Retail Revelations: Strategies for Improving Sales, Margins, and Turnover

Retail Revelations was originally published in 2015. Since that time, I have written several additional articles that I felt needed to be added to the original work. Retail is retail and though the basic concepts of owning and managing a retail business remain somewhat the same today as they have always been, there are additional challenges that retailers now need to contend with; the internet and competition with vendors to name two. I have tried to explore both of these topics objectively in this edition.In the original book, articles appeared in chronological order according to the date they were published. It was suggested that I break the book into sections for easier reading. I have tried to do that in two sections. The first section deals with retail math and metrics and included articles on inventory control. The second section focuses on general management issues, planning and strategy. Like the first book, this edition is intended to be resource that can be referenced as needed. The ideas, examples, and theories compiled in this book come from my own experiences as a buyer and merchandise manager as well over 13,000 client reviews conducted over the past forty years as a retail consultant. The past four decades have been spent consulting with independent retail clients in footwear, men’s and women’s apparel, gift, home accessory, western, children’s college book, outdoor, sporting goods, and golf. Though a particular article may reference a specific retail segment, the concepts can generally be applied universally to whatever niche the reader happens to be in. My hope is that this book will be a helpful reference for anyone interested in learning more about how retail works. Read more