It's Your Turn

I'm loathe to admit it but every year I find myself making NewYear's resolutions, or goals as someone suggested, a far less daunting term. Fortunately, mine aren't of the I-want-to-become-a-completely-different-person variety. My goals tend to be somewhat more realistic, such as make more soup, improve my Spanish (notice how I didn't say "master" Spanish), and be more disciplined about my work (my editor will like that one). No triathalons, no 300 situps a day, and I'm not going to set out to complete the Great American novel by summer (it will take at least until the end of the year). In fact, my loftiest goal is to re-read the entire Shakespeare canon, also not unrealistic considering how much I read anyway and how much I like the Bard, and I've attached no specific time frame to the goal so I can take as long as I want. If I were still a retailer, however, my professional goals would be quite different. These are tough times and although I believe things are slowly getting better, the key word here is slowly. We're not out of the woods yet and in all likelihood we will never again see the unfettered spending of pre-2009 economic meltdown. Therefore I would resolve to communicate better with my customers through signage, blogs, social networking sites, newsletters, and personal contact. As an owner or buyer I would resolve to spend more time on the sales floor fluffing the merchandise, talking to customers and staff, and even rotating through the departments once in a awhile. I would resolve to run my business lean and mean, culling out superfluous items in the store and focusing on my core business. I would resolve to strengthen my realtionship with vendors, negotiating better deals, getting more exclusive products, and learning everything I could about their products. I would resolve to streamline my operations, cutting out needless paperwork and procedures and simplifying the flow of goods through the store as much as possible. I would institute on-going staff training, including information about new products, old products, and cross-training people in different departments. I would be certain to have an extensive library of food books - cookbooks, reference books, and essays about food - and then share it with the staff, perhaps even making some of it required reading. I would resolve to become more active in my community, seeing how I could participate in local functions, street fairs, etc., all with the aim of giving my store a higher profile and keeping in step with the beat of the city. I would resolve to travel abroad more, both to trade fairs like SIAL and Anuga, as well as holidays wherein I might learn something new about a foreign culture and their table. I would resolve to travel more within my own region, seeking out artisans and purveyors of locally-grown and produced goods. And, of course, I would resolve to read The Gourmet Retailer every month to keep up on new products, merchandising ideas, and everything else one needs to know in this business. Last season on "Dancing with the Stars" (yes, I watched DWTS - it was either that or leave the house), one of the contestants compared the dancing competition to his own milieu when  he said, "it's like riding in the rodeo. You're never really ready, it's just your turn." Life can be like that, and in retail it's your turn everyday to make a great impression on your customers, on your staff, and in your community. I wish everyone a happy and prosperous 2010 and I look forward to seeing all of you this year in the aisles of one trade fair or another. Cheers.