men's clothes), has a frame and a bar to hang from. They are specific to each shop. Thankfully each bar and frame have a label for what shop it belongs to instead of just a number.

Nothing too difficult.
Click to expand...

What he said. Not only that, but every danged frame I had to tape together because the glue was all dried out and did not stick the pieces of cardboard together. I spent more time taping this stuff together than I did putting it up. What a crappy job. I preferred the ones from last time better.

And speaking of the last time...Dear Target, stop trying to make The Shops happen. It's not going to unless it's a big name designer like Missoni. Nobody was lining up nor were they remotely interested in what we had today...don't think we sold anything this morning.
 
spookum said:
Hey guys I just applied for the signing position in my store! How do you know what needs to get done? Do you have any advice to stay ahead?
Click to expand...

You need a strong plano team leader, and a strong plano team. best advice I can give you right off the bat that hasn't already been covered here.

Without a strong plano team, you will fail.
 

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