Was 2017 the Year of the Retail Apocalypse?

Do you remember the Retail Apocalypse of 2017? It sure got a lot of press. CNBC, The Washington Post, CBS, Fox, USA Today, and most major news organizations rallied around the Apocalypse concept. They’re happy to assert (again) that bricks-and-mortar retail was dead, overwhelmed by online sellers. They seemed to have the facts to back …

How to Set Traffic Flow in Antique Shops

Have you ever focused your attention on the way you walk? Do you stand straight with your shoulders back, or do you lean forward? Do you saunter or walk quickly? Have you noticed how the customers in your store walk? Most independent retailers give little thought to how their customers walk and move through their …

What Antique Dealers Can Learn from Wine Sellers

Over the holidays I had occasion to go into a Total Wine store. If you’ve never been to a Total Wine, they’re the size of a major supermarket. The shelves are stocked with rows of wine, beer, and other goodies. I was completely out of my element. Shelves appeared to be filled with thousands of …

Improve Your Customer’s Retail Shopping Experience

Dealers, would you rather be the only antique store in your town, or one of many? I asked that question often in my recent visit to the Hillsville, Va., Labor Day Flea Market. A surprising number of dealers answered that they would rather be the only store in town; one dealer even boasted that he was the …

Please Touch the Merchandise

In 2003, the Illinois state attorney general’s office issued a consumer warning that antique dealers should be aware of: Holiday shoppers were told to be cautious of retailers who encouraged them to hold objects and imagine them as their own while shopping. It seems that touching objects increased a consumer’s risk of buying them. Those …

Boost Your Sales with Sidekick Merchandising

I’ve always marveled at fictional sidekicks. A good sidekick lends perspective to enigmatic heroes and helps us to know them better. How well could we understand the complexities of Sherlock Holmes’ mind without having Dr. Watson to ask the questions we are thinking? How much more dignified is Andy Griffith when compared to simple-minded Barney …

Smells Sell

Sometimes the antiques business stinks. Not the buying and selling part, but rather the smells that can accumulate in a store filled with used merchandise. Few things are more off-putting than to walk into a store and inhale the mildewy stew of odors that can be created by rooms full of used goods. Have you …