Learning from those who do it best

BY JULIE A. PALM

We all have different learning styles. Some of us absorb knowledge through the written word. Some of us are more auditory: Tell us directions to a new location and we’ll remember them forever, without a GPS to help us along. Others are visual learners and turn to YouTube videos to discover how to play the guitar or tie a complicated sailing knot.

Regardless of how we learn best, we usually need someone who already has the knowledge we seek to share it with us.

This is especially true when it comes to business. Most of us don’t have time to reinvent the wheel. Whether it’s a handy tip or a business-altering concept, it’s nice to see how the idea has worked for someone else. Then we can borrow it, tweak it and make it our own.

That’s the idea behind Sleep Savvy’s regular feature, the Retail Road Trip, which shines the spotlight on a successful bedding retailer. Sometimes it’s a single-location sleep specialist. Other times it’s a department store or bedding chain with stores across several states. We’ve highlighted family-owned businesses that have survived over generations and also written about unique concept stores that just recently emerged from the minds of their owners.

Whatever their size, location or ownership structure, what these stores have in common is good ideas to share—ideas about rewarding retail sales associates, improving delivery practices, boosting average tickets, merchandising showroom floors, increasing sales of accessories, creating more effecting marketing programs, and on and on.

As a rule, these are fiercely competitive retailers, but they are willing to share at least some of the secrets of their success. In part, they tell us, it’s because it is an honor to be featured in a magazine read by tens of thousands of their peers. But I think they’re also willing to share because improving the practices and reputations of other mattress retailers helps the entire industry. Retailers with unkempt stores, shoddy selling practices and “low-low price” marketing tarnish us all.

The Retail Road Trip has been on a brief hiatus, but will return in the March issue of the magazine.

We always are looking for great retailers to showcase. If you think your business has a unique story and maybe a few ideas to share with the industry, contact us. We’d love to tell your story and celebrate your success. ●