Live Demo — Pick Your Meeting

Dana, thanks for making the time. Before we get into anything, I'd love to hear what's going on at Coral Bay. What prompted you to look at new suppliers?

Honestly, our current vendor has been fine for years. But we're expanding — three new properties opening by October — and they told us they can't scale with us.

That's a big expansion. Congratulations.

Thanks. The problem is each property has a gift shop, and the shells are actually one of our highest-margin items. Guests love them.

What does your current setup look like? How do the shells get from vendor to gift shop?

They ship us bulk crates once a month. Our team sorts them, cleans them, and stocks the displays. It's a whole process.

We can handle all of that — sorting, cleaning, display-ready packaging. We do it for the boardwalk shops already.

That's... interesting. But I'm not sure we need that. Our team has a system.

Tell me more about the sorting process. How long does it take?

Each property spends about six hours a month on it. It's two people for a full afternoon. And honestly, half the shipment is stuff we can't sell — broken pieces, wrong sizes.

So across twelve properties, that's — what — seventy-two hours a month of staff time on shell sorting?

When you put it that way... yeah. Plus the waste. We're paying for shells we throw out.

What percentage would you say is waste?

Maybe 30 percent? The polished scallops are fine, but the raw conchs come in rough. Half of those go straight to the bin.

That's significant. What does a good conch display look like for you? The ones that actually sell?

The guests want the big, clean, Instagram-worthy ones. The kind you hold up to your ear. Those fly off the shelves at 25 dollars each.

We have those. Premium grade conchs, hand-selected —

— but what I really need to figure out is the three new properties. They're boutique resorts, not beach towns. Different clientele entirely.

How so?

These guests aren't looking for a souvenir bucket of shells. They want curated, artisanal stuff. Mounted displays, shadow boxes, that kind of thing.

Hey, sorry I'm late. What'd I miss?

We're learning about Coral Bay's expansion. Dana, you were saying the new properties need something different.

Right. And honestly, nobody in the shell business seems to think about the high-end market. Everyone just wants to sell bulk.

Dana, we can absolutely do premium. We've got the best conchs on the coast. Always be closing, right? Let me send you our catalog —

I appreciate the enthusiasm, but I'm not really at the catalog stage yet. I'm still trying to figure out what the new properties even need.

That makes sense. Let's stay with that. For the boutique properties — what does the guest experience look like? Walk me through it.

Picture a spa resort. The gift shop is small, curated. Everything is displayed on driftwood and linen. The shells aren't just products — they're part of the aesthetic.

So it's more about design and presentation than volume.

Exactly. And that's where I'm stuck. I don't know what the right product mix looks like for that environment. Our current vendor just ships crates. They don't think about this stuff.

That's useful. Let me take what you've shared and put together a curated product mix mockup for the three boutique properties — shadow boxes, mounted displays, that aesthetic. I'll have something over to you by Friday so we have a concrete starting point.

Friday works. That would actually be really helpful.

And to make it easier, I'll email you the floor plans and current display photos for all three new properties by Wednesday, so you have the exact dimensions to design around.

Perfect — that'll make the mockup much sharper. Thanks, Dana.