num_pages: 136
description: From bookstores to stereo shops, independent retailers have been struggling to stay alive in the shadow of the superstore giants. In this new book from The Armarium Press, international speaker and sales trainer Eddy Kay shows small business owners how to turn the challenges presented by superstores into unprecedented opportunities for success. Written for store owners and top managers, Thriving in the Shadow of Giants opens with a brief romp through retail history to remind readers that evolution is a fact of life in business. Kay then walks his readers through a refresher course in “acting like a specialist” – addressing topics from developing “personal trade” with customers to providing service that results in customer satisfaction. Each chapter concludes with a “Specialist Spotlight.” These profiles feature successful specialists who have learned to turn the superstores’ strengths to their own advantage and to exploit market niches the big guys are forced to ignore. Readers meet an appliance store owner who decided it was smart business to open up shop across from Wal-Mart… partners at a neighborhood bookshop whose customers come from around the world and through referrals by Borders up the street… and a model train store owner who explains how he and his colleagues forced the big-box retailers out of their industry completely. Kay’s lively writing style reflects his understanding that small business owners don’t have the time to wade through statistical analyses of superstores’ sales patterns – as other books might have them do – but neither are they going to be placated with quick-fix solutions for their woes. Retail is hard work, Kay reminds us, but his real-world examples and humorous anecdotes leave readers agreeing that running shop in the shadow of the giants can be fun and rewarding as well.
language: English
title: Thriving in the Shadow of Giants: How to Find Success as an Independent Retailer
titlecomplete: Thriving in the Shadow of Giants: How to Find Success as an Independent Retailer
ratings_count: 1
publisher: Armarium Pr