“As retailers open their doors and begin operating in the new economy, many might find their associates are dealing with a new array of challenges. Even as the number of infections and deaths decline, the economic and societal fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic could linger for years.”  These insights by Craig Guillot were published on… Read More

Communities wanting to help revitalize their commercial districts post-COVID may want to consider the concept of pop-ups. In our city of Madison, Wisconsin, Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway recently introduced The Madison Pop-Up Shop Initiative. It addresses the need to help the businesses of downtown Madison who were hit hard by the pandemic, as well as the… Read More

Total spending in the US for Father’s Day was about $17 billion in 2020 – and that was at the height of the pandemic. The National Retail Federation’s statistics show this holiday trending up significantly from $12.5 billion in 2015, which is about a 35% increase. Even if you don’t normally promote Father’s Day gifts,… Read More

“Joanna’s Favorites” for the summer of 2021 include everything from the Bee’s Wrap Cheese Set to a $70 plywood version of the traditional plastic milk crate. “Chip’s Favorites” are much more masculine – a bluetooth speaker in duck blue and a book called How to Stay Alive in the Woods. The couple who selected these… Read More

“Closed due to lack of staff” is a sign that is following hot on the heals of “Closed due to COVID.”  Whether they are temporary or permanent, the closures due to a shortage of employees reflect yet another big challenge facing retailers and restaurants today.  Many small businesses lost their long-time staff during the months… Read More

Pandexit (n.) The final phase of a pandemic. According an article in The Cap Times by University of Wisconsin professors Malia Jones and Christine Whelan, we are entering “the messy, halting, confusing labyrinth we must navigate to get from where we are to our new normal. Pandexit is the transition period between crisis and the… Read More

Amazon’s sales topped $1 billion a day in 2020, according to Bloomberg Technology. Amazon benefited disproportionately from COVID-19 and the shift towards online sales caused by the pandemic. In fact, the Bloomberg article states that their revenue grew nearly 44% in the fourth quarter of 2020.  It goes without saying that much of this growth was at… Read More

The Monroe Street Chocolate Walk would have celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, but was one of the countless COVID cancellations. Now that vaccinations are starting to make a return to normalcy possible, stores are beginning to think about how to add the “retailtainment” element back into their marketing.  It’s time for the Monroe Street… Read More

The skyscraper-long container ship blocking the Suez Canal was finally dislodged on March 29, ending a crisis that the German insurer Allianz estimated cost up to $10 billion a day.  While it seems unlikely that anything headed for your shop was in the Ever Given’s 18,000 containers, you may well experience other container-related disruptions in this year’s… Read More

According to a recent blog post on Hootsuite, “The typical social media user now spends 2 hours and 25 minutes on social media each day, equating to roughly one waking day of their life every week. Added together, the world’s social media users will spend a total of 3.7 trillion hours on social media in… Read More