Small town retailers are getting ready for the 2010 holiday season, and we are all wondering, how will it go? I can’t answer that, but I can tell you a few things you can do right now to set yourself up for the best holiday season possible. First, dress up your store for Thanksgiving. Make…
Bob Phibbs is The Retail Doctor. (No, really, that’s his registered trademark.) And he has the credentials and experience to have a valid claim to the title. He’s helped many ailing retail businesses get healthy. He is the author of The Retail Doctor’s Guide to Growing Your Business, a practical and tough guide for retail…
Another great source for business intelligence: the Retail Owners Institute offers industry benchmark data on six key financial ratios. In a section called Store Benchmarks, they break down industry averages into 51 different retail lines. They give five years of data for these six financial ratios: Current Ratio Gross Margin Percentage Return on Assets Percentage…
[Jennifer Brooks writes a terrific blog about rural/urban fringe issues, and I invited her to do a guest post for us. And I am glad I did! -Becky] Drive, Shop and Be Merry: Â Tapping Into Rural Tourism & Retail Opportunities at Christmas By Jennifer Brooks Even as large retailers are slashing prices and expecting sluggish…
Every so often, we feature common small business mistakes, so you can learn from them. Lots of small business make a mistake in setting and keeping their business hours. Here’s an example from a retail business, open only 11 hours per week. But hey, they do say you can call and they’ll come open up….
Our Friend Chuck Huckaby wants to share some ideas on where to find local sources of merchandise to resell. This is a solid model for a small town business: take a local resource into a larger market. Find your local sources: landfills, garage sales, auctions, local manufacturers, local retailers, local farmers. Look for their overstocks,…
Are you promoting Father’s Day sales? If you have a retail business, maybe you should be. Melody Vargas, guide to About.com’s Retail Industry page, says: A recent Brand Keys survey indicates that 75 percent of U.S. consumers will be celebrating Father’s Day, spending an average of $115 on their dads. Where will all of that…
Progressive Farmer has an article detailing how rural retail is changing, Not Your Father’s Farm Store. Indeed, successful retailers know that much of what they sell can be had in the big box stores, sometimes cheaper. It’s what goes along with the sale that keeps their parking lots full. “We have four certified crop advisers,…
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