“We’ve tried that and it didn’t work.”  “That might be practical for big stores, but not for us.” “Our customers don’t like ____.”  “We can’t afford to do that.” There are so many reasons to reject an idea that an employee comes up with.  And we know that not every suggestion is going to be… Read More

I’m always willing to borrow a good idea from a mass merchant (I’m sure they won’t miss it).  I like the  fact that Kohl’s offers a concrete incentive for customers to return within a week or two of their original purchase. The concept is simple — offer a reward based on the amount of the… Read More

It’s no longer such a small world — the other day I listened in as two of our friends in the British a cappella group The King’s Singers conducted a conversation on Facebook live from Japan.  The 43 minute talk, which cost virtually nothing to produce, garnered almost 200 comments from around the world. It… Read More

You have until December 1 to get ready for the changes in the US Department of Labor’s Fair Labor Standards Act — but why wait until the holiday season to make sure you’re in compliance?  The update to the overtime law will extend overtime benefits to 4.2 million workers, and it’s possible that some of… Read More

There was once a time when it seemed far-fetched to imagine people being able to flip through dozens of items with a quick movement of their fingers.  And then in 1861 the mail order catalogue was invented by Welsh entrepreneur Pryce Jones.  That was followed, of course, over a century later by the invention of… Read More

An evangelist is traditionally defined as a person who seeks to convert others to their faith, but more recently it can also mean someone who talks about something with great enthusiasm. And while word of mouth has always been acknowledged to be the best advertising, that is particularly true in our era of social media… Read More

Kudos to the New England Aquarium for the great use of “shelf talkers” in their gift shop.  In a busy tourist destination like this it is a real challenge to give personal service. So shop management has made good use of 4 types of signs throughout the store to draw customers’ attention to certain items.… Read More

No one is more important to your shop’s success than your customers.  Without them, the best employees in the world would be superfluous, and you as a shop owner would also soon have nothing to do.  And yet we sometimes treat customers as an interruption, especially when we busy trying to check one more thing… Read More

It’s not easy being an independent retailer these days, and one key to success may be to take the emphasis off the work “independent”.  To paraphrase the Beatles, we do better when we “get by with a little help from our friends.” There are five key partnerships that can help your shop survive and thrive:… Read More

As we got off the airplane on a recent trip, the Delta flight attendants and pilot gathered at the doorway to say goodbye to us in what seemed like a personal and kindly manner (totally in opposition to the rude David Spade flight attendant who made the term “Buh Bye” famous back in 1994).  The… Read More