It is no secret that high rents are driving some independent retailers out of business.  Real estate commitments are frequently the cause of the dire financial straits facing department and chain stores as well.  Rents in both small towns and big cities have gone up as real estate values increase, with the biggest competitor we… Read More

If your shop is incorporated, you are most likely an S Corp or C Corp.  You may not have even heard of the option of being a B Corp, which is not surprising — because this relatively new type of corporate status mostly reflects an ethical rather than legal position. “B Corps are for-profit entities… Read More

When the telephone rings in our shop, we never know if it will be a valued customer, respected sales rep —  or a phone scam.  After so many years in business, I’m pretty good at recognizing someone out to get us. But not all of our employees realize that there are those who specifically target… Read More

Whether you are just opening your first store, or have already been in business for some time, you may be tempted by an opportunity to consider a second location.  I invite you to think about the opportunities that opening a new branch presents — as well as the pitfalls. Perhaps I should start by mentioning… Read More

Most of us don’t have a design department at our beck and call, despite the constant need for sophisticated graphics for social media, email blasts, websites and blogs.  It’s lucky for us that a young Australian design instructor named Melanie Perkins created Canva, a graphics design platform that is simple enough for any shopkeeper to use. And the… Read More

Would you guess that Black Friday, or perhaps the Saturday before Christmas, tops the charts for online and offline shopping? You’d be wrong.  The day that draws sales of over $25 billion is China’s Singles Day, which is celebrated on November 11. The fact that this holiday didn’t even exist until 1993 is indicative of… Read More

I love this quote from Kosovo poet Dejan Stojanovic, in The Sun Watches the Sun: “A breeze, a forgotten summer, a smile, all can fit into a storefront window.”  If your shop attracts walk-by traffic, what is your window saying to those who pause to look at it? We often feature merchandise in our window,… Read More

“Most consumers don’t want to be equal,” according to Scott Galloway in The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google. “They want to be special.” Galloway goes on to say that a sizable fraction of the consuming population today will pay a premium for that attention. He points out that this segment… Read More

Looking for ways to attract shoppers in the Millennial (born 1997-1995) and Gen Z (born in 1996 and after) age categories to your store? One key way is to offer activities that will appeal to both young parents and their children.  Families are often looking for things to do together, especially on weekends. Holidays offer… Read More

It’s always great to get together with other retailers to share ideas. At a recent roundtable in Las Vegas, several store owners mentioned that they are now offering gift wrapping service — for merchandise not purchased in their shop. With department stores no longer offering gift boxes or wrapping (not to mention online retailers that… Read More