Simple Ideas for the Retail Manager!

Is your store meeting the goals set for you. Are you fighting fires instead of productively looking for new ways to improve your store? Do you spend your time doing things that don't lead to sales? Are you getting the productivity that should lead to increased profits?

Having spent more than 40 years in retail management I would like to help you find simple ways to improve your sales. Make your stores look better. Would you like to see your employee's take more interest, in their jobs, treat the customers better, and improve their own performance?

First of all it starts with you. In these modern days with the companies turning out cookie cutter stores, many times the performance of your store is dependent on you and your ability to make a difference. It is you that manages the store and is the key to the personality of the store. If you think of this logically you will understand that it is you that the people in the store look at for the leadership of the store on an everyday basis. It is not the company that the people turn to on a daily basis it is you.

Things continue to change in the retail world and you need to be able to keep you eyes and ears open to see those changes happening. Change is the one thing you can count on. The boss changes, the policy's change,
the employee's change, your management team changes and we all know the store layouts and assortments are changing all the time. Take it from a guy that started on a cash register that was manually operated and watched as they went electric, and then the computers came and we suddenly had inventory updated with each sale. It has been fun, interesting, frustrating and very rewarding.

I intend to give you some of my own ideas, opinions and things I have seen and done in those years that helped me to have a successful, interesting and rewarding career. I will honestly tell you the things that did not work as well as the things that did. I was not always my boss's favorite manager but in nearly all cases I was the manager that did the best with the cards he was dealt.

So this is a blog for those of you wanting the real experience of years on the sales floor. This is not a blog written by a PHD. So if you are looking for clinical text book style advise this is not where you want to be.
My promise to you is practical real experience and knowledge earned from being where it happens.