From selfish reasons like instant gratification to macro reasons like stopping war mongers, here are 10 reasons to make you feel good about skipping Prime Day everyday.
From selfish reasons like instant gratification to macro reasons like stopping war mongers, here are 10 reasons to make you feel good about skipping Prime Day everyday.
Time. It's a concept that permeates every aspect of our lives, either consciously or not. From the small moments of our daily routines to the grandest, long-term plans, time shapes every facet of our lives.
“Yesterday is gone…”
It's weighed heavily on me recently, consuming my brain space in a desire to understand it in its entirety. To share, here is a short (but not at all complete) example of the train of thought from a night this week surrounding the idea of "time...
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How a store in Mississippi transformed its online presence and saved thousands effortlessly in just days with Shop Local.
June 21, 2024
We are pleased to announce that Whittington Gifts & Decor has joined Shop Local to grow its online business. Located in the heart of Starkville, MS, Whittington Gifts & Decor offers a unique and fun shopping experience with a great selection of products for bridal registries, men, babies, kids, and general gifts.
Whittington Gifts & Decor saved $9,339 and 13 weeks in labor on website product maintenance by using the Shop Local platform. Through the Syncing...
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I’m going to presume you know Taylor Swift, the pop superstar with widespread public appeal and a vast fan base, who has influenced not only the music industry, but popular culture, politics, and economics. Her recent $5 billion Eras tour had a fiscal impact greater than 50 countries. The Taylor Swift economy has reached every town in America, measured in national retail sales figures, global inflation, and municipal economic bumps where concerts were held. The Swift microeconomy reaches ...
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How AI, e-commerce, and shopping local come together with new tools.
May 28, 2024
This morning I greeted our team by saying, “Good morning, Scooby-Doos of website sleuthing.” I then wondered what the Scooby-Doo van would look like with the words “Shop Local” on it. In the past, one would spend time to make this mock-up in Photoshop. My colleague Mark was able to make the desired image in minutes using the AI tool Copilot and no Photoshop.
The ease with which one can use AI to make new images and envision ideas will impact retail. ...
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Many years ago, as a new assistant at Lord & Taylor, the buyer cautioned me to not get too attached to people or merchandise. His wisdom was not cold-hearted, but a cautionary tale to keep emotional attachments in check. I was there to deliver strong financial results and if something wasn’t selling, I shouldn’t harp on it, but mark it down and move on. And, as far as work relationships were concerned, I should be a good coworker but not get attached to colleagues.
Jim Shreve made Baccarat hip. Now, he and his longtime partner, Mark Brashear, along with Sally Burnside, the former Baccarat sales V.P., intend to do the same for DeVine Corp., the 32-year-old distributor of elite European brands. You're invited to the opening!
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Congrats to you all. This is very exciting. Tim, we’ve known each other since before you started DeVine Corp., 32 years ago. You’ve been looking for the right opportunity to retire. TIM ...
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For fans of tradition who want to try something extra fun this Easter, transform a store-bought carrot cake into a bunny-approved artwork with nothing more than decorative icing! Here's how to do it:
π₯ Add a fresh layer of buttercream icing to your cake
π₯ Create sweet-as-can-be carrot shapes with dabs of orange and green icing. (It’s so easy, the kids can help!)
π₯ Serve up your semi-homemade masterpiece on something elegant (like our French Perle pedestal cake plate!)
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Why the Wildflower canister?
πKeep it in the kitchen with baking staples
πCotton balls in the bathroom
πPens and pencils in the office
πKnickknacks in the kids’ room
.
Each Wildflowers canister is decorated with hand-applied floral transfers on hand-painted blue spots, topped with a clear glass knob.
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I have a stack of virtual news clippings that either struck my fancy, taught me something new, or just made me shake my head in bemusement. On their own, they may not be enough for me to make a point, but together they have a thought-provoking synergy (and I'm sure I'll figure out what that is by the end of this column).
Our industry has been negatively affected by the loss of American manufacturing after we entered a long stretch of automation and outsourcing in the late 1970s; every ...
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We are pleased to announce that Kalalou is ready to Sync products with authorized retailers. Syncing products is free for your business. There is no charge. (The brand pays for this service.)
Kalalou joins our stable of 110 premium brands that Sync products with 1,200+ fine indie stores.
View Kalalou's Synced products
View the 1,500+ products you can Sync from Kalalou here: kalalou.myshoplocal.com
View an example of a retailer's Store that is ...
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Last week, Amazon bought iRobot, the company that makes Roomba, the robot vacuum cleaner, for $1.7b. Why? Yes, their 'Rosie from the Jetsons' has AI and is in your home (which is where Amazon wants to be), but the reason Amazon wants it is because customers want it. Which leads us to ask: Why do customers want Roomba? Because it does something that humans find annoying and hate doing: cleaning. Roomba has spotted the value that robots bring to the world and it's not simply being ...
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An East Village Artist’s Death Prompts a Reflection on the State of Indie Retailers Today
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While thumbing through the Times, I noticed a smiling young woman’s picture in the obituaries. In the black and white photograph, she's standing on a fire escape with a historic building and a bridge in the distance. I was initially attracted to Ronni Solbert’s 1959 picture, yet I was even more drawn in by what I noticed next to her photo: a children&...
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In the movie Glengarry Glen Ross, a motivational speaker played by Alec Baldwin addresses a group of salesmen. He writes three letters vertically on the chalkboard, “A B C.” He explains that the acronym means "Always Be Closing."
The way that Baldwin's character thinks about sales, I may think about reading. I think of: "ABR,” Always Be Reading. Whether it's breakfast, lunch, or dinner, I try to get in a page or two of the Times, Wall St. ...
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This past week, Amazon announced it was adding Grubhub delivery to its Prime subscription (Read the news about Amazon and Grubhub here). The goal of Amazon Prime (and other subscription services) is to make the subscription so pervasive that it's sticky. Don’t like Prime movies? Ok, but you love free Grubhub delivery. If you don’t need feature X and want to cancel, you realize you still need feature Y and keep paying for the subscription.
Some people like to sit on the sofa and eat Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. I roll my eyes at this because I’m very different: I like to read the Wall St. Journal’s Christopher Mims …while eating an entire pint of Ben & Jerry’s on the sofa. This past weekend, Mr. Mims suggested companies may be reassessing where they source products, some even considering more domestic production. The motivation for this started a few years ago with the U.S.-China trade war, ...
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I recently bought a pair of jeans from the bike-lifestyle company Rapha. I find Rapha's stores, emails, and mission to be inspiring to Bridge, and I'll explain why.
First, you may ask, "What is Rapha?" Rapha is a product company that sells goods for biking, including shirts, shorts, helmets, and accessories. What is unique is the lengths it goes to foster a community (and sales!) by having a coffee shop in it, organizing riding events, offering members-only clothing...
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Today’s Times shares that Amazon Prime members often spend twice as much compared to those that aren’t members. This led to me ponder: What if a first step to reducing Amazon’s monopolies is just canceling a $119/year ‘membership’? Prime may be Amazon’s strength—as well as its achilles. If we can find a way to undermine it, I believe one can save money and our communities.