Does your business require customers to have a mobile app before entering your store? Amazon’s Go store does. This raises questions about accessibility, privacy, and freedom. I believe that public stores are democratic places where anyone can enter and browse. Requiring someone to first download tracking software seems intrusive.
Let’s consider this for kids: should teenagers be required to download a mobile tracking app to enter a store?
Does your state give your small business back almost 50% of the taxes you paid? I doubt it, but that’s what California gives Best Buy and some other businesses. Today’s Times shares that local municipalities are giving kick backs to businesses in order to compete for business. While competition is healthy, it’s unfair and potentially detrimental to give tax breaks to some companies and not others, and give breaks that may be excessive.
California’s odd tax rules make gaming the system easier ...
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May 2, 2019
May 2, 2019
Indigo, a bookstore chain in Canada, shares how important cross merchandising is in today’s Times.
This may be the “most interesting store in the world” but I’ve walked by it many times and didn’t even know it was a store. Umm...that’s a problem. Retail locations need to clearly identify that passerbys are welcome and draw them in.
With that said, I’m gonna check this spot out :)
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January 31, 2019
January 31, 2019
What does preservation have to do with Amazon? Well, one is sometimes a government/city promoted and regulated attempt to preserve culture, practices and memories. For example, landmark preservation may be bestowed on a building and limit exterior changes to a building—like a famous old bookstore. Amazon, on the other hand, is emblematic of the opposite: it’s not about maintaining cultural norms like community or cultural centers. It often undermines cultural and civic locations by using Wall St...
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October 8, 2018
October 8, 2018
Is a cash bar at a wedding bad form? Check out the answer to this and other questions in this Times article.
The article shares that a 'honey fund' (donating to the couple's honeymoon) is acceptable as long as it's not a cash donation.
I am so convinced the NY Times is schizophrenic. On Saturday a special 8-page editorial section highlights the plague of empty storefronts in New York City. On Sunday, a paid insert states: The Death of Retail is Overrated. This is for the new outpost of RH, formerly Restoration Hardware now re-branded. So I guess to get people to buy furniture you need a rooftop park and restaurant, a barista bar & wine terrace, art gallery and atelier on 6 floors. Okay, whatever it takes I suppose.
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Have your registry sales slowed down? It might have nothing to do with your beautiful store, product selection or even competition from online retailers. This article from the NY Times might explain why.
Put a Ring on It? Millennial Couples Are in No Hurry Young adults not only marry and have children later than previous generations, they take more time to get to know each other before tying the knot.
Happy to see Carol Schroeder as a speaker at this summer’s NY NOW. We’ve mentioned Carol’s book (in which we’re featured) many times. ...but this post comes with an asterisk. The retail industry is facing a huge cliff as Amazon bulldozes it. The NY NOW pamphlet doesn’t mention any amazon seminars. Amazon is the biggest threat to you and your business. Yet according to this slick marketing piece, stores should party like it’s 1999. It even suggests starting the day with mimosas. This show may ...
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May 8, 2018
May 8, 2018
Family Dishes
How many sets of china do you own? What are the memories they bring back? The author sounds like some of us.
Disrupting the Dishes: Registering for perfectly matched sets of china is so last century, says the Sunday NY Times, May 6, 2018.
We know this is not true. Elegance and sophistication will never go out of style. After you read the article, read the 81 and counting comments in response to this article.
RETAILERS We're increasing your registry's 5-step incentive amount.
We're raising it to $50. It was previously $40. If you wish to raise or lower your amount, please do so on the Your Account page.
If you are offering an amount that is not $40 (aka you have changed it from the default), your incentive amount will not be changed to the $50.
Why are we increasing the default amount? A higher incentive amount results in more brides promoting their registry with your store. After studying registry ...
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February 28, 2018
February 28, 2018
What Is the Perfect Color Worth?
Inside the mysterious art - and big business - of color forecasting.
Last spring, a dozen people filtered into a sunny, whitewashed conference room on the seventh floor of the Royal College of Art, overlooking London's Hyde Park. Mostly Western Europeans from different precincts of the fashion industry, they had been called together by a British man named David Shah, editor and publisher of the "Pantone View Colour Planner." The book, issued each February and ...
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February 12, 2018
February 12, 2018
Some wedding couples are foregoing the wedding party. This might put a kabosh on your bridesmaid and groomsmen gifts. Have you experienced this? Read this article from Sunday's NY Times. Click the link or read the full text below.
Make the Friends Happy. Don’t Have a Wedding Party.
When Bobby Rosen and Cara Safon got engaged last August, there were many decisions to be made. A venue had to be ...
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February 9, 2018
February 9, 2018
What if there was a way for stores to save $8,900? If they could, stores could spend that on inventory instead.
We'll share how stores can save:
If one uses Shopify (a popular e-commerce platform) to make an e-commerce site, the store often signs up for a lot of recurring costs. In comparison, when a store signs up for Bridge, there are no fees.
Shopify In the first year, the store may pay $6,000+ for using Shopify: + $79/month for Shopify general service (plan that offers a gift card). + $75/month ...
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January 29, 2018
January 29, 2018
One of my favorite quotes from a retailer about the last edition of Specialty Shop Retailing is this one: “I have read, highlighted, marked up and re-read this book so many times it groans when I pick it up!” It’s been so much fun for me to hear from shopkeepers around the world about how helpful they have found the first three editions of my book, which sold over 40,000 copies and were translated into Russian. I am very happy to announce that the fourth edition has just been published as a ...
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