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5 Secrets to Small-Business Success at the Holidays

By Jackie Zimmermann | November 23, 2016 The doorbuster deals are set and the Black Friday ads are out, perennial indicators that the holiday shopping season is in full swing. The National Retail Federation predicts $655.8 billion in holiday sales this season, up 3.6% from 2015. In addition to securing enough working capital and inventory, you’ll want to prepare for the rush in other ways. NerdWallet asked Steve Goldberg, president of retail consulting firm The Grayson Company, for tips on how to get started. 1. Advertise early To attract early shoppers, your marketing needs to be in front of the right consumers at the right time. According to a survey by the NRF in the first week of November, 56% of respondents had already started buying gifts. But hope is not lost if you’re getting a late start, Goldberg says. Small-business owners can react more nimbly than larger stores, he says. “They can make decisions without having to [...]

TGC2018-03-26T08:55:14-04:00

Ikea’s Omnichannel Experiment

The Swedish retailer makes up for lost time with a thorough and deliberate approach to the newest form of retailing By Allison Zisko | November 2, 2016 Big boxy Ikea may ultimately prove that slow and steady wins the omnichannel race—and be surprisingly nimble at it in the process. After a relatively slow digital start—Peter Agnefjäll, president and CEO of Ikea Group, told CNBC one year ago that the Swedish retailer “could have been faster” getting into e-commerce—Ikea in September reported strong online sales for fiscal 2016. Agnefjäll told Reuters that online revenues grew 30 percent, to $1.54 billion, without entering any new online markets. Back in January, he told Bloomberg Business that the company’s goal is for online revenue to represent 10 percent of total sales by 2020. “On a journey to become the world’s leading multichannel home furnishings retailer, Ikea Group is increasing its focus on integrating physical and digital commerce [...]

TGC2018-03-26T08:55:14-04:00

Steve Goldberg discusses “6 Retail Store Design Tweaks to Boost Sales”

6 Retail Store Design Tweaks to Boost Sales Merchandise sells itself in stores with appealing entryways, intuitive paths, upscale lighting and branded signage. by: Joni Sweet Every square foot of your store has the potential to make a sale. But that doesn’t mean you should cram in as many signs and products as possible. An attractive, intuitive design and plenty of open space is more important to your bottom line. “Retail store designs are an extremely important part of today’s strategy for developing sales,” said Steve Goldberg, president of The Grayson Company, a consulting practice that works with brands and retailers. While there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to creating the perfect retail space, there are some store design principles that will influence sales across the board. Here are tweaks every shopkeeper should consider. Focus on the front Getting customers into your store depends on having a well-designed entryway, said Goldberg. “The most common mistake [...]

TGC2018-03-26T08:55:15-04:00

TGC on “Customer Service Strategies that Help Maximize Holiday Sales”

Customer Service Strategies that Help Maximize Holiday Sales By: Catherine Conlan The holiday season is make-or-break time for many retailers, hospitality employers and service companies. Perhaps your company is feeling the stress of relying on seasonal employees to generate the holiday sales you’ll need to finish the year in the black. The best way to remedy this situation is to focus on better customer service-- especially during the all-important holiday season. Chances are your competitors are already working on improving theirs. “There have been a lot of lessons learned about customer service failure,” says Steve Goldberg, President of The Grayson Company, a retail and investment consulting company in New York City. “They’re being much more careful.” Here’s how to boost your holiday sales with great customer service. Train Employees in a Scalable Way Retailers are focusing on training their holiday hires more effectively, Goldberg says. “Some of the training is virtual, and some of it is in [...]

TGC2018-03-26T08:55:15-04:00

TGC quoted in HFN article “Bed Bath Enters Tough Territory With Loyalty Program”

Bed Bath Enters Tough Territory With Loyalty Program The $29 annual membership test program offers 20 percent discounts on all orders Posted on October 13, 2016 by Allison Zisko NEW YORK—Bed Bath & Beyond’s new fee-based loyalty test program draws the specialty retailer into an increasingly crowded arena that has had mixed results with the strategy. Bed Bath & Beyond’s new annual $29 membership program offers 20 percent discounts on all orders across all of its retail platforms, according to published reports. The program is believed to be in test mode, and it is unclear whether the new fee-based program would lead to the elimination of its popular 20 percent off coupons, which are individually applied to one item. Withdrawing discounts once they are in the market is risky, noted retail analyst Steve Goldberg, president of The Grayson Company. “Altering buying patterns is always a challenge,” he told HFN. Discounts with expiration dates must also be carefully [...]

TGC2018-03-26T08:55:15-04:00

NYDJ opens first stand-alone retail locations in New York and Arizona

This summer, NYDJ, the "original slimming jean" brand, opened its first full price retail stores in Garden City, NY and Scottsdale, AZ. These two locations represent a new channel of distribution for the company, in addition to its current wholesale, e-commerce, outlet store, off-price and international distribution. TGC is proud to have had the opportunity to work with NYDJ in developing the business plan and real estate strategy for the full price retail stores including the development of a data driven prioritized list of target locations. As NYDJ's exclusive real estate adviser, TGC helped identify and secure locations, negotiating the business terms of each lease. "TGC has been a great partner in helping us develop a realistic business plan and a well-defined actionable real estate strategy. Their extensive use of key selling and customer data metrics allowed us to identify and secure prime locations for our new stores." - Mark Peters, Director [...]

TGC2018-03-26T08:55:20-04:00

Listen to Steve Goldberg quoted on Marketplace’s broadcast, “Retailers already scrambling for holiday workers”

Retailers already scrambling for holiday workers by Reema Khrais Wednesday, September 14, 2016 | 11:34 PM The holiday season may still feel far away, but it's already started for retailers and delivery companies. Many of them have been on the hunt for seasonal workers since the summer. Companies will need to hire extra “warehouse drivers, transportation individuals, logistics professionals, and then all of the technical experts,” said Jim Link, chief human resources officer at the staffing firm Randstad. At some distribution and fulfillment centers that handle online orders, hiring quadruples during the holiday season. Most weeks, the staffing agency Hire Dynamics places about 4,000 people in jobs, said CEO Larry Feinstein. During the holiday season, that number is closer to 6,000. “My biggest worry is can we fill all the orders? Can we get the right talent for the demand that’s out there?” he said The right talent--and often the most difficult [...]

TGC2018-03-26T08:55:20-04:00

Lovesac Unveils New Generation Store Design Concept!

Lovesac recently opened its newly redesigned concept store at Garden State Plaza in Paramus, NJ, with two more underway at Kenwood Towne Center in Cincinnati, OH and Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi, MI. TGC is proud to work as Lovesac's exclusive real estate adviser, helping to identify and secure new locations, as well as negotiate the business terms of each lease. "The new Lovesac branding is totally focused on telling one clear story: 'Our couch will blow your mind.' We've always had a great product but were hiding it in plain sight utilizing all of the same merchandising and communication strategies that other specialty retail furniture companies do. This is totally different. Working hand-in-hand with The Grayson Company to redefine our strategy, allowed us to quickly and clearly identify the real size of our opportunity and create a credible plan to get there. We are living to that plan today." - [...]

TGC2018-03-26T08:55:20-04:00

Congratulations to our client, Darien Sport Shop, on celebrating 70 years!

Check out Darien Sport Shop on YouTube! Click here

TGC2018-03-26T08:55:21-04:00

Listen to Steve Goldberg quoted on Marketplace’s broadcast, “What was behind Macy’s decision to cut more stores?”

What was behind Macy's decision to cut more stores? By Sally Herships August 11, 2016 | 4:41 PM Macy's says that its plan to close 100 locations across the country will give the company a chance to elevate its "total customer experience across all methods of shopping." But don’t go blaming the internet. “Eighty-five percent of purchasing happens in a brick-and-mortar environment,” said Steve Goldberg, president of The Grayson Company, a consulting firm focused on retail, wholesale, brands and investors. “The Macy’s story and Macy’s closing is not terribly surprising,” he said. During the course of its growth, Macy’s acquired stores, many of which were not productive. The real problem he said, is that retail in the United States is bloated. “The American retail landscape has far too many stores.” Or as the industry says, we are over-stored. Josh Pollack, an associate partner at the Parker Avery Group, a retail consulting firm, [...]

TGC2016-09-15T09:41:36-04:00

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