“Can a business refuse to accept cash?” would once have been thought a very unlikely question to be facing the retail community.  But earlier this year the New York City Council was in fact considering a proposal to ban restaurants and retail establishments from going cashless, according to the National Law Review.  While most of… Read More

Every state has its own version of unemployment insurance requirements, designed to protect individuals who are laid off or let go. The American version of the unemployment insurance program, which originated in England, was established at the height of the Depression to help the many people struggling without jobs. Coverage provides a certain level of… Read More

An influencer is defined as “an individual who has the power to affect purchase decisions of others because of his/her authority, knowledge, position or relationship with his/her audience.” Typically an influencer is actively engaged with social media followers in a particular niche – so it can be really helpful to make sure you’re in touch… Read More

Wine walks, art tours, chocolate crawls – these are all events that can help get customers to visit a number of stores in an area. Shoppers buy a ticket or are given a passport and a list of participating businesses, and make their way from one venue to the next. The Vintage Shop Hop takes… Read More

Things Remembered recently declared bankruptcy so that the business could be purchased by Enesco, a major brand mostly interested in the “leading personalization capabilities” it acquired through the deal.  You may wonder why the 40-year-old chain failed if personalization is supposed to be such a hot trend – but as with many recent retail failures,… Read More

“See what the world’s creating” is the motto of b8ta.com, a young company reimagining the way that new products are brought to consumers in a brick and mortar store. They had a large presence in the lobby area of the recent International Home and Housewares Show in Chicago, and I was intrigued by their innovative… Read More

This has been a long, harsh winter in our part of the country, and we’re eager for signs that it is over. The change to daylight savings time coming up for us next weekend means one less hour in the day, but it’s worth it to know that snow and ice will soon be behind… Read More

Whoever said “humanity runs on coffee” was not far off the mark. In our shop, humorous magnets with a coffee theme sell well. Coffee mugs sell well. Coffee grinders and coffee makers sell well. But for some stores, there is retail salvation to be found in a cup of java. On a recent visit to… Read More

Rarely has such a short time produced such a dramatic change in the retail scene. A 2018 article in The New York Times includes the shocking statement that “a survey conducted by Douglas Elliman found that about 20 percent of all retail space in Manhattan is currently vacant…compared with roughly 7 percent in 2016.” This… Read More

An offer of $100 off an order, with free returns, sounds tempting – but for some reason we didn’t follow through on the emails we got from some of our vendors saying that we could get this heady discount if we ordered their merchandise through Faire. I’d never heard of the site, and frankly the… Read More