I love the opportunity that our annual inventory count gives us to get our stock organized.  We start the year by throwing away broken merchandise, marking down odds and ends, and cleaning the shelves in our storage area. This year I’ve vowed to expand that fresh-start feeling to the rest of the store.  First off,… Read More

When Dr. Maulana Karenga, professor of Africana Studies at California State University, Long Beach, CA created the holiday of Kwanzaa in 1966, he wanted a way to preserve, revitalize and promote African American culture. Each of the seven days of Kwanzaa has its own meaning, and the fourth day, Ujamaa (00-JAH-MAH) is described as “Cooperative… Read More

I was a bit discouraged to see how many of my fellow passengers were Christmas shopping on their phones as we deplaned on our trip to greet our newborn granddaughter ten days ago.  I can see how it would make sense to make use of travel time to do some online errands, but I started… Read More

This lovely gift from Royal Copenhagen is a great example of how packaging can work as an extension of your store’s identity.  For starters, the color scheme reflects the brand’s characteristic blue and white, based on the company’s signature hand-painted porcelain.  The design on the paper echoes the designs that Royal Copenhagen made famous. The… Read More

Keeping customers coming through the doors is a challenge for stores large and small.  According to a post-Black Friday Associated Press article, a JC Penney branch in NJ “was trying to make shopping in person more exciting with a DJ in the store.”  The accompanying photo implies that this attempt may not have been a… Read More

The holiday season is about to start in earnest, which means that for most of us there will be many more shoppers in the store than normal.  All of our preparation — buying merchandise, hiring and training staff, creating displays and promotions — culminate in these busy few weeks of sales. To use a sports… Read More

The Chicago Botanic Garden is one of our favorite places to visit.  We have been there in the winter, spring, summer and fall, and found that with the changing seasons there is always something new to see. But this year we stopped by in November, on a day that fell in between fall and winter. … Read More

My favorite subject back in first grade was called show and tell.  This grade school version of Toastmasters encouraged even the shyest children to get up and talk about something they’d brought from home.  Perhaps it was the future retailer in me that made me curious about what the other kids found attractive in the… Read More

“Past due” are not happy words to hear when it comes to invoices from your vendors.  At this time of year, as we build inventory for the hopefully busy holiday season, it is easy to fall short of funds.  How can you pay all these bills as they come due? Ideally, you have planned ahead… Read More

It’s an almost irresistible heading on a website: Testimonials.  Click on the link, and you get to see nice things said about the business by people we assume are real, even though they are often just identified by a first name and last initial.  These testimonials are short, heartwarming and sometimes witty — and we… Read More