May 25, 2026

#084: The Inventory Engine Workshop - Part 3

28 minutes

You have done the math. You know the metrics. Now comes the part where it gets real.

This is Part 3 of the Inventory Engine Workshop, the Q&A. Cathy and Coach Maven Dana Connell open the floor to the questions store owners actually lose sleep over. What do you do when your open to buy says one thing and your gut says another? How do you handle reorders when the cash just isn't there? What does asking a vendor for markdown dollars even mean, and are you really allowed to do that? And what happens when sales don't work or at least, you think they don't?

No scripts. No filler. Real answers.

And at the end, Cathy closes out the series with the one analogy that ties everything together. Your store is a car. Your inventory is the engine. And a well-tuned engine is the difference between a go-slow store and one that cruises toward a million dollars in sales.

This is where the system comes together.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

What to do when your open to buy number and your instincts are pointing in opposite directions

How to handle reorders when there isn't enough cash to place them

Why 60 to 90 days is the cutoff and what it means when a product hasn't moved by then

The difference between a promo and a strategic sale, and why only one of them actually moves dead stock

How long it realistically takes a new retailer to get the 90-day inventory flywheel working

Key Takeaways

[06:55] Understanding Open to Buy and Inventory Turnover

[09:46] Strategies for Fresh Inventory and Customer Engagement

[13:03] The Importance of Markdowns and Cash Flow

[16:02] Vendor Relationships and Negotiation Tactics

[18:50] Community Engagement and Event Planning

Resources & Links

If your shelves are full but your bank account isn't, the Inventory Engine is where that changes. In 90 days, we'll run the Sale That Works to clear your dead stock and put cash back in your pocket, install the Inventory Genie to show you exactly which categories are working and which are dragging you down, fix your markup so every extra dollar drops straight to gross profit, and build your Perfect Purchasing Plan so every order has a rationale and every dollar has a purpose. We only take a handful of stores at a time. Apply for one of the remaining June spots here.

💚 Remember: Inventory is not a guessing game. It never was. You now have the system, the numbers, and the framework to make your inventory work as hard as you do. The only thing left is to use it.

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