Retail a Go Go - Tools for Retail Success

How to attract a crowd with an acrylic display case

August 25, 2008 – 4:02 pm
Breaking News - $1 million cash display returns to Las VegasHow do you attract a crowd to an acrylic display case?Answer: Fill it with $1 Million.Acrylic display cases are a great way to keep merchandise securely displayed. Acrylic never yellows like many other plastics. Acrylic has a light and airy appearance with smooth clean lines. Additionally it looks great with any color, like million dollar green for instance.Technorati Tags: acrylic, display, case, vegas

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Retail display cases smashed - Jewelry stolen

August 25, 2008 – 3:47 pm
Georgia jewelry stores close amid robberies Jewelers in an Atlanta mall closed their doors in fear as a series of smash and grab robberies plagued their mall. Apparently the suspects used hammers to break the retail display cases and swipe the gold and diamonds. Luckily, an off duty police officer caught one of the suspects. It is difficult to understand the brazen nature of these crimes because you expect retailing inside of a mall to be a fairly secure venture. The owners of the eight jewelry stores said they would remain closed until security improves.

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The Great Outdoors comes through.

August 13, 2008 – 6:22 pm
Retail sales are down and the housing market is at its lowest level since the great depression. As Jonathan Blum mentions, sales for outdoor gear is still profitable for exactly those reasons. Fuel is more expensive and people are staying closer to home, but that doesn't mean they aren't playing. You can't stop the cook out. If I have to stay closer to home, I'm going to enjoy doing it. So here are a couple of products that you can get moving in your store. Outdoor Blog does a great job of outlining highend outdoor gear to kick start your sales from the Outdoor Summer Market Show. Want to keep yo customers hydrated? Head to Nathan's Sports. Are your customers still complaining about the stomach pains from the WWII MRE's you sold them? Check out the X-Bowl - Collapsible and cut resistant. Finally... Time for the kids. Timex Kid's Watch Enjoy the rest of ...

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The Role of Human Resources in Retail

August 8, 2008 – 12:24 pm
In the world of retail, people buy from people. Any store can fill the shelves with their products, but you have to have friendly and knowledgeable employees to sell them. There are three different aspects of human resources that distinguish the winners from the losers. They are -  the overall role of human resources, the workforce, and frontline management.  The role  How much do quality employees matter to your organization? If you only seek to supply low cost employees that meet minimum job requirements, then your image isn’t very important. Employees are part of the retail environment. Employees are a strategic advantage.  The workforce  The worst your employees can do is drive your business away or steal from you. The best they can do is create innovative procedures that improve the way you do business. When you are hiring employees, you are making an investment.  The management Leading by example and setting the direction is better ...

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Get together marketing. Collaborate and Win!

July 21, 2008 – 9:59 pm
Contact 5 or 6 other related but noncompeting businesses about a drawing that all of you will all participate in. Once you have everyone that will be participating, come up with a themed product or service list that will compliment one another and that are all about equal in price. It could be a coupon or gift certificate. For instance, you might have a travel agency, a restaurant, a salon, and a veterinarian. You could design the "Take you on a Trip Giveaway". The travel agency gives travel discounts, the restaurant has a themed meal on the destination, the salon has nail and hair care to help your customer look good before they leave, and the vet can provide pet care and storage while the winners are gone. There are ballot boxes at each location that collect with a presentation date set (cook-out?). A winner is chosen randomly and receives ...

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Great online calculator

July 18, 2008 – 9:44 am
http://instacalc.com/ This calculator is great for conversions or basically any kind of math. Here is an example of a Body Mass Index calculation You can design your own version and use it as it applies to your store. For instance, if you owned a health food store or fitness related store, you could help customers figure out their BMI.

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Choosing the Right Retail Store Location

July 15, 2008 – 8:40 am
Location is difficult and expensive to decide, but the payoff is huge. Once decided upon, it is difficult to change. You know what they say, “Location, Location, Location”. Because of all the criteria that go in to location selection, it is sometimes difficult to choose where to commit. We are going to go over a few of the factors contained in the decision making process for your store location. The future of your business may depend largely on where you locate your store. You first have to identify and evaluate your target trading area. A trading area contains potential customers. Will they travel the necessary distance to get to you? Are you locating your store near a competitor or are you targeting an unfulfilled niche? Do a full SWOT analysis on each targeted site and organize the info so that you can easily compare the ...

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The Importance of Good Exterior Design

March 24, 2008 – 9:52 am
Restaurant Tragedy A young boy was killed after being struck by a vehicle in a McDonald's drive thru. Regardless of how the ensuing case turns out, this tragedy magnifies the importance of safety in design. As business owners and managers, we are inherently responsible for our patron's safety. My heart goes out to the family.

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What is Slatgrid?

November 21, 2007 – 9:58 am
Slatgrid is a retail merchandise display panel much like gridwall or slatwall. It is more like a gridwall panel in construction, but it is manufactured so that it can hold accessories from gridwall or slatwall. The metal that a slatgrid panel is constructed of is welded so that it has the same spaces that slatwall or gridwall has. Slatgrid is usually a little more expensive than gridwall, but makes up for the cost in versatility. If you have any more questions like “What is Slatgrid?“, you can email Joe

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What is tempered glass?

November 15, 2007 – 11:18 pm
Some refer to tempered glass as "safety glass". It is stronger than regular glass and will usually break into tiny fragments if broken. It is created by heating the glass to high temperatures and then rapidly cooling it. Tempered glass is usually used whenever human contact with the glass is likely, especially contact with children. In display applications, tempered glass can be used as the panes of retail or trophy display cases or it can be used as tempered glass shelving to merchandise from gridwall, slatwall, or wall standards. If you have any more questions like "What is tempered glass?", you can email Joe

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