It's October and the holidays are just around the corner.   There are no gifts greater for the independent retailer than bountiful sales and happy customers.   Here are four effective ways to help you mark "a successful selling season" off your holiday wish list: 1) Use e-mail ... view post

If you've turned on the television or looked at a newspaper recently, you're well aware that reports about the economy seem dismal at best.  With one banking or mortgage giant throwing in the towel after another, it's understandable to have concerns about how all this turmoil ... view post

Every time I hear the words strategic plan, I get this pit in the bottom of my stomach!  Where do I find the time to contemplate the future of our business, when I can hardly keep up with the 100+ e-mails I receive on any given ... view post

As our kids prepare themselves for the school year ahead, independent retailers can prime their businesses for the busy selling season.  Mary Liz Curtin's video, "The Shopkeeper's Calendar," goes over many of the things you should do to ready yourself for the upcoming shopping surge, so ... view post

For many of us with kids, the beginning of September means rushing around to your local stores and checking off the long list of supplies the schools require the kids to have and buying new clothes that will actually fit them after their summer growth spurts.   ... view post

I spent this past week at the NYIGF, and in speaking with many of the vendors it was a really good show.  For GHC it was all about networking, and for me personally that meant seeing old friends – vendors and retailers alike.  The GHC team ... view post

There are so many things we can do to run our businesses more efficiently, and although we don’t have the resources to take on what some of the larger stores are doing, like investing in solar panels to generate electricity,(to see how some of the larger ... view post

It was the middle of July, hot as Haiti’s, and off my family went to our annual sidewalk sale.  We arrived just after 10:30 AM and didn’t get home until 3:30 PM.  Living only five minutes from downtown, you can well imagine the mood we were ... view post

This week, my blog is, well, slightly self supporting, because the New York International Gift Fair is coming up in a few weeks, and we would love the opportunity to meet with you personally.   On Monday, August 18th, we will set up shop in Suite 1E01 ... view post

I read this fabulous article on the importance of attending trade shows, which you can read for yourself (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3700/is_199805/ai_n8788917), but the gist of the article speaks to the authors 1/3 rule, • 1/3 of knowledge at a trade show comes from attending the seminars. • 1/3 of knowledge ... view post