One of the best types of groups you can join is a buying…

“What You Can Imagine, You Can Achieve”

— James Dion

“Bricks and clicks,” stores with websites, are the most successful retailers today.”

— James Dion

“These loyal customers cost us less to maintain. They produce high margins and we make more money from them.”

— James Dion

“They also understand that a store with no documented procedures is very hard to sell when it comes time—and someday it will.”

— James Dion

“Good companies like good products have instruction manuals.”

— James Dion

“Most people don’t buy products because they need them. They buy them because those products make them happy. As a retailer, your job is…

— James Dion

“As a small store owner, you’ll be living, sleeping, and breathing your business—if you don’t enjoy what you are doing, your chances for success…

— James Dion

“According to various studies, only about 30 percent of businesses in the United States survive past their fifth year.”

— James Dion

“One of the things that I think is true of very successful retailers is that their joy is in creating, not maintaining.”

— James Dion

“Another demographic change is the gay market, which is “going mainstream” and exploding.”

— James Dion

“Retailers must do a little bit of everything today. They need to wear many different hats—a business strategist, a store designer, a marketer, a…

— James Dion

“Direct mail and online marketing have proven to be the most effective for reaching these demographic groups.”

— James Dion

“Don’t ever design your store with the idea of just beating the competition on price.”

— James Dion

“The Bear Necessities of Business: Building a Company with Heart by Maxine Clark and Amy Joyner published by Wiley in 2006.”

— James Dion

“Another common strategy used by convenience stores is to sell a cup of coffee in a store brand cup and offer refills at a…

— James Dion