The Grommet had a large exhibit in the lobby of the recent NY NOW gift show — and as the company literature promised, this meant that you could “purchase and manage orders from multiple Makers in one place.” So what is a Maker?  This relatively new term refers to a craftsperson or artisan who creates… Read More

Have you checked your CRM lately? For the uninitiated: CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management.  It’s basically what we used to call “personal service” back in the old days, in other words doing your best to get to know your customers and keeping in touch with them so that they’d come back often. Today’s CRM… Read More

The issue of independents vs. chain stores is not unique to the US, and this news clip from BBC entitles “Can independent shops save the High Street?’ indicates.  The High Street (Main Street to us Yanks) is facing serious challenges: according to the statistics quoted in this article from last year, more than one out… Read More

BEST BLOGS       A retailer’s time is always at a premium, which makes me very grateful that you are finding a few minutes to read this blog.  But even in the 250 or so blog postings that I’ve written since starting six years ago, I can’t possible touch on the entire range of issues facing independent… Read More

A SWEET VISION        Do you sell merchandise in your store?  I’m willing to guess that you do, because the very definition of a shop is “a place of business for retailing goods.” When three friends from the Georgetown University decided to open a restaurant called Sweetgreen, they of course planned to sell food. But according… Read More

Dana Bullock was frustrated by the limitations of trade shows as a means of spreading the word about her handcrafted gift line. She thought there must be a better way to get products in front of buyers — and thus Go Gift Box was born. The company is now just a year old, and its… Read More

In a splendid example of letting bygones be bygones, July has been declared to be Independent Retailer Month in England. After all, July 4th may be celebrated here as our Independence Day from the British — but 1776 was a long time ago, and today retailers on both sides of the pond face similar challenges.… Read More

The saying “as Chicago goes, so goes the nation” has its roots in politics. But only time will tell whether the changes that are happening in the trade show arena in the Windy City are signs of things to come in other regional markets. I hope not. If it seems that I am taking the… Read More

Are you drowning in e-mail? I think many of us feel that we’re barely able to keep up with our inbox (which makes me particularly grateful that you’re taking time to read this blog).  It’s tempting to spend much of the day dealing with these messages as well as looking at products online and composing… Read More

Think about your reaction to a sign or menu insert at your favorite restaurant announcing the day’s specials.  You assume these are items currently in season, or recent creations by the chef, or perhaps just good offers.  The fact that the specials are only available that day gives them an urgency they wouldn’t have if… Read More