by Board Retailers Association | Jun 2, 2020 | Industry, News, Resources
Please click on the following link to view this absolutely relevant Shop Eat Surf Article about BRA Supporting Vendor Partner ENDVR: Training Sales Associates in the Post-COVID World Be sure to visit the Shop Eat Surf website to view valuable Industry News and Resourceful Articles regularly via this link: Shop Eat...
by Board Retailers Association | Jun 2, 2020 | Industry, News, Private Label, Retail History, Retail Strategy, Skateboard
It’s no secret that, prior to the pandemic, one of the greatest things about a skateshop was its fixture as a hub for the community, serving as a place to hang out, talk shit, and ask for a pivot cup or spare bearing or something. But with the shutdowns, shops have to find new ways to keep their local skaters and new customers hyped on the shop and invested in their survival.Gary Smith, the owner of Vù Skate Shop in Baltimore, and Ben Jones, owner of Kinetic Skate Shop in Wilmington, just 60-minutes apart from one another, recently released a shop collaboration deck and shirt. Two shops working together on a joint promotion is extremely rare in the skate biz, even though skaters will collab with just about anything. The ongoing pandemic has put skate shops in a weird place because, even though their storefronts are closed, they are still selling boards, more than ever before in some cases. There’s no set business model in place to weather a pandemic, but shops like Vù and Kinetic coming together to support one another gives one way forward for shops struggling to make it alone. This is one of the few times we’ve seen shops collaborate like this, where did the idea come from? Ben: Gary told me about this maybe three years ago. It was one of the coolest ideas I’ve ever heard. Especially since owning a skate shop has changed in the years that we’ve both been doing it. When we first started doing this, I feel like there were more rivalry between the shops. Now, we’re all friends and we’re all in the same fight together....
by Board Retailers Association | May 27, 2020 | News, Resources, Retail Strategy
Facebook and Instagram have launched a new Shop feature, allowing consumers to make purchases directly on businesses’ Facebook pages or Instagram profiles, reports TechCrunch. The social network’s (Facebook own Instagram) new tools go further than its previous support of e-commerce, enabling businesses to create a full-fledged Facebook Shop. The release of the new feature is a global test, with nearly 1 million businesses already signed up. Those businesses will be able to create a Facebook Shop for free — they just upload their catalog, choose the products they want to feature, then customize it with a cover image and accent colors. Visitors can then browse, save and order products. Facebook’s Vice President of Ads Dan Levy described this as a “build once and render anywhere” solution. What will differ is how consumers discover the shops, whether it’s via the Facebook Marketplace or a product tagged in a photo on Instagram. The company also plans to launch another experience this summer called Instagram Shop, and there will also be ways for merchants to feature and link to products in their live videos from their Facebook Stores, as well as for consumers to connect loyalty programs to their Facebook accounts. Total Retail’s Take: As social commerce continues to grow, it only makes sense that platforms would move to make the purchasing experience more seamless. It stands to reason that by adding more frictionless shopping features, consumers will spend more time in the app discovering and purchasing from brands. Facebook and Instagram are also creating additional advertising opportunities as they move toward being an e-commerce marketplace. Instagram had already moved in this direction in 2019 when it launched...
by Board Retailers Association | May 27, 2020 | Corona Virus, Industry, News, Retail Strategy
Please click on the following link to view this absolutely relevant Shop Eat Surf Article (about BRA Distinguished Retail Member Hi-Tech Surf Shop): Bright Spots Emerge At Core Retail Be sure to visit the Shop Eat Surf website to view valuable Industry News and Resourceful Articles regularly via this link: Shop Eat...
by Board Retailers Association | May 22, 2020 | Educational Opportunity, Industry, News, Resources, Retail Strategy
In this valuable webinar, Dan Jablons of Retail Smart Guys (https://www.retailsmartguys.com) will provide some guidance for independent retailers like you to help open your stores after Covid-19. This super informative webinar will cover store layouts, staffing, marketing, selling, merchandising, and financial steps that retailers need to take in order to successfully reopen your stores after having been shut down. Board Retailers Association specially arranged for Dan to present this helpful and relevant webinar to our retailers. When?: Dan originally presented this valuable and relevant webinar on Thursday, May 21, 2020 but is now available on demand anytime. Where?: Right here. Just push play. Why?: Because Board Retailers Association is a nonprofit that cares deeply about specialty retailers and provides resources like this to not only help specialty retailers like you to reopen your doors but also to lower your day to day costs, increase your profit margins and create more remarkable customer experiences. If you are not already a Board Retailers Association Retail Member, be sure to opt in to BRA Regular (no cost) or Distinguished Retail Membership via this: super simple join form. BONUS In addition to the video, we received some other materials from Dan Jablons of Retail Smart Guys related to the presentation to share with you upon request including: A copy of all the slides of the presentation A Checklist to do the things that are mentioned in the presentation! Management One’s 12 Week Cash Flow Plan – A great tool to ensure that you know where your cash flow is headed. It will help you make the important decisions you need to make to...
by Board Retailers Association | May 21, 2020 | Corona Virus, News
Since late April, when the first states began to lift restrictions put in place to curb the coronavirus outbreak, a new pattern has played out across America: The number of new cases of the coronavirus continues to grow, as does the number of people returning to public life. In Oregon, retail stores are flipping their window signs to “Open.” In Oklahoma, people can go out dancing at nightclubs again. More than half of the states have started to reopen their economies in some meaningful way. Several more are letting certain counties or regions reopen while keeping the areas worst-hit by the virus shut down. The lifting of restrictions has represented hope in some quarters and deepened fear in others. The nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, testified before Congress last week that reopening too soon could trigger a new outbreak and lead to “some suffering and death that could be avoided, but could even set you back on the road to trying to get economic recovery.” The New York Times is tracking when orders to stay at home are lifted in each state, as well as when broad reopenings are allowed. A state is categorized as “reopening” once its stay-at-home order lifts, or once reopening is permitted in at least one major sector (restaurants, retail stores, personal care businesses), or once reopening is permitted in a combination of smaller sectors. A state is categorized as “regional reopening” if, by and large, the governor permits certain counties or regions to open while others remain closed. States may shift categories as conditions change, or to account for changes...
