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Re-Inventing Retail

From the Co-Founders of The Retail Owners Institute.
Tips | Tactics | Insights on the Business of Retailing.

Look what's trending up this Holiday season Bookmark

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You've seen them, right? All the stories about how strong this year's Holiday sales are expected to be.

Meanwhile, the department stores – Kohl's, J.C.Penney, Macy's –  keep reporting sales declines. And malls, seeing less foot traffic and fewer shoppers, are scrambling. 

So, where will those robust retail sales come from? 

The conventional wisdom says that will happen online. Not just Amazon, but the ever-expanding online presence of "traditional" retailers, from Walmart to Best Buy to Nordstrom.

Consider the BOPIS phenomenon ("Buy Online, Pickup In Store"). It shows up in several ways, some of which will extend beyond the Holiday season:

  • Nordstrom's 24-hour curbside pickup of purchases;
  • Target's new store layout with two formats in one (one for the "department store" shopping experience, the other for the time-saving self-serve experience);
  • Amazon pickup and/or popup shops inside Whole Foods.

Still, online sales are less than one-fifth of retail sales. So all that technology does not add up to the level of expected consumer spending.

What's being overlooked in all this? The resurgent sales that will happen in independent specialty stores – like yours!

No matter what merchandise specialty you sell - from books to apparel to tires to housewares - your stores offer what the customer really wants:

  • A special shopping experience.
  • Knowledgeable, personable staff.
  • And perhaps most important, edited selections of merchandise.

Talk about a powerful trend for retailing! 

This is the year that the shoppers will discover specialty stores. Go get 'em!




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About The Co-Founders

Pat Johnson and Dick Outcalt, The Co-Founders of The Retail Owners Institute®, have been called "The Zen masters of retail finance!"

Since 1999, they have been assembling  their proprietary content into a unique self-help website. The Retail Owners Institute is an unmatched resource that assists retailers worldwide with basic financial training, assistance and easy-to-use tools.

Their engaging and empowering how-to resources about the financial levers in retailing are informative, fun(!), and retailer-friendly. Their promise: "Everyone will 'get it'!"

Pat and Dick are recognized experts in strategic retailing. Working only as a team – Outcalt & Johnson: Retail Strategists, LLC – they have been consulting, publishing, and speaking professionally throughout North America since 1990.

They focus exclusively on retail, or wherever retail is involved. They work with CEOs, CFOs, boards and owners of retail operations, as well as manufacturers or wholesalers expanding into retail. And they also are Retail Turnaround Experts.


Since 1999, empowering retailers and store owners to "Turn on your financial headlights!"