The celebration of Earth Day on April 22 dates back to 1970 — and clearly progress is being made on many fronts, including the way retailers run their businesses.  I wasn’t in business quite yet, but even in the mid-1970s I know we didn’t have products made from recycled materials, low-energy light bulbs, and many… Read More

Americans are increasingly using bicycles as a means of transportation for work and errands — in fact we’re making progress in some cities towards catching up with Scandinavia, where the Danes average three bike rides per day (according to the Cycling Embassy of Denmark). What are you doing to make your store bike friendly? The… Read More

TRADE-IN TIPS    “Cash for Clunkers” (officially known at the Car Allowance Rebate System) was designed to help stimulate the U.S. economy — and even if you don’t have $3 billion to spend, you can use the trade-in idea to help stimulate your sales. Not only will this type of promotion bring customers into your store,… Read More

Note: I am very pleased to bring you this insightful guest blog entry written by Robyn M. Perrin, co-owner of Focal Flame Photography of Madison, WI. Imagine your favorite childhood storybook. Now try to picture it without any illustrations. Not the same, is it? As a retailer, you are creating a story of your business… Read More

Who wants to be a Millionaire? I must admit that the hyperbole in the title of Joanna “Jody” Bradshaw’s book Be a Millionaire Shopkeeper put me off a bit, because those of us who have been independent retailers for years know that achieving millionaire status is fairly unlikely.  But her subtitle, How Your Independent Shop… Read More

The Windy City is the home base of a new company aiming to provide small shops with the opportunity to do e-commerce with ease. About 180 locally-owned stores in the Chicago area have signed on with Walk.by  app since its launch in August, 2012, and the firm hopes to expand to other communities soon. Walk.by… Read More

Promoting Facebook Posts Facebook is a great way to get the word out to your customers about a new product, a special event, or a clever idea. But as you know, only a fraction of those who have “liked” your business actually see what you post. Facebook uses a complicated algorithm to calculate who sees… Read More

Do you know the term “onboarding?" This business buzzword refers to the process of helping new employees acquire the skills, knowledge, attitudes and behaviors necessary to become effective members of your staff.  Another term for onboarding is organizational socialization, and it is this integrating of a new employee into the social aspects of your business… Read More

Looking for an original way to display jewelry, a fresh window idea — or perhaps inspiration for a remake of your storefront or sign? You can find all this and more by following the countless B2B (business to business) boards on Pinterest. As you know if you are already on Pinterest, it is easy to… Read More

Owning a pushcart was once the natural way to get into retailing — in fact, on the lower east side of New York in 1930 there were 47,000 families depending on the earnings made from selling merchandise this way, according to an article by Suzanne Wasserman. Some of these peddlers ended up opening “indoor” stores… Read More