One of the perks to networking and traveling all year, focused on independent businesses, is that I get to visit some pretty stellar retail stores along the way. The happy memories are endless…All Good Things (Madison, IN), where real bubbles roll out from under the front awning…Man in the Moon Candies (Oswego NY) that continues a multi-generational tradition of selling “sponge candy”…Toy House (Jackson MI) that makes ToysRUs look like a wannabe…
Being a big believer in high fives, following is my 2010 list of businesses and individuals who redefine smart, savvy, and independent, doing it better than any chain or big box ever could. Please forgive the fact the list is incomplete; there were simply too many to fit into a blog post. Or ten. Or one hundred. [click here to continue…]
During my days as a retailer, it marked several things: realization that the next morning meant a new slate and endless possibilities; a chance to reflect on what could have been done differently and what was done perfectly; and an opportunity to relax into the most laid back day of our retail year (being a few doors down the sidewalk from a liquor store made that easy, given the number of brown bags that lined our cash wrap counter as folks shopped, post-champagne run).
I’m not sure what it is about the combination of human instinct and calender date, but for many of us, December 31 is “reboot day.” Which is good.
Did you spend at least $50 this month with three locally owned businesses while shopping for the holidays? Great! Now…how ‘bout we give you a $350 gift card as thanks for doing the right thing?
We’re into the final days of our “Small Boxes Big Rewards” contest, giving away ten (count ‘em, ten!) $350 American Express gift cards.
Pick 3, spend 50, get $350. How much better does it get than that?
Note: State sales tax is typically not paid unless the e-tailer has a physical presence in your state. In those cases, they’re supposed to pay sales tax, but don’t always do so. City sales tax follows the same pattern, but is even less predictable or reliable.
You’ve heard The 3/50 Project chant: “Pick 3, spend 50.“ You’ve heard of Small Business Saturday, the AmEx initiative that created a day for independent brick and mortar businesses. Well, how about this:
Pick 3. Spend 50. Win 350.
Yeah. That’s right. Ten lucky folks will each win a $350 American Express gift card just for doing the right thing. [click here to continue…]
From The New Yorker, circa 1980’s (presumably written by an independent retailer whose name is missing from the piece):
A Nation of Shopkeepers
England has been called “a nation of shopkeepers,” and rightly so. We know a man living in London who comes home very Thursday to find his refrigerator newly stocked by the grocer across the street. This particular grocery store is about the size and shape of a butler’s pantry, presided over by a Dickensian character named Hughes. [click here to continue…]
Just ran across this, thanks to a note from a retailer in Michigan. Turns out someone in Detroit realized the best way to bring customers through the doors of local, independent retailers was to haul them there by the busload.
Pretty creative, if you ask me.
Which begs the question: Would this work for The 3/50 Project? Is there a bus line somewhere that would be willing to donate the rides if someone would fill them up?
If anyone has an idea on this one, lay it on me. Sounds like a wildly creative promotion the Project would be happy to endorse, promote, and get rolling full steam ahead next December.
Another one of the interviews on Small Business Saturday…. Big thanks to Jimmie at Diamonds and Dials on Harold Square for allowing us to turn the store into a pop-up television studio. We had fun!
Please note: As of summer 2011, neither I or The 3/50 Project support SBS. For an explanation, please see this.
I’m spoiled rotten.
The end of the year.
Did you spend at least $50 this month with three locally owned businesses while shopping for the holidays? Great! Now…how ‘bout we give you a $350 gift card as thanks for doing the right thing?
From The New Yorker, circa 1980’s (presumably written by an independent retailer whose name is missing from the piece):
Just ran across 
