How to Choose the Best Clear Plastic Containers with Lids for Your Store

Dec 30
11:46

2009

Terry Keenan

Terry Keenan

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If you’ve spent any amount of time at all working in the retail industry, you’re probably well aware of how important plastic containers are as storag...

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If you’ve spent any amount of time at all working in the retail industry,How to Choose the Best Clear Plastic Containers with Lids for Your Store Articles you’re probably well aware of how important plastic containers are as storage, organizational, and display fixtures. Yet, despite how useful these fixtures are, sometimes your merchandise needs a little something extra, and clear plastic containers with lids provide just that.Step One: Take Inventory of Your MerchandiseThe first step to choosing the best clear plastic containers with lids for your store is to figure out what merchandise you want to display. Like regular plastic containers, those varieties with lids are also available in a wide variety of sizes and styles; however, even the biggest one has its limits so be sure to choose merchandise that’s small enough to comfortably fit inside. Of course, the kind of merchandise you choose will depend on the kind of store or restaurant you manage, but some ideas include small children’s toys like bouncy balls, pieces of wrapped candy or gumballs, loose snacks like trail mix, arts and crafts items like beads, and convenience items like matchbooks and lighters.Step Two: Evaluate Your Display SpaceOnce you know what you want to display, it’s time to figure out where you want to display it. You need to be fully aware of how much display space you’re going to have to work with so you’ll know how many – and what sizes of – clear plastic containers with lids you’re going to need.Step Three: Get Familiar With Available Display FixturesNow that you know what kind of merchandise you want to display and how much display space you have to work with, it’s time to get familiar with the various kinds of clear plastic containers with lids.The best way to do this is to follow the age-old advice of “shop around.” Locate a few wholesalers who sell display fixtures (a good way to do this is to talk with owners of similar businesses and get recommendations) and compare their fixtures with each other.Step Four: Don’t Order What You Don’t Need!This should be common sense, but ordering more than what you need or fixture types that you don’t need is a waste of money. Oftentimes we get swept up in “what if” scenarios and dazzled by display fixtures we think would look great in our stores but aren’t actually what we need.As long as you take inventory of your merchandise, evaluate your display space, and take time to shop around and get familiar with all the clear plastic containers with lids available to you, you should be fine.Step Five: Think About the FutureBecause of their durability and the convenience they provide store owners and customers, plastic containers are some of the most popular display fixtures among retail establishments and restaurants; however, despite these factors, there will come a time when you’re ready to trade them in for newer, or different, models and when that time comes it’s good to have a “backup plan” for your containers.Many store and restaurant owners and managers choose to hang on to their clear plastic containers with lids and use them as tools for storage and organization. Depending on the size of your old bins, you might want to use them under your countertops to keep often used items on hand, or you might want to use them in your manager’s office or even in your establishment’s stockroom. Of course, if you don’t want to hang on to your old fixtures, you can always sell or donate them to other similar businesses – especially those just getting started!