Ted Hurlbut

Whether it's quality, selection, product knowledge, or customer service, small retailers can leverage a stronger brand identity to take on big-box competitors.

As we come to the end of the summer, independent retailers are increasingly focused on the last four months of the year. Many are looking for their sales to finally turn, while expecting the retail competition to be ferocious. Still, it's also necessary to have an eye on what it's going to take to succeed over the next one to three years, and beyond.

The greatest challenge independent retailers are struggling with right now, even more than depressed traffic counts, is getting full margins for their goods. This struggle continues with fresh arrivals of fall goods, and shows no sign of abating. Customers remain extremely value conscious, and to them, that means "On Sale".

I want to shift directions a bit with this post. I've been writing quite a bit lately about the latest economic numbers and their impact on independent retailers, and about the nuts and bolts things independent retailers must do to cope with the current environment. In this post, however, I want to write about independent retailers themselves; the owners, presidents, CEO's, and general managers, the leaders at the top.

I've had some interesting feedback from my recent post, Working In Your Business, Working On Your Business. Most interestingly, I've had clients, after reading it, want to focus some time specifically on this issue.

Yesterday, the government reported that the Consumer Price Index rose 0.4% in August. The increase, however, was led by gasoline, which jumped 9.1%. Excluding gas, the Index was essentially flat. Over the prior 12 months, the government said that the overall Index was down 1.5%.

Sometimes independent retailing involves far more than just retailing. Sometimes it can get pretty complicated. And with revenues off, sometimes those complications, and the decisions they now require, can become pretty daunting.

In the past week, there have been several pieces written about the pressures that are being brought to bear on retail landlords by major national retailers. These retailers have been pushing back hard on landlords to rewrite leases to reduce rents, and have been negotiating very hard when leases come due for renewal. All of this is part of an effort to reduce overall rent expenses, as well as bring unprofitable stores back into the black.

George Whalin addressed this indirectly in his recent book, "Retail Superstars: Inside the 25 Best Independent Stores in America". In his book, George profiled 25 retailers who have distinguished themselves over the long haul as creative, innovative, engaging, focused and profitable. one of the common characteristics of each of the retailers he profiled, however, was that each had achieved a critical mass in their markets, typified by size and scale, that enabled them to capture a commanding pos

After yesterday's post, "Managing Scarcity - Watching Saks", I received some feedback from one of my readers. "If we were to run our inventory as tight as Saks, Nieman and Nordstrom, how would we ever make our sales? We wouldn't have enough inventory." Perhaps, but perhaps not. The point of the strategy isn't sales volume, however. It's margin dollars.