Successful retailing is all about having what your customers want today, and predicting what they will want tomorrow.  But at the same time, you can’t know where your business is going without knowing where it has come from.  Your shop’s history matters, whether you’ve been in business just a few months — or, like us,… Read More

Your shop undoubtedly sells lots of different items, because a wide variety increases your chance of having something that each customer will want.  But every so often it can be fun to pick one product — preferable a new discovery for your store — and to really do all you can to promote it. The… Read More

Retail didn’t make the top of the list of the Best Jobs in America, I’m afraid.  In fact when ranked in an article by Eve Tahmincioglu for msnbc.com, no positions in bricks and mortar stores were listed at all — but being an employee of an online business was #1!  This was a ranking based… Read More

Building up your inventory for the holiday season, remodeling, expanding — all good reasons for your business to need additional capital after you’ve already got it up and running.  But in today’s economy it can be particularly challenging to find a source for funding, especially if you want to avoid using credit cards that carry… Read More

“Halloween is now the #2 decorating holiday in America!” more than one sales rep has exclaimed.  While I will admit that Halloween decorating has trended up in the past decade, I usually counter that in the US we really only have two major decorating holidays: Christmas and Halloween.  But I will admit that in the… Read More

The Top Five Reasons A drum roll, please. Here are the top five reasons for…using a top five list!Whether in your e-mail marketing or social media postings, top five (or six, eight or ten) lists make for fun reading and are a great way to convey concise bits of news. And here are my top… Read More

What are your shop’s signature colors?  Studies show that using one or two colors consistently in your branding will significantly increase consumer recognition.  You may take it for granted that your daily deliveries from UPS will be made in a brown truck, and by a delivery person wearing brown — but when you see a… Read More

“Click like if you remember this.”  That simple line (or “Click like if you love _____.”), plus a photo, can score your Facebook page countless shares and likes. And the vitality of your business’s presence on Facebook depends on garnering this kind of interaction. You are probably already familiar with SEO, or search engine optimization,… Read More

“Volume feeds egos, profit feeds families” is Chip Averwater’s Retail Truth #32. I hadn’t ever thought about it that way, but it’s true that the bottom line is ultimately more important as a measure of success than sales volume, isn’t it? In his recently published book entitled Retail Truths: The Unconventional Wisdom of Retailing, Averwater… Read More

One of the young retailers on our street recently wrote on Facebook that she now has a Square Register at  her shop. “I’m so incredibly excited and happy and relieved – it’s the best purchase I’ve ever made for my business,” she posted.  Natalie at Zip-Dang is a talented designer whose fashion creations often make… Read More