Once a retailer has established their identity — once they know who and what they will be — they must focus on what they must do. These four things are simple. And in their execution they are all hard. When mastered, they guarantee success. (more…)
Archive for October, 2005
The Iron Law of Retail
Saturday, October 29th, 2005Better a communicator than a linguist
Thursday, October 20th, 2005Being bilingual opens up many opportunities that the monolinguist never gets to experience. For example, I have the ability to completely misunderstand, fail to listen or otherwise lose the plot in two languages. (more…)
Hire your own *@$! interpreter!
Saturday, October 1st, 2005I wish I had a Euro for every time I’ve heard an otherwise knife-sharp captain of industry express relief that his or her counterparty was providing the interpreter for an important business meeting. On the face of it, not needing to provide an interpreter represents a significant cost savings. Let me explain why it is not. (more…)
Identity
Saturday, October 1st, 2005Before the Iron Law of Retail comes into play, there is a primal consideration, one of identity (or what some call “branding”). The Iron Law of retailing — compelling product, attractively merchandised in well-located, efficient stores — only comes into play in the context of a clear identity. (more…)