Two of my favorites so far are the Costco and Trader Joe’s episodes. They’re fantastic examples of companies that managed to reinvent themselves over time while staying true to their core mission and values. If you haven’t listened yet, I highly recommend starting with the Costco episode:
https://lnkd.in/esbcQyAm

Enjoy!
Kevin Mullaney
CEO The Grayson Company

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At TGC, we develop novel,  structured approaches to increase client revenue.  We recently worked with a national resort and active experiential entertainment company to reinvent and re-engineer their grab-and-go convenience shop concept, achieving a dramatic 61.3% improvement in revenue

Please contact us to learn more about this case study.

The post Case Study: North America’s Largest Family of Indoor Water Park Resorts appeared first on The Grayson Company.

 At TGC, we provide our clients the most experienced industry experts to tackle the most difficult challenges faced by omnichannel retailers, digital natives, vertical brands, and investors around the world. Despite the ups and downs of the industry, we have been able to grow and expand our business, a testament to our business model and our incredible team.

 With offices in New York and Los Angeles, our reach extends to twenty-six countries across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Our talented team is distinguished by their deep, hands-on experience and their ability to adapt to the industry’s rapidly changing landscape.

 David Ball, our President, and I are both proud to continue the legacy of our founder, Bob Grayson, who retired 7 years ago. We would like to thank our clients for their unwavering support and invite those of you we have not yet served to reach out and let us introduce you to our capabilities.

 Please do not hesitate to contact us to explore how we might serve you. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

 Thanks again,

 Kevin Mullaney

The post The Grayson Company Turns 30 appeared first on The Grayson Company.

Farm Rio, a vertically integrated Brazilian apparel company that designs, produces, and markets colorful print garments inspired by its local cultural and environmental roots, was founded in 1997 by Marcello Bastos and Katia Barros. In 2010, it became part of the newly created Grupo Soma, a multi-brand company which has grown to be one of the largest apparel groups in Brazil.

The brand began planning for its US debut in 2018 and a year later opened a store in the SoHo section of New York and then one north of Miami in Aventura Mall, along with a few experimental pop-up stores in select markets. Within a year of opening stores, COVID hit. Against all odds, Farm Rio’s US sales grew within 3 years from zero to $50 million, fueled by a strong and differentiated product and brand aesthetic and a multi-pronged distribution strategy that encompasses stores, e-commerce, and most critically, a robust wholesale network that includes Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom, among others.

In the next five years, Farm Rio plans to open between 25 and 40 new stores in the US, in addition to SOHO, Aventura, and a recently added store in the Venice section of Los Angeles. Fabio Barreto, CEO of Farm Rio Global, engaged The Grayson Company (TGC) to assist in defining and navigating Farm Rio’s expansion plan for the United States.

TGC recently sat down with Daniel Martinez, Farm Rio’s Global Retail Director to discuss his new role, the current state of the business and the US retail strategy that TGC developed with the Farm Rio team.

TGC: Our work with you included two phases: first, devising a store operating model to maximize productivity and profitability; and second, developing a store expansion/location strategy including identifying descriptive customer geodemographics, clusters of likely customers and shopping centers/districts that serve them, and an estimate for US store location growth potential. What were the most important learnings that came from the project?

Daniel: We learned a great deal, but our key learnings can be classified into four buckets-

First, understanding the customer by using sales and customer data to clearly define our US customer. The entire team, including the CEO, was very impressed with TGC’s methodology using sales information available via wholesale, retail, and e-commerce channels to paint a picture of who the client is by deploying geodemographic segmentation as well as AI analysis of cell phone tracking data, and then finding population clusters of look-alike customers across the entire US.

Second, site selection strategy. The customer analytics made site identification very easy for us and also makes it easy to understand how to prioritize new stores based on where we find more households and a bigger penetration. This methodology gave us a very data-driven approach to selecting the MSAs that are best for the brand. The detailed maps TGC provided within the MSAs that identified the concentrations of our customers, the centers and shopping districts at which they shop, and competitor locations give us detailed information on how to proceed and prioritize our expansion.

Third, store growth potential for the US and the need to populate a pipeline. We had no idea at first about how many stores we could have in the United States. TGC’s deliverable gave us an idea of how many total stores were possible. Post-COVID with everyone switching back to physical retail locations we need to be competitive. Using the customer, site selection, and store growth information and analytic methodology we could present a strong case for growth to our investors. The list of stores is broad but very specific with enough locations identified that I can be patient and confident in my decisions. I don’t need to accept a bad deal in Brooklyn because I have so many other potential locations in LA and San Francisco. Austin is a great example of a market in the pipeline for which we are exercising patience. The data shows that we could have a store there and we would love to, but at the moment it is hard to find a space.

Fourth, the need for a US-centric retail organizational structure, skill sets, and operating model that empowers the US team to think and act outside the box. Neither Aventura or SOHO had 12 months of operational history before COVID hit the US. Some of the learnings TGC shared were eye-openers for us. We were operating the way we were accustomed to in Brazil, but you made it clear that we needed a US-centric structure with US-based leadership. One of the key take-aways for the stores was TGC’s “Echo-Amplify” framework for best sellers. Before, our visuals focused purely on what looked good. After the insights, we now consider what is selling as well as what looks good together. You were able to convince the visual team of the effectiveness of this approach as well. We have hired a new manager at our Venice store with very strong experience in the US and we have empowered her to think outside the box using this new US-focused approach and the new recommended merchandising, working culture along with Clientelling. That store is now our top performer, with the highest sales per square foot, conversion, and average transaction value.

I inherited the TGC project when it was nearing completion.   My only regret is that I was not part of the project from the beginning. But in the end, it didn’t matter because the project was such a success.

We knew there were no simple solutions or silver bullets, and Farm Rio even changed the scope multiple times during the project. TGC was very flexible and not only delivered great recommendations, but the recommendations were very actionable. We are highly pleased with the results.

TGC is a consulting group that offers a full range of consulting services to retail, ecommerce, wholesale, and omni-channel businesses, as well as investment firms focused on the consumer sector. Our team brings “best of breed” resources to bear on every functional area of the business.

The post Farm Rio’s US Retail Strategy appeared first on The Grayson Company.

Highlights frrom the podcast:

1:00 Into to Kevin Mullaney and The Grayson Company

2:25 Kevin discusses Brick & Mortar’s impact on Ecommerce

4:56 What is the right balance between Ecommerce and Brick & Mortar?

7:45 What’s hot in NYC?

12:00 How a brand should approach expanding in NYC

15:06 Target’s pregnancy predictability factor

The post TGC CEO Kevin Mullaney joins Trever Gallina on his new podcast ‘People in Retail’ appeared first on The Grayson Company.

TGC’s provides broad expertise in retail and brand consulting, as well as investor due diligence and assessments.  TGC has successfully helped numerous brands navigate the layers of real estate complexity in the U.S, with specific retail real estate services, such as real estate strategy development, site selection and lease negotiation.

The post TGC’s Kevin Mullaney and Chris Palma discuss retail real estate trends at The Harvard Club NYC appeared first on The Grayson Company.

TGC’s CEO Kevin Mullaney discusses standing strong in the face of the “retail apocalypse” 

There is no question that the U.S. is significantly “over-stored,” especially when compared to other developed countries. The “retail apocalypse” we’re experiencing now is a market correction that’s been looming for some time. The number of retailers who have announced meaningful store closures is staggering and there’s no doubt that a seismic shift in the retail landscape is taking place.

Why is the “retail apocalypse” upon us now?

The reality is this: over the last 45 years, the number of U.S. malls has grown at a rate that has far outpaced the U.S. population. Unproductive malls that should have been closed have instead been kept artificially afloat through “bundling” leases in unproductive centers with those in highly desirable malls. The straw that broke the camel’s back was a substantial decline in mall traffic and the record number of planned anchor store closings, which can be attributed, at least in part, to the rise of digital commerce.

Consumers aren’t exactly chomping at the bit for the chance to buy more stuff either. “Experience” is winning out over material goods, and it’s not just Millennials driving this change. Baby Boomers, who account for over 50% of total U.S. spending power, want “experiences,” too – especially in the realm of travel. With a lack of product newness, “experiences” inevitably start to look even more appealing.

Does this mean that physical retail is becoming less relevant?

The short answer is no. Brick and mortar stores are still critical and highly influential. In fact, they are an increasingly important factor driving sales in other distribution channels. TGC has been studying the effects of store openings on other channels of distribution for some time, and the results are staggering.
TGC recently examined the impact of new brick and mortar store openings on a rapidly growing company’s overall sales across all distribution channels across several markets. In all cases, each store opened represented the company’s first physical store presence in that particular market.

In each market in which a store was opened, annual direct-to-consumer e-commerce sales increased incrementally by an average of +200% year-over-year.

In another case, TGC studied the effect of a vertical brick and mortar store opening for a developed designer apparel & accessories brand. After one full year, the new store generated close to $2 million in sales and the company’s:
• Direct-to-consumer e-commerce sales in that market grew nearly 25%
• Wholesale sales in that market grew over 30%

In both of these cases, the overall market impact of opening brick and mortar stores was exponential.

Conversely, we know that store closings also have an effect on sales in other distribution channels. Based on an examination of recent market data, a company can expect e-commerce sales in a given market to drop by roughly 20% if a brick and mortar store in the trade area closes.

So, what do I do now?

A change of this magnitude requires a monumental shift in the way one thinks about and approaches retail.
Consumer behavior trends like declining mall traffic and the desire for experiences aren’t going to be “fixed” tomorrow, or maybe ever. Longer-term strategies that better position companies to nimbly align with changing consumer interests are a must, but optimizing business in the short-term is also imperative.

Edit/Amplify

Leveraging merchandise selling data to give consumers more of what they want, and less of what they don’t want seems easy and obvious but most retailers come up short in execution. The proprietary TGC process of edit/amplify maintains a compelling assortment while aggressively editing-out unproductive SKUs and amplifying, or “powering-up,” top-selling SKUs.

In a recent SKU rationalization project, TGC partnered with a client to reduce the total number of SKUs sold in a test store by 26%. Test store sales and gross margin dollars increased by 9% compared to the control group.

Right Goods, Right Place, Right Time, Right Now

Don’t short change the stores. In a recent consumer research study, TGC found that when consumers were faced with an “out of stock” situation in a store, two thirds of consumers did not end up purchasing the item from that retailer (in any channel). The endless aisle may sound great in theory, but consumers want what they want, when and where they want it.

Hope is not a plan.

Things will not get better on their own. We continue to provide our clients with actionable, measurable and business changing solutions. We would be happy to discuss how we might be of assistance to your business, too.

To contact The Grayson Company, please click here.

Kevin Mullaney, CEO

The post Hope is Not a Plan appeared first on The Grayson Company.

By David Moin | January 25, 2017

The shakeout has arrived.

For retailers across the nation and up and down the price spectrum, 2017 will be a year of dramatic square footage reduction — and no one is being coy about it.

“Brick-and-mortar retailers will evaluate store fleets relative to e-commerce and make decisions on what they believe to be the right ratio of stores to e-commerce,” Marvin Ellison, Penney’s chairman and chief executive officer, told WWD at an industry fundraiser earlier this month.

It was one of those feel-good kind of evenings — 1,500 people raising $3.5 million for YMA scholarships and programs — but an undercurrent of concern over the state of retailing permeated the crowd in the ballroom of the Grand Hyatt. Consumers have more disposable cash, the stock market is hitting all-time highs, yet there are just too many stores, too much stuff on the shelves and not enough demand. Selling floors have been sapped of business by Amazon and other online players, many malls are losing traffic and retailers are finally coming to terms with what must be done to right-size their store fleets for a better future.

“We have closed stores before, but very conservatively, basing our decisions on four-wall free cash flow — not e-commerce,” Ellison said as he stood alongside John Tighe, Penney’s chief merchant and one of the evening’s honorees. Regarding how many Penney’s units will close, “that’s to be determined,” Ellison said.

Howard Schultz, chairman and outgoing ceo of Starbucks, actually set the tone in December when he said, “We’re going to see a very major downturn in the fact that the country is overretailed in lots of categories.” Ironically, he made the statement while unveiling the coffee chain’s five-year strategic plan to open 12,000 stores by 2021.

Macy’s reinforced the issue right after the New Year, stating that 63 stores would close in 2017 and about another three dozen over the next few years, triggering speculation about a major wave of retail downsizings.

“Macy’s is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Stephen I. Sadove, the former Saks Fifth Avenue chairman and ceo, who was interviewed at the NRF Foundation Gala on Jan. 15. Asked what other retailers he sees downsizing, Sadove replied, “They all will. We don’t need as many stores.”

Some retail experts expect Forever 21, Gap Inc., Abercrombie & Fitch Co., Bon-Ton Stores Inc., Barnes & Noble, Bed Bath & Beyond, HH Gregg, Ascena Retail Group, and a handful of upscale and luxury chains to reduce store counts beyond the normal amount of trimming they do each year.

They pointed to American Apparel recently shutting its entire chain, Limited in the process of doing the same and Sears Holdings indicating this month that 109 Kmarts and 41 Sears units would close this year. They have all been suffering from internal and macro issues. According to The Centurion newsletter for prestige jewelers, about 2,000 jewelry stores shuttered in North America from 2015 through 2016, and closings will continue.

Those predicting a great shakeout cite eye-opening statistics from the International Council of Shopping Centers that there are 24 square feet of shopping center space per capita in the U.S., compared with 15 square feet in Canada, five square feet in the U.K., four square feet in France and three square feet in Italy.

“For the most part, it’s those ‘B’ and ‘C’ malls that are going to have to be very creative about repurposing. There are not tenants of comparable size replacing department stores that are closing,” said Antony Karabus, ceo of HRC Retail Advisory.

But there are alternative ways to repurpose the disappearing big boxes into multiple uses.

Brands emerging out of the web will take retail space, including Amazon, Warby Parker, Combatant Gentleman, Bonobos and possibly QVC and HSN. Eloquii, the web site for the contemporary, fast-fashion apparel brand for women’s sizes 14 to 28, will test brick-and-mortar for the first time in March with a “concept shop” in the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City in Arlington, Va.

Off-pricers also could fill space, including Century 21, the Home Goods division of The TJX Cos., Bloomingdale’s Outlets and Macy’s Backstage, which is primarily carving out space inside Macy’s department stores.

Also on the expansion track: Zara, the Spanish fast-fashion chain; Francesca’s, the fast-growing retailer targeting 18- to 35-year-old women; Five Below, another rapidly expanding chain where everything is $5 or less; Petsmart; Massage Envy; new formats from Nike, Adidas and Under Armour, and Gap Inc.’s Athleta division. Costco is seen opening locations on an “opportunistic” basis, and so could Primark, the chain from Ireland with dirt-cheap prices that in 2015 opened its first U.S. store in Boston and has converted parts of several former Sears sites for additional stores. On the beauty front, Sephora, Bluemercury and Ulta continue to expand.

But these openings are most likely only a drop in the bucket.

On a smaller scale, regional chains such as Belk and Von Maur that have strength in their core markets could pick up a few vacated properties. And some emerging specialty stores, such as Flying Tiger, the Danish chain with low prices, quirky products and whimsical designs, and Kendra Scott, the jewelry and home store chain, could take some space.

Groceries — Trader Joe’s, Wegman’s and Whole Foods among them — and emerging health and fitness clubs such as Life Time and Point of Fitness, are seen as potential remedies for anemic mall traffic, particularly on weekdays when business is slower than weekends.

Skating rinks, comedy clubs, yoga centers, health clinics and incubators for tech and retail concept incubators and pop-ups could be added.

Even more imaginative would be converting mall space to central shipping areas that retailers could piggyback off of; partnering with Disney on innovative concepts, and adding food halls, à la Eataly, viewed as strong destinations in heavily populated areas and alternatives to conventional food courts.

Sadove said retailers must sharpen the focus on the stores worth investing capital in and those stores not worth investing in. To be successful, “you’ve got to keep a store fresh,” he said. But the issue is there is only so much that can be spent on stores given the imperative to spend on new technologies, web site enhancements and omnichannel initiatives.

“We are statistically overstored relative to any other population,” said Steve Goldberg, president of The Grayson Company consulting firm. “As you see the share of spend shifting to digital platforms, it exacerbates the situation. What we are going to continue to see is a rationalization of retail. In the case of Macy’s, what we are seeing is a continued unwinding of stores that were probably underproductive or less productive for years. We will see more closures of department stores for the very same reasons, without any question this year.…On the other hand, other stores will increase their footprint. Primark is opening stores. The off-price sector just can’t get enough growth. Brick-and-mortar is emerging out of the web.”

Wal-Mart will continue to rationalize space by moving to smaller formats, “closing some doors and replacing them with smaller ones. Target probably is in an OK place,” said a retail source.

“Some malls are not going to have any anchors,” said Goldberg. “In some cases, they will get torn down. They just won’t be viable. In other cases they will be repurposed. There are all kinds of concepts emerging that could take the place of department store footprints, from sport facilities to entertainment environments. However, that’s not going to come without significant costs. I’ve also heard talk about medical facilities, office facilities, even residential use.”

“We are fully expecting to see another wave of announcements over the next five or six weeks,” said Lea Overby, managing director of research, structured finance, Morningstar Credit Ratings, regarding store closings. “It’s a fascinating time to be looking at retail. Will it be worse than last year? Probably. Worse than 2009? I’m not so sure. I don’t know if we are going to see that sort of mass disruption with entire sectors getting reconfigured. It will feel like a slow bleed rather than a major hemorrhaging. You might see announcements from companies you might not otherwise expect. Watch the ones that have surprise negative sales. In particular, watch the higher-end retailers.”

“I’m not convinced we are going to see a massive contraction of square footage. I am convinced we are going to see a massive amount of effort to bring higher value to brick-and-mortar in ways that match how consumers want to shop these days and bring digital tools to the physical space,” observed Stefan Weitz, chief product and strategy officer of Radial, a firm that helps retailers with a range of operations and services including logistics, payments and fraud prevention. He sees stores working to provide easier access to products and product information and reviews, so there’s a lot less rummaging.

“It’s about keeping people in stores longer,” Weitz added, noting that Nordstrom’s cocktail bars in certain locations is one way to do it. “While customers are sitting there, it’s an opportunity to message them.”

“We are in the midst of a major correction,” said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst for The NPD Group. “As online becomes more applicable to bigger audiences, everyone is looking at stores with a different set of eyes, and retailers are scrutinizing their store portfolios to make sure every single store carries its own weight. Stores need to go from being product suppliers to lifestyle enablers. They need to figure out how to make my life better. We are spending more money than ever, but not buying more products than ever.”

He suggested a return to the old days when department stores were emporiums filled with hair salons, restaurants, fashion shows, or as he put it, “All kinds of lifestyle and life-enhancing experiences that drive me into the store — an omnipresence package.

“There are too many retail stores at the moment lacking innovation, lacking uniqueness. So many brands all look the same,” Cohen said. “I don’t rule out any retailer looking at every single store and closing 10, 20 or 60 over the next few years. It is overdue.”

“It’s not a new issue that the country is overstored. But it’s reached a tipping point with the growth of online sales,” said Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners. “There really needs to be a trimming at the margin to right size. There’s rampant overcapacity and a need for major restructuring.”

Johnson said shopping centers in the U.S. have 23 square feet of retail space per capita, and that there are 45 square feet of retail capacity per capita overall. “Those numbers have been essentially level for at least five years. Meanwhile, online sales this holiday

The post Overstored America: Retailers Wake Up and Work It Out appeared first on The Grayson Company.

By David Gill | December 6, 2016

Two of Sears Holdings top executives left the company last week, again raising questions about the retailer’s future.

Joelle Maher, president and chief member officer of the Sears chain, and Jeff Balagna, executive vice president, both departed the company. Maher, who took her post in July 2015, was in charge of the chain’s merchandising, marketing and profit-and-loss operations, along with the development of its Shop Your Way member-centric business strategy. Balagna joined Sears Holdings in May 2013 as head of its information technology operations.

Sears Holdings announced Balagna’s departure in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which said he left “to focus on his other business interests and pursue other career opportunities.” Maher’s departure was confirmed by Howard Riefs, spokesman for the company. Successors have not yet been named, Riefs added.

Press reports about the two executives’ departures indicated that the moves have raised new concerns about Sears Holdings’ future. An account from the Business Insider website said the moves sent “a dire warning about the health of America’s once-leading retailer just days ahead of its quarterly earnings report.” Sears Holdings will report its third quarter financials on Dec. 8.

Steve Goldberg, president of The Grayson Company, a retail consulting firm, said the question about Sears is whether or not it can continue to be relevant in the retail marketplace. “They have been marginalized on price by Walmart and Target, on fashion by Kohl’s and J.C. Penney, and on home by Bed Bath & Beyond, Home Depot and Lowe’s,” Goldberg told HFN.

For the sake of Sears’ survival, Edward Lampert, Sears Holdings’ chairman and CEO, needs to convince vendors that the retailer can draw shoppers back, Goldberg added. “It’s no longer good enough for them to say, ‘We’re Sears,’” he said. “What they need is to reinvent themselves in their stores and their merchandising. They need to offer something other retailers don’t have, and right now they’re not doing that.”

This has been a year in which doubts about the company’s fate have repeatedly surfaced. Throughout the year, rumors have circulated that its Kmart chain will be closed. The rumors brought an emphatic denial from Lampert, who said in a blog post on the company’s website in September that “there are no plans and there have never been any plans to close the Kmart format.”

To view the published article, click here.

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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 wait — that’s their secret sauce.”

There’s still time to use free, customizable advertising for your storefront, website and social media to promote Small-Business Saturday — an initiative started by American Express in 2010 to encourage shopping locally the day after Black Friday. Nationwide, the event brought in $16.2 billion for independent retailers and restaurants in 2015, making it the most successful Small-Business Saturday to date.

2. Coordinate employees

Scheduling your employees during the holidays can be an absolute nightmare. Amid travel requests and family obligations, you still have a store to staff and a business to run. Make the idea of working the holiday a little more attractive by offering incentives or increased compensation.

You can consider hiring seasonal help, Goldberg says, but it depends on what roles you need to staff. It’s relatively easy to fill positions with responsibilities like working a register, wrapping gifts or stocking shelves. But if you own a restaurant or you provide a service with highly specialized skill sets, like custom framing, you’ll need to decide whether you feel comfortable leaving your business’s reputation in the hands of people who aren’t familiar with the product or service.

“The optimal scenario is to have a trained seasonal staff willing to come back year after year,” Goldberg says.

3. Improve your website

This year, half of consumers plan to shop online for gifts, according to a Deloitte holiday survey. You’ll want to make sure your web business can handle increased traffic from online shoppers, and that your site is easy to navigate and up to date.

Consider taking advantage of a “buy online, pick up in store” feature, an option that nearly half of shoppers said they were interested in using this year, according to a survey by Accenture. “It’s definitely a feature and function the small-business owner can use as leverage to compete with bigger stores,” Goldberg says. “It’s a wonderful, seamless way to take care of customers.”

An added benefit: Shoppers end up in your physical store, boosting the chances of a spontaneous purchase. In fact, 71% of consumers in the Accenture survey said they’d likely make additional purchases when heading to a store to pick up an item bought online.

But a word to the wise: If you’re already behind on holiday planning and prep, now is not the time to alter your e-commerce platform, Goldberg says. Instead, wait for the busy holiday season to wrap up before dedicating time to set up the feature.

4. Review the store’s layout

Throughout the season, take inventory of your store’s layout. If you notice hard-to-reach items, congestion around displays or other pain points for customers, address them immediately.

Checkout lines are especially important; not only do you want to make sure there is ample room for shoppers, but you should also add displays to encourage last-minute purchases. In particular, showcase items people tend to forget to pick up in their shopping rush, like wrapping materials or gift cards, to help save them an extra trip.

5. Decorate strategically

When setting up displays, you want to be careful not to block a customer’s sight-line, Goldberg says. This goes for window decorations and product displays. Place products you want to showcase in the front of the store, but make sure they don’t block a customer’s ability to look beyond. And if a product is on display, make sure it’s available and easy to find.

Don’t forget: Connect with the community

The holidays, in particular, are an excellent time for business owners to connect with their customers on a deeper level, Goldberg says. Remember names, give smiles and offer extra help.

“That doesn’t cost a thing,” Goldberg says, “and it’s such a gigantic way for small businesses to separate themselves from their large competitors.”

To view the published article, click here.

The post 5 Secrets to Small-Business Success at the Holidays appeared first on The Grayson Company.