Sol Price was a legendary retailer whose Price Club, founded in 1976, eventually merged with Costco. He is attributed with creating the buying and merchandising philosophy that is still proudly posted in each Costco store. I’ve taken some time to consider how these Six Rights of Merchandise might apply to independent retailers. Stocking the right… Read More

This is an update of a popular blog post from 2015. A fascinating mix of psychology and mathematics that goes into setting promotional prices.  Of course it is important to start with a good understanding of the basic tenants of retail math, such as how to take keystone markup by doubling the wholesale price, and… Read More

“People buy from people” is a retail adage that speaks the importance of the human touch in forming ongoing relationships between a business and its customers.  Clearly in the case of our giant competitors such as Amazon and Walmart, there is no effort to identify the individuals behind the screen – and they are successful… Read More

This is an updated edition of a blog post from September, 2012 Halloween is now the #2 decorating holiday in America, more than one of our sales reps has proclaimed.  I usually counter that in the US we really only have two major decorating holidays: Christmas and Halloween.  But over the past decades, Halloween has… Read More

Peter Miller managed to offend me on page 15 of his new book entitled Shopkeeping: Stories, Advice and Observations. I must admit that he eventually won me over (mostly), but as the author of four editions of Specialty Shop Retailing, I take exception to his statement that “there are no books on shopkeeping.”  As a… Read More

An update of a Specialty Shop Retailing blog post from 2009 It’s been 15 years since I last wrote about how to deal with errors in shipments coming in from our vendors, and I still stand by my first sentence: The pickled pig feet were probably the worst.  Some of the bottles in another shipment… Read More

This is an updated version of a blog post from two presidential elections ago… “The coming months are set to be the most turbulent in recent election history,” according to a recent Vogue Business post. “Coming off of pandemic disruptions and supply chain delays, retailers are once again bracing for shifts in consumer spending as… Read More

You may have heard of Publisher’s Clearing House – a 70-year-old magazine subscription company famous for its million dollar sweepstakes incentives. But what do you know about the Automated Clearing House? ACH, as its known to its friends, is the  latest trend in how to pay your vendors for merchandise.  The Automated Clearing House is… Read More

This “best of” Specialty Shop Retailing blog is updated from a popular past post. In Peter Pan, James M. Barrie asks children to clap their hands if they believe in fairies.  The equivalent in retailing is often buying a whole lot of one item to show how strongly you believe that the merchandise is a… Read More

It’s Independent Retailer Month, and Heart on Main Street is joining in this effort to encourage consumers to shop local. Heart on Main Street was founded two years ago to provide knowledge, resources, and connections to independent retailers to help them evolve and thrive in an ever-changing economy.  This month, Heart on Main Street is… Read More