“Everything gigantic in American [retail] is about to get smaller or die.” James Kunstler wrote in 2013. He said big box retailers were on the brink of scale implosion, and that “every element of economic reality is now poised to squash them.” Fast forward to 2017, and we’ve gone over the brink. Washington Post reported last month…
Small towns struggle to fill big downtown buildings. Back in the day, they may have been department stores or large retailers. Now they most likely sit empty. Instead of waiting for one big tenant to fill them, what if we divided them up, and turned them over to a whole bunch of tiny businesses…
What holds local businesses back from selling online? Local retailers have a lot of natural advantages in selling online. It’s part of being Rural OmniLocal, but several key challenges hold them back. This article is adapted from an interview I did with Bob Dunn. Hear the whole interview or read the transcript at BobWP.com The first…
Jerry Miles, BookFeller.com, wrote in with a great question about making the most of the customers who visit his retail store. I want to be able to sell online products in my bricks-and-mortar store, whether physical or affiliate. In other words, I’d like to sell items listed on Amazon, eBay, etsy, etc., in my store…
Have a local business that wants to sell online? Focus first on the existing customers. That’s one of the lessons with Rural OmniLocal. This article is adapted from an interview I did with Bob Dunn. Hear the whole interview or read the transcript at BobWP.com Every independent business has customers right now who visit them…
Rural OmniLocal. It’s the new buzzword. I know because I made it up. It means small town retailers using multiple channels to reach their customers. This article is an excerpt from an interview with Bob Dunn. Hear the whole interview or read the transcript at BobWP.com In the world of big retail companies, “omni…
Guest post by Deb Brown, Building Possibility You might be thinking “It’s too early to think about Christmas!” You’d be wrong. This is the perfect time to be thinking about Christmas. Let’s apply the Idea Friendly template over the holiday season. Remember the three tenets: Gather Your Crowd Build Connections Take Small Steps Now is…
Small town store owners, does any of this sound familiar? “I feel bad when customers tell me they can’t come during my hours. We have had a couple successful events in the evenings that brought customers in, but most attempts have been a bust. A shop I follow on Facebook recently tried for a…
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