Who wants to be a Millionaire?

I must admit that the hyperbole in the title of Joanna “Jody” Bradshaw’s book Be a Millionaire Shopkeeper put me off a bit, because those of us who have been independent retailers for years know that achieving millionaire status is fairly unlikely.  But her subtitle, How Your Independent Shop Can Compete with the Big Guys, is a good description of the strengths of Bradshaw’s book (published by iUniverse in 2012).

Joanna Bradshaw’s main experience in the field of retailing is her 45 year career as a senior retailing executive at Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s, along with entrepreneurial experiences as cofounder and president of HØME Ltd. Since she describes HØME Ltd as a 120,000 square foot category-killer lifestyle chain, it is clear that Bradshaw’s idea of a “shopkeeper” is not necessarily someone running a small local bookstore or dress shop.

But that is not to say that her advice to potential retailers will not be useful to those of us seeking to improve our competitive edge no matter what size our store. Because she knows a lot about the “big guys,” she can advise smaller retailers about how to differentiate themselves in today’s crowded marketplace.  She recommends doing this through merchandise selection, customer service, careful financial planning and creative marketing.

According to Bradshaw’s web site, Be a Millionaire Shopkeeper teaches readers how to:

•create a successful business plan

•develop and convey a mission statement

•harness your strengths to achieve a competitive advantage

•refine and differentiate your products and store

•use innovative cost-effective ways to promote your business

Her advice about pricing reflects techniques usually at play in bigger businesses, such as the concept of stocking “good, better, best” products in each category.  She also describes using a style-out and line extensions to refine a category assortment, analyzing a mug assortment as a helpful example.  While these approaches are based on methods used in major retailers, much can be learned from them and applied to smaller shops.

As I mentioned, I found the name Be a Millionaire Shopkeeper to be a bit over the top — but I had allowed my editor to append the subtitle Everything You Need to Know about Retailing to the most recent edition of my book, Specialty Shop Retailing.  I don’t think that you’ll become a millionaire by reading Jody’s book, or find everything you need to know about retailing in mine. But given the challenges of owning an independent store today, it doesn’t hurt to learn as much as you can from us both.

Happy Retailing,

Carol “Orange” Schroeder