As part of our Retail Check In series, we spoke with Bill Dreibelbis, the owner of Quiet Storm, a high volume industry account with 12 stores on the East Coast.
Quiet Storm has stores in Florida, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, and South Carolina.
How is business going this summer and so far this year?
Bill Dreibelbis: Sales in summer stores has been very good still. South Carolina through Maryland and Delaware have all been up. May was horrible because of the weather and we finally dug ourselves out of that huge hole this past week.
Florida stores are a different story – one is up, one is down and one is flat.
But we are thrilled with the year-to-date overall. We are actually surprised that the year is going this well.
Any hot categories?
Bill Dreibelbis: Private label is hot, we have good product and great pricing. However, all brands are selling pretty well.
How are you feeling about the inventory situation?
Bill Dreibelbis: We have plenty of goods and don’t need anything in our northern stores except true fall goods.
How do you think the rest of the year will turn out?
Bill Dreibelbis: We are opening two new stores – in Palm Beach Gardens and Charleston, South Carolina – so we really are hoping things stay okay. But who the hell knows?
