You may have heard of the Pareto Principle, usually known as the “80/20 rule.”  According to this tenet, 80% of a company’s sales come from roughly 20% of its customer base.  Assuming this is true, it’s essential that you keep the 20% of your customer base that is most loyal engaged by constantly refreshing your store. This… Read More

This is an update of a popular blog post from 2010. “Every product tells a story” read the sign in a display of handmade African items at the New York Gift Fair. It was a great reminder of the fact that one of our jobs as retailers is to communicate the story behind the merchandise… Read More

Welcome to the end of 2024. It’s been a bit of a bumpy ride, hasn’t it? Some stores showed the kind of increases one would hope for as the original pandemic year recedes into the past. I find it hard to believe that just four years ago this month, our store was open a total… Read More

The news is filled with talk of tariffs, and what new ones will mean to American businesses. But many of us don’t really have a clear idea of how a tariff works.  A tariff, simply put, is a tax imposed by one government on goods from another country.  Tariffs can be used to raise money,… Read More

This is an update of a popular blog post from 2009. Forget New Year’s resolutions, the Rose Bowl, or black-eyed peas as New Year’s traditions.  In our shop, New Year’s Day used to mean one thing: inventory.  It’s an all-hand-on-deck event during which we physically count everything that is still around after the holidays.  To… Read More

Hopefully you haven’t had any contact with the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) up to now. But starting at the beginning of 2024, certain types of corporations registered to do business in the U.S. – including many retail stores – are required to report the information about their “beneficial owners”… Read More

This is an update of a popular blog post from 2017. The busiest shopping day of the year is traditionally said to be the day after Thanksgiving, dubbed Black Friday in honor of stores “getting in the black” and making a profit starting that day. Those of us who love the origin of words and… Read More

Whether you sell books or women’s clothing, you don’t want your store to be just like the others in your category.  One way of distinguishing your business – while pursuing your own passion – is to offer a narrow niche of merchandise. This can be a great idea, or a recipe for failure, depending on… Read More

This is an update of a popular blog post from 2013. Spring cleaning may not be on your mind during November and December, but the Christmas season is an ideal time to go through your store’s back stock to get rid of odds and ends of merchandise.  I have often quoted the line “don’t let… Read More

Many independent retailers have a love/hate relationship with the B2B platform Faire. We love being able to find obscure, small lines that would never have been shown in a trade show. We hate what this direct ordering option is doing to the sales rep system. We love knowing exactly what is in stock when we… Read More