I first met Crystal Vikaitis some 15 years ago, when she was bringing her enthusiasm and expertise about social medial to the gift industry through popular trade shows lectures. She has since launched the company Crystal Media, built a successful marketing brand called Rooted in Retail, and acquired the nickname – based on the meaning… Read More

An update of a popular blog post from 2011 We love it when our suppliers make their closeouts and overstocks available to our shop instead of selling them to T. J. Maxx or Marshall’s.  The fact that customers can find products at these discount outlets similar to the ones we’re offering at full price makes… Read More

Last year was the 50th anniversary of the scratch card, which is usually used as an instant lottery game. In the most common scenario, the player scratches off three or more areas in the hopes that the numbers or symbols that are revealed will be the same. According to Planet Money on NPR, “Americans spend… Read More

An update of a popular blog post from 2015 Sending an email blast to your customers doesn’t do any good if your message doesn’t get opened.  And yet even with a permission-based list of people who have agreed to receive emails from your shop, you would be doing well to get an “open rate” of… Read More

Faire is such a dominant player on the retail scene that it was big news when they started to offer American retailers the option of paying through Plaid. Several shopkeepers have asked what this is, and whether using this ACH platform is a good idea. (If you’re not already familiar with the basics of ACH,… Read More

I’m not sure what might be an appropriate way to commemorate closing our store due to the pandemic, but the 5th anniversary of that sad day is coming up soon.  What a tough time it was for independent retailers –  and almost every other business.  Back in March, 2020 the majority of us thought that… Read More

An update of a blog post from 2010 Permission-based e-mail marketing and social networking are now considered essential promotional tools for all retailers (which wasn’t the case when this post first appeared 15 years ago). They’re fast, free, and relatively easy ways to stay in touch with customers.  But how do you turn your existing… Read More

Buying decisions have always involved an element of gambling. Will the products I’m reordering continue to sell well? Do my customers share the national passion for this year’s hot color combination? Can I count on a strong holiday season, despite all the unknown economic factors? Today there is a new gamble added to the mix:… Read More

This is an update of a popular blog post from 2010 I love learning something new from my sales reps, and was delighted to hear from one of them back in 2010 that the most popular initials for monogrammed items spelled out Mrs. Jackel. Unfortunately using M,R,S,J,A,C,K,E, and L no longer works, because while today’s most… Read More

I do miss the days of “shop till you drop” – an expression coined when consumer culture and the concept of shopping for pleasure became popular. Younger shopkeepers may not believe it, but once upon a time people (mostly women) enjoyed spending hours browsing in malls and shopping streets for items they didn’t necessarily need.  The… Read More