Imagine going to summer camp but not being allowed to speak your primary language. That experience offers the perfect setting to learn a different language, according to Lowe’s. For the past five years, employees from Lowe’s distribution centers in the U.S. have gained unique, one-week training through an immersion program. …
Read More »Operations
What’s In Your Plan?: What a Strategic Plan Is, and Why Your Business Needs One
To download a PDF of this story click here and visit hardwareretailing.com/strategic-planning to learn more about the components of a strategic plan and see some examples for each of the components that make up a plan. Frank Strano has some …
Read More »The Move From Promotion to Personalization
After a successful holiday season, retailers are re-evaluating their strategic plans and determining how to keep consumers engaged in the coming months. Many retailers have used and are continuing to use deep discounts as promotions that they hope will keep customers engaged …
Read More »Big Box Stores Reducing Floor Space
When big box retailers first became popular options for consumers, the term big box fit due to store layout and size. Recently, however, many popular big box retailers have been trying to reduce size and introduce smaller versions of their stores. Developing micro-sized …
Read More »Pay Attention to Mobile Pay in 2015
Many retailers and consumers will be helping grow the trend of mobile payments. Mobile payment options such as Apple Pay, Google Wallet and others are still relatively new services, but their use is expected to increase rapidly in the next few years, according to …
Read More »Protecting a Good Customer Experience
Company leaders are responsible for cultivating and preserving high customer service standards, and Ace Hardware offers some examples of how to do it, according to a recent article. “[I]f an employee, a group of employees, or maybe even the entire company is not …
Read More »Creating Your Strategic Plan
Hardware Retailing‘s January 2015 issue analyzed the elements of a strategic plan and highlighted retailers who have implemented strategic plans in their business. To read the full Strategic Planning story click here. Now it’s time to create a strategic plan …
Read More »Understanding Gen-X and Millennial Employees
Whether they’re looking to fill management positions or find part-time employees to man the registers and stock shelves, retailers may find that understanding generational differences helps with hiring, retaining and motivating employees. Generational groups all have different behaviors that impact the workplace, both positively and …
Read More »