Can you believe that a major national chain forgot its own name and left this sign in their parking lot reading “Thank you for shopping at …..”? (If you wonder which retailer it was, read on.) One of the fundamental principles of advertising and brand awareness is the importance of repetition. The more times you… Read More

“Geniuses are the luckiest of mortals because what they must do is the same as what they most want to do,” to quote to W. H. Auden. I assume that if you own a retail store, you chose the focus of your merchandising because of your passion for the product, so offering that line of… Read More

"Give your target customer more of what they want and less of what they don’t want, and you have a great chance of winning”.   This is important advice from Will Ander and Neil Stern, co-authors of Winning At Retail: Developing a Sustained Model for Retail Success.  Their book is one of the sources I recommend in… Read More

In Peter Pan, James M. Barrie asks children to clap their hands if they believe in fairies.  The equivalent in retailing is often buying a whole lot of one item to show how strongly you believe that the merchandise is a winner.   Do you believe enough to do that?  This display, from the Japanese department… Read More

What does your shop have in common with The Metropolitan Museum of Art?  Aside from a few items that you’ve kept on the shelf long enough for them to become antiquities, it’s probably the need to find the right person to fill every job.  We all know that excellent employees are necessary for excellent customer… Read More

I have always valued the fact that my sales reps bring valuable information and experience with them to help me make good buying decisions. But Lois Jordan, our sales rep for Two’s Company, has gone the average rep one better.  She has generously offered to bring a dozen Nigerian dwarf dairy goats, some chickens and… Read More

Everyone hates getting unsolicited e-mails offering dubious body-enhancing products and fake brand-name watches. But when a customer entrusts you with their e-mail address, you know that an e-mail from your store will be welcome. This type of permission-based e-mail marketing is the latest thing in advertising: an expensive way to keep in touch regularly with… Read More

I love unusual words that are unique to retailing, and “shelf talker” definitely falls into that category.   We know that we can’t possibly tell every customer all we want them to know about a product, and the idea of a “shelf talker” sign is that it gives the shopper the story behind an item.  It… Read More

You would expect to find mugs in the gift shop at American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Wisconsin featuring popular Shakespearean insults such as “You Rampallian! You Fustilarian! You clod of wayward mal!”  But when Ellen DuPuy, the outdoor theater’s Retail Manager, looks for new products, she goes beyond the logical inclusions of  licensed merchandise,… Read More

I was charmed by this vintage postcard, which shows Lobster King Harry Hackney with his Lobster Waitresses in their prize-winning costumes for the Atlantic City Beauty Pageant Parade in about 1950.  You can imagine the buzz in the kitchen as word got out to Harry’s staff that they were going to compete dressed as lobsters. … Read More