The Nieman Marcus “fantasy gifts” for 2022 included a bespoke Barbie™ Maserati for $330,000, and an Art Deco diamond tiara for $3.2 million. In case these items were out of their customers’ budgets, at the bottom of the page announcing these luxury items Nieman Marcus included a link to “fantasy for all” gifts starting at… Read More

Heart on Main Street is a new non-profit dedicated to helping independent retailers and locally-owned businesses evolve and thrive within their local communities. According to founder Patrick Keiser, it will do this by providing tools, resources and education so that they can invest back into their businesses and maintain their presence in the community.  The… Read More

We tried a new promotion on Monroe Street this holiday season, and hope that we can build on its success next year. You might get some ideas from our Elf Door Scavenger Hunt and do your own version – it turned out to be a fun way to lead kids and families to discover all… Read More

For better or worse, B2B sites such as Faire have changed the way some retailers buy. You may have recently heard about another entry into this wholesale marketplace – an Asian B2B company called Peeba. Launched in Hong Kong in June, 2020, Peeba is now publicizing their platform internationally. However their website states that for… Read More

Social shopping is back – and not limited to the holidays. One way to boost your sales throughout the winter months is to invite a group to come into your store to enjoy some refreshments while shopping. Offering refreshments that include some wine, or warm gløgg, helps create a festive welcome. It’s easy to host… Read More

Our shop is closed Boxing Day, which is on December 26, unless it falls on a Saturday. We just feel that we deserve two days off in a row after the busy Christmas season. But in many parts of the world, Boxing Day has evolved from being a day to give boxes of gifts to… Read More

Christmas is everywhere at this time of year.  And while many of us try to be more inclusive by saying “Season’s Greetings” and “Happy Holidays,” few stores carry much merchandise for Hanukkah.  There are of course good reasons for this – Hanukkah is not a major holiday in the Jewish year, and some areas don’t… Read More

A Google search for promotional ideas for business district reveals the fact that a large number of the most active communities have one thing in common: they are past or present participants in Main Street America. This program was started in 1980 as part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and focuses on older… Read More

Gratitude is on everyone’s mind this week as we head towards Thanksgiving and the start of the holiday season. Despite concerns about inflation, recession, employee shortages and supply chain issues, we have much to be thankful for in 2022. I realized this recently when someone reminded me that only two years ago our shop was… Read More

Have you ever seen a product on TikTok and clicked through to buy it? If so, you are not alone. The so-called social commerce industry is expected to grow three times faster than traditional ecommerce in the coming years. This means that more and more consumers will be seeing a product, deciding to buy it,… Read More