Is brick-and-mortar retail dying? No. It’s going through a much-needed metamorphosis It has been a rough year for retail. Traditional retailers of all types are shuttering locations, with many reorganizing under bankruptcy protection and some going out of business forever. Analysts are calling it the worst year for retail since the Great Recession. (We hope […]
Study Shows Retail Workers Are Satisfied, Engaged in Work
Are you having a good day selling sleep products today? Yes? You’re not alone. A recent study shows people working in the consumer products and services sector, which includes retail, are more engaged in and satisfied with their work than those in other fields. The data comes from “2016 Best Industry Ranking: Employee Engagement & […]
How does your customer service rate?
Mattress retailers could be doing better—and could be doing worse When it comes to providing good customer service, mattress retailers are fair to middling, according to a new ranking from Consumer Reports magazine. In a rating of 22 types of stores, industries and services, mattress retailers stand solidly at No. 11, with a score of […]
The power of internal innovation
Keynote speaker tells ISPA Industry Conference attendees the keys to business success are in their own backyard Inspired by his business book of the same name, John Spence’s “Awesomely Simple” keynote at the International Sleep Products Association’s 2015 Industry Conference March 4-5 in St. Petersburg, Florida, offered this important takeaway—for business success, companies must focus […]
Generation Z—coming to a store near you
A recent national survey from Boston’s Northeastern University reveals that members of Generation Z—those born in the mid-1990s or later—are highly self-directed, demonstrated by a strong desire to work for themselves, study entrepreneurship and design their own programs of study in college. According to the survey, 63% of the respondents—all between the ages of 16 and […]
Hiring for the long haul
Smart hiring managers use a variety of methods to find employees who will stick around. Tom Gimbel, founder of LaSalle Network, a nationally recognized staffing firm based in Chicago, shares these strategies at Fastcompany.com: 1. Always be interviewing. The right time to be interviewing is before you are in need of a new employee, Gimbel […]
Don’t go there: Phrases that get on customers’ nerves
We’ve heard them over and over again—tired phrases that are repeated ad nauseam on TV, in the workplace and, yes, at retail. On the website FirstToKnow, Rick Andreoli took the liberty of tallying the most annoying cliches currently in circulation. Sleep Savvy offers this abbreviated ranking. Retailers can post the list to encourage sales associates […]