After a Sunday drive through Pennsylvania and Connecticut, we dropped in on Retail Speaks member, Ann Foley-Collins of Glee Gifts in Mansfield, (Boston) MA.  Her location in a large regional mall area is very visible and she carries several key lines of gifts that are customer draws.  In business for a number of years she is keenly aware of sourcing strong lines to replace some of the trendy hot lines that may be fading in popularity.  Takeaways – One noteworthy observation is that similar to many other independent retailers we have visited, her success was keenly dependent upon the dedication of a key employee.  Not to mention a good location!

Ann Foley-Collins of Glee Gifts in Mansfield, MA with Sarah Ranes

We then headed up to visit “The Frame Guy”, aka Harry Gaston of Gaston Framing & Art in Shrewsbury, MA.  This outgoing framer and diligent business owner recently purchased an exisiting frame shop and converted it to his second location.  In an adjacent community that has its own identity, this enables him to share his advertising and marketing benefiting both locations.   Continue reading →

Before departing Michigan, we took the Ann Arbor road out of Plymouth to this vibrant and beautiful college town on the Huron River to visit Parrish Framing & Art.  The owner, Randy Parrish operates this small shop in the Nickels Arcade right downtown.  This looks just like an Arcade in the UK with the high ceiling, mixture of eclectic shops, old and new and the nice mixture of indoor/outdoor atmosphere.  I selected Randy’s shop as one to visit as he has been quite dedicated to PPFA, our trade association.  To give of your time and effort is no easy task while running a business…. it is especially difficult when you are the owner and only employee of that business – It requires some dedication to the concept of what you give comes back to you in dividends.

We had a great visit with Randy and noted that his business like others we had visited, had moved into a better location within his mall.  It becomes apparent that successful retailers recognize how important location plays into survival and sales.  When visiting Parrish Framing and Art, the first thing one would notice, regardless if you were in the trade or a potential customer is Randy’s focus on Michigan and US maps (many vintage) that he has made part of his shop’s identity.  And I believe that this is a good thing as this type of specialization makes his business stand apart from the competition…

John Ranes examining the maps at Parrish Framing & Art

When you are the owner, framer, bookkeeper, janitor, there is no question that these many tasks put great burden on you, your time and enthusiasm.   Continue reading →

The first leg of our journey gets us through Milwaukee, Wisconsin and around Chicago, Illinois (listening to the Germany Vs US World Cup match on the radio).  We traveled onto our first stop in Chesterton, Indiana.  Only 255 miles door-to-door, this community was once a small town, miles away from the big city but now definitely lies in the shadow of the industrial area of Chicago.  It is still charming as can be, with a rail line cutting through the center of town and a bustling with a freight train every 20 minutes or so.

This first stop on our journey is the home to Framing Concepts Gallery operated by Ken & Pat Baur.  Ken might be better known for his industry consulting work as KB Consulting but their business demonstrates many examples of his business professionalism and acumen that he teaches.

Pat and Ken Baur of Framing Concepts Gallery located in Chesterton, Indiana.

Continue reading →