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Greetings!
 The Christmas holidays may be months away, but most retailers are already beginning to plan for the selling season that for many represents up to half of all annual sales. There is no denying that the holiday season is critically important to retailers.
During the month of July, Retail Alliance is offering a complete calendar of activities to help members get pumped up, geared up and set up for the most important shopping period on the calendar. The days between Thanksgiving and Christmas can make or break a retail operation, and the time to start planning for a successful season is now.
Thanks to the "Christmas creep," a growing number of consumers now plan to start their holiday shopping before Halloween and are rewarded with the ever earlier appearance of holiday décor and sales. Sears just announced plans to begin offering Christmas merchandise now in an effort to encourage layaway sales.
Experts suggest that July may be the perfect time to begin planning, starting with a brainstorming session to think of creative ways to attract customers to your store. This might also include a calendar outlining when to begin sending reminders and teasers to existing customers or potential customers. If an increase in staffing levels is evident, plan how to recruit seasonal workers. Outline the holiday advertising budget to take advantage of discounts now. and Retail Alliance co-ops.
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ONE Week Left to Register
Retail Alliance members have until July 31 to qualify for free attendance to the Virginia Retail Loss Prevention Conference on August 20 at the Norfolk Airport Hilton.
Each year in the United States thieves pilfer over $313 billion in shoplifting, vendor theft, organized retail crime or employee theft. More then $35 million is lost every day. With retail margins thin and sales at historic lows, curtailing loss is critical to merchant success.
For the past eight years Retail Aliance has been helping merchants fight crime by coordinating the Virginia Retail Loss Prevention Conference, the largest and most comprehensive event of its kind on the East Coast. The conference is designed to provde merchants, loss prevention specialists and law enforcement the knowledge with which to effectively reduce loss.
To register, visit the Retail Alliance website and click on the Loss Prevention logo. |
Stocked Holiday Shelves Ride on CIT's Survival
The collapse of CIT would have a ripple effect on retailers' supply chains, ensuring poorly stocked shelves by Christmastime, this article states. CIT serves as a financial middleman that provides short-term credit to 60% of the retail sector -- about 2,000 suppliers and 300,000 retailers nationwide. Without the ailing company, suppliers won't have the operating capital to deliver goods. "There aren't enough other people in this market to absorb what CIT does," says the president of a factoring company.
The New York Times has the full story.
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For Best Buy, Tis' the Season to be Thrifty
Best Buy is revamping its retail floor plan and sales tactics to accommodate consumers' midrecession emphasis on frugality. The company's trend department predicts the move to thrift is a long-term lifestyle change that will last beyond this holiday season. Best Buy will push its competitively priced house brands and tout features such as simplicity, social networking and personalization. The company also is creating a "Gifts and Gadgets" section on its floor space.
Twice has more.
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Keeping the Great in Great Outdoors
Yvon Chouinard, founder of the outdoor-supply company Patagonia, is a man on a mission -- and it's not about profit. "Patagonia now exists to put into practice all the things that smart people are saying we have to do not only to save the planet but to save the economy," he says. Chouinard says he believes good stewardship is good business, and he has persuaded 1,000 companies to join his cause by promising to donating 1% of their sales to environmental charities.
Fast Company has more.
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Retail 2 Retail
 Tonight,
July
21th
6-8 p.m.
American Indoor Karting
2884 Airline Boulevard
Portsmouth, Virginia 23701
Join fellow retailers for an entertaining evening of networking and fun, complete with refreshments.
Retail 2 Retail takes place the first and third Tuesday of each month and is free to RETAIL ALLIANCE members.
To RSVP call Jen Webber at 757.455.9323
For directions to this R2R and to view upcoming R2Rs
click here
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Retailers Ramp Up Holiday Preparations
Retailers already are trying to get shoppers to think about Christmas. Toys R Us, for one, is handing out candy canes to children and allowing them to make cards, while Sears and Kmart are emphasizing their layaway programs. "People are looking for ways to spend money without having to buy on credit," the National Retail Federation's Ellen Davis said.
The Washington Post has more.
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