Get 100% of The ROI! Unlimited Access SUBSCRIBE Now!
View this email in your browser
Patricia M. Johnson & Richard F. Outcalt
Retail Strategists and Retail Turnaround Experts
Co-Founders, The Retail Owners Institute® • Business Strata:G®
It's that time of year when all the talk is about all that's new and different for retailers. As the trade show season gets into full swing, there is no shortage of reminders of all the elements you need for your business to "keep up."
We get it. Keeping pace with the relentless changes in retailing is not easy. Retailers know it demands constant adjustments.
But you’re the owner. How well is your business keeping pace with your personal goals and ambitions?
Remember, the point of owning your own business is to make the business work for you! How are you doing so far?
Think about your personal life right now. What changes have occurred since you started your business?
Your lifestage responsibilities: spouse, young children, aging parents, adult children.
Your health (and the health of your family members).
Your tolerance for financial risk.
Your zeal for the business.
These are real-life issues. As they change, so do their demands on your time, energy, resources.
And that means your business plans and choices should change to better reflect and serve these current needs.
It's 2025. Time to get your business focused once again on reflecting 2025 realities. And working for you!
Find out more at The Retail Owners Institute.
Or let’s talk. Just set a time that works for you.
Retail owners generally are very concerned about everybody else. That’s commendable. But this message is urging that you reassess where you are.
You’ve probably seen the headlines:
“Retail sales make biggest drop in almost two years.”
”U.S. Consumer Confidence Drops To Four Month Low”
Of course, that’s comparing January to December. Makes for compelling headlines, doesn’t it?
To see how January 2025 sales compare to January 2024 – you know, versus last year – go here on The ROI site.
Support Retailers. Strengthen Your Organization.
Are you committed to the success of independent retailers?
Become a Sponsor of The Retail Owners Institute and provide your retailers with the essential tools they need to thrive. Plus, enhance the value you deliver as a pivotal ally in their growth journey.
RetailOwner.com
Avoid mistakes • Seize opportunities • Look ahead now
Our mailing address is: 809 Olive Way, Suite 2103 • Seattle WA 98101 Rather not hear about these specialized self-help resources for retail owners? Go here to unsubscribe
Very likely, you saw this headline today, as we did. “Amazon Announces $56,000,000,000 Profit.” For one quarter. Nice, eh?
The announcement also referred to Amazon as the world’s largest retailer, surpassing Wal-Mart. Again, how nice.
Meanwhile, another headline earlier this week: “Physical Stores Still Vex Amazon.”
Hmm. The “world’s largest retailer” not able to make stores work?! The hypocrisy of boasting about profits, most of which come from Amazon Web Services, not bricks-and-mortar retailing. Moreover, their “online stores” reports 11 times as much volume as their physical stores ($61.4B versus $5.2B.)
Well, if you are Amazon, a little hypocrisy will probably never be noticed. Oh, how nice.
Here’s some of what Kate King reported in the Wall Street Journal:
“This [closing of Amazon GO stores] is hardly Amazon’s only misfire in the physical-store universe. It has closed dozens of its other branded retail stores in recent years, including bookstores, fashion outlets and its ‘4-star’ locations stocked with best-selling items from its website.”
“After a decade-long experiment with bricks-and-mortar stores, Amazon’s dominance online has yet to translate into a successful strategy for connecting with shoppers in the real world, retail brokers and landlords said.”
“‘I don’t think they [Amazon] really understand retail,’ stated Nick Egalanian, president of SiteWorks Retail. ‘Running warehouses and shipping stuff is not the same as greeting a customer and saying ‘May I help you?’”
“‘Reducing the number of employees available to help customers and giving priority to credit-card payments over cash limits sales and makes the shopping experience more cumbersome,’ said Egalanian.”
“Amazon now licenses its Just Walk Out technology to more than 200 retailers. This allows it to profit by marketing the technology without the cost burden of operating a store.”
Amazon is a remarkable technology company and technology platform. No question.
However, the delicate art and science that independent retailers make look so easy has yet to be accomplished by Amazon. And maybe never will be. We just have to live with Amazon’s hypocrisy.
—-
“Physical Stores Still Vex Amazon,” Kate King, The Wall Street Journal, February 4, 2025.
The two days each year with the fewest visitors to The ROI’s website have consistently been Christmas Day and Super Bowl Sunday.
Another mirror of society.
Profitable lines of merchandise? Important, sure.
Profitable stores? Necessary.
But the real key? Having profitable customers!
To identify the most profitable customers for your operation, meet the remarkable Retail STRATA:G® Wheel. (That’s “strategy”. Every retailer needs one!)
This unique concept – showing the cause-effect connection between your best customer and your financial management – is exclusive to The Retail Owners Institute.
It shows why and how effective target marketing means more profits and more financial strength. (Yep, everybody wins!)
Go here to learn how to identify the Most Profitable Customers for your retail operation.
The Retail Owners Institute® has been empowering retailers since 1999 to "Turn on their financial headlights!" Our tools and resources are trusted by thousands of store owners to help grow profitable, resilient businesses.