retail
Published November 24th, 2008
For nearly 40 years, the Schurman family business in Cold Spring, Minn. consisted of just one retail location stocked with cakes, cookies, and other pastries.
But with its second-generation ownership came a wholesale line now bringing in more than half of its current business, in addition to Modern Baking’s 2004 “Bakery of the Year” title.
Founded in 1946, the Cold Spring Bakery began offering a wholesale line in the late 1980s. At the time, the economy seemed to favor small family-owned businesses, giving owners Dale and Lynn Schurman reason to plan an expansion.
Between adding more retail locations and a... Read more
Tags: christina lee, Cold Spring Bakery, how to, Lynn Schurman, retail
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Published October 6th, 2008
Even with the holiday season drawing near, store owners are continuing to brace themselves for slow sales with smaller inventories, according to National Retail Federation reports.
In addition, the trade group expects a 6 percent drop in yearly retail cargo traffic – 2 percent more than its prediction made less than two months ago.
For U.S. ports, October is traditionally the busiest time of the year, as store owners stock up for the holiday months. It is also when the National Retail Federation usually expects to see year-to-year growth. The D.C.-based trade group even predicted in August that October traffic... Read more
Tags: christina lee, holiday sales, Jonathan Gold, national retail federation, retail, retail business, retail cargo traffic
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Published September 10th, 2008
Every year Shop.org hosts an annual summit where the retail industry’s top movers and shakers get together to share and discuss practices and ideas that shape the future of retail. The grandness of this gathering is consistently impressive and provides everyone from the newbie entrepreneur to the old pro, insights and better tools with which to run their business (not to mention networking opportunities galore!).
This year will be no exception to the rule but there IS one crucial difference with this year’s show. Shop.org is introducing a new event called Critic’s Corner which features "two speakers in a Siskel... Read more
Tags: annual summit, critic's corner, customer experience, digital retail technology, events, merchandising trends, Rebecca Button, retail, www.shop.org
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Published June 10th, 2008
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s true. The recession-proof shopper is here and she’s here to stay. A new study commissioned and soon to be published by Elle magazine concludes that 8% of U.S. women are still shopping up a storm and show no signs of slowing down. (for full stats check out this article)
So what do you think? Do you think these ladies have what it takes to keep the economy (and businesses) afloat this year? I for one think that it certainly won’t hurt…but it’s not going to come anywhere close to how well those stimulus checks worked-wait….
If... Read more
Tags: consumer, economy, Rebecca Button, recession, retail, shopping
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Published April 28th, 2008
It’s begun. The Great Consumer Schism is effectively working its way through America-an event last experienced in this country in the ’70s. Economic disparity in America is nothing new. But in times of recession the division is inflated and even more apparent as seen through shifts in spending habits. It makes perfect sense of course that middle to lower income households are switching from brand name items to generic in order to save a few bucks.
So what does this mean for retailers? Well, if you sell cheaper products, this is great news! If you sell brand name (and therefore... Read more
Tags: brand name, economy, Generating More Sales, news, Rebecca Button, recession, retail, Sales
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Published April 25th, 2008
For a brick-and-mortar retail store, getting customers in that shopping mood is key. For some, “browser shoppers”, shopping is entertainment. Browsing through stores, soaking in the new merchandise and hoping something strikes them as a “must have”. These shoppers love whimsical product displays, winding floor plans, upbeat music and bright colors. They don’t mind being distracted by new product displays or fun and funky decorations.
For others, “mission shoppers”, shopping is purely a mission to purchase a specific item. They are searching for something in particular and most likely won’t take the time to browse around the store. These customers... Read more
Tags: advice, brick and mortar, Carrie Hinkel, floor space design, Generating More Sales, retail, Sales, tips
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Published April 18th, 2008
It’s almost like that gopher pounding game at the carnival. As soon as you bop one on the head another pops it’s mocking little head out of the hole which you must smash into oblivion…and so on and so forth for what seems like forever. Just as law enforcers find a way to prevent a crime, criminals find another way to commit it. We often stereotype criminals as dumb but in reality, in order to be a successful criminal you have to be smarter than the system that’s designed to keep you from violating it. It’s the nature of the... Read more
Tags: credit card, news, Rebecca Button, retail, scam, tips
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Published April 16th, 2008
Okay, don’t freak…there was no Part I so don’t go looking for it. Well, there sort of was…this is simply an addendum to my previous post Oh So Textual! *Text Message Shopping Has Arrived* .
When you bought your cell phone did you ever imagine that one day it would allow you to pay for things? No seriously, your cell phone as a form of currency? Yeah, neither did I. But now you can. I know! It’s nuts!
Ok, so here’s how it works (courtesy StorefrontBacktalk.com ):
Step 1: You download an applet on your phone. Said applet would be... Read more
Tags: Business, cell phones, Rebecca Button, retail, shopping, technology
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Published April 15th, 2008
Grab your coconut bras and grass skirts and jump on the organic textiles bandwagon! More and more retailers are beginning to cater to green fashion and it would appear that it’s more than just a fad.
The reason for this? One day not long ago some forward thinking entrepreneurs realized that people will spend bucket loads of money on fashion…so why wouldn’t people do the same for organic clothing as well? They looked around and said to themselves "the only organic clothes available look like burlap sacks!" "Ces’t tres horrible! " they gasped in unison, aghast at the utter disaster... Read more
Tags: eco-fashion, fashion, going green, news, organic, Rebecca Button, retail, Starting a Business, trends
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Published April 2nd, 2008
Have you heard some terms that you do not know what they mean? Do you appear to have the ‘dear in the headlights’ look when someone mentions a term that you should know, but do not? Below is a list of 20 not-so-common retailing terms. If you are just entering into the retail business, these terms will help to indoctrinate your lingo in the retailing industry.
Ad Impressions: Ad impressions are simply the number of times an ad is made available for consumers to view the product or service. These are also known as banner impressions.
Asset Protection: Assets protection... Read more
Tags: Glossary, larry Slusser, retail, retailing terms, Small Business Resources, Starting a Business, tools
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