Clearance Section: Linear Feet or Inches

Measuring Linear Feet or Inches by Brand/Category

You will measure the total linear feet or inches (depending on the project) of merchandise belonging to each brand or category found on Clearance. It is likely that every brand/category we are collecting data on will have some level of Clearance to measure.

What will you be measuring?

You will measure the space each category's inventory takes up in the Clearance Section, whether it be free standing racks, wall racks, tables or shelves.

If you encounter a rack, measure the total space the inventory takes up on it.

If you encounter a table, measure the width of the front. Make sure you take into account multiple shelves. If you see a table with more than one shelf, you should measure the width of the front and multiply by the number of shelves with inventory on them.

If you encounter a round or rectangular table, measure around it to record the linear feet of the circumference (the outer edge).

On the Clearance racks, some stores are better than others when keeping categories grouped together.

For example, let's say you encounter the following rack in the Clearance section. One rack has the same category; note that it is a mix of all different style dresses. In this case measuring linear feet or inches will be easy. 

• Since all of the items fall under the same category, you would just pace the length of the rack to get the total linear feet on Clearance.
• For example, your shoe measures 12" (1 foot), and the length of the rack is a total of 6 paces. You would record that there were 6 linear feet of dresses in the Clearance section.
• *If your project requires a linear inch measurement, then you'd convert into inches. Therefore, total linear feet measurement of 6 feet X 12 inches = 72 total linear inches. 

Hints/Tips/Suggestions

Should you run into a more messy, unorganized Clearance section, to get your total linear feet or inch measurement, throw a little math at it! The best way to tackle a messy clearance rack is to measure the entire rack and get your total measurement.  Then, estimate the percentage of how much of the rack is dedicated to tops, how much is dedicated to bottoms. Write down your estimate percentages, then calculate the feet/inches for each brand/category when you get home.