Lis Calandrino

Okay, so now you’ve heard the recession is over. I don’t know what exactly what it means, jobs are scarce, credit card lenders are raising interest rates and banks aren’t lending money to small businesses. I wonder what it would look like if the recession wasn’t over?

Several weeks ago I was invited to speak at Carpet Network’s Homecoming 2009 in San Antonio, TX. Carpet Network is a shop-at-home franchise founded in the early 90s by Christine and Lenny Rankin. At the time they had a very successful floor covering store and decided to take their concept to the next level. [...]

I keep hearing how business is so terrible and how there are no customers. And then I run into retailers like Taylor Flooring and Homevalue who tell me there are fewer customers but they’re doing good business and are seeing new ones.
Of course during this time you have to trim down your costs but [...]

According to a recent Shop Smart Survey, 76% of women will ask for help when shopping vs. 37% of men. This tells me that men would rather buy the wrong item than ask for guidance. Knowing this, you may not want to ask a man if he needs help in a retail store!
Also, 76% of women are likely [...]

My friend Chris Clark, a Mohawk Territory Manager, sent me an email the other day about the importance of calling on end users and contractors. With business having been so good in the 90's, Chris feels that many of his dealers may be neglecting this profitable aspect of their business. At this time it's wise to [...]

About 15 years ago I consulted for a company in the Cleveland market. On a trip to one of their stores the frustrated owner remarked to me "What am I to do?" His customers were speaking Spanish and he was losing business. In my mind it was a simple solution—hire Spanish speaking salespeople or teach the ones he [...]

If you listen long enough you hear the greatest things. I just came across an interesting study online about word-of-mouth business.  According to studies done by buzz agencies and aired on Good Morning America, women are twice as likely to purchase a product if their friends tell them that it’s good. Are you familiar with [...]

Anyone who knows me has heard me talk about small windows of opportunities in life. All of a sudden it’s there–your shot at stardom, fame or wealth. Speedo and Visa — who sponsor Michael Phelps — certainly got their money’s worth. But there’s also Michael’s mom, Debbie, who was spotted wearing clothes from Chicos. Apparently she’s a loyal customer, and Chicos, for their part, has been getting free exposure