I meet people of all ages who complain how expensive it is to start their own retail business. And, unfortunately, I usually agree with them. But if you’re willing to share the overhead –and the floor space – with others in your position, you just might get your big break.

That’s what the young retailers in the collective store known as the Dressing Room are doing in New York. A dozen clothing designers are splitting the rent and displaying their wares in a space none could afford alone. This trend is just catching on in the U.S., but it’s already a huge hit in countries like Belgium and Japan.

At the Dressing Room, everyone shares in some common duties like working on the sales floor a certain number of days. But that also gives them access to a studio in the basement, where they can work on their designs.

We’ve all seen this concept carried out to the max in “antique malls” where sellers rent spaces and work on commission. But the Dressing Room and its competitors sound like the kind of place for those who want hands-on experience in the retail world. If you’re in that category, start networking and maybe you can get in on the ground floor. It could lead to a sales floor of your own sooner than you expected.

Ah, yes, another blog about Apple. You must know by now that I’ve been a Macintosh user since they were introduced in 1984. Back then I was more interested in the technology than their retail side, which was nonexistent. Now I carefully watch what goes on in each Apple Store I visit because, like their computers, Apple is setting the pace for consumer retail.

The company’s 201 stores were recently redesigned again. This is the third or fourth redesign I can recall, and each one improves on the rest. Now the checkout registers are completely gone from customers’ sight; staff carries wireless scanners/registers that complete the sale on the sales floor and either email the receipt or beams it to well-hidden printers.

All of the Macs, iMacs, iPods, iPhones and other product are on tables that invite immediate exploring by grown-ups and kids alike. Each computer is connected to the Internet, and each music player is preloaded with content. It’s a gadget lover’s nirvana.

Ultimately, though, the stores wouldn’t work without the so-called “concierges” who attach themselves to customers. I’ve found almost all of them to be knowledgeable about every product in the store. If they can’t answer a question, they’ll find someone who can. They are eager (sometimes too eager) and polite, unlike many of the sales staff at big-box consumer electronics stores. Obviously, some excellent training is going on.

It’s paying off for Apple, because more than 100 million visitors came in during its fiscal year that ended in September. They contributed $4.2 billion in revenue, up about 24 percent from $3.4 billion the last fiscal year.

Maybe Apple’s concierges and wireless scanners aren’t your retail style, but you sure can learn from them. Can your salespeople answer all of your customers’ questions? Do they treat your customers courteously, without the condescending tone I’ve seen too far often in retail? Are they willing to go the extra mile for your customers – and for you?

Think about it. You don’t need to look like an Apple store. But you can embrace the way they treat customers as a core value.

…will you be as prepared as Best Buy? The consumer electronics retailer is rehearsing its staff to cope with the expected onslaught of shoppers. Great idea, and one that surely grabs media attention.

Smaller retails can only pray that they’ll have long lines and extra cashiers on hand for the three-day shopping surge after Thanksgiving. If you’ve done all the right merchandising and marketing, you’ll get your fair share of the in-store shoppers. Either way, have you taken the time work with your staff on how to handle holiday crowds?

Whatever your T-Day and beyond situation, take the time to work with your staff to discuss ways to accommodate holiday shoppers. Do some role-playing and set up some horror scenarios. A few minor changes like posts and ropes in front of the registers, better directional signs and clearer price tags can save everyone a lot of grief.
You’ll be surprised at how far a little preparation will go. Your employees will thank you for it–not to mention your customers.

Best of luck to you this Friday and the entire holiday shopping season. If you have any ideas to help make your fellow retailers jolly, I’d be glad to share them here.

Maybe last Wednesday was a slow news day in Orlando, Florida. Could that be why the grand opening of a new IKEA store dominated the headlines of OrlandoSentinel.com? Or was it newsworthy that IKEA’s combination of merchandise and design attract assemble-it-yourself furniture groupies? I think it was the latter.

I’ve always thought the Swedish home-furniture retailer did a fantastic job of drawing shoppers in and keeping them moving through the huge stores. I didn’t know there were so many IKEA fanatics, like the ones in the article who camped out for the grand opening.

“Adventure shopping” is what a marketing-strategy expert calls IKEA’s successful formula. What a great description. We hear all the time about “destination shopping,” but IKEA’s takes it a few steps further. You can drop your kids off in day care, stroll through the store to see what’s new, enjoy a delicious meal in the café, pick up your kids, and drive away satisfied.

I visit the IKEA in San Diego a few times a year and am glad to see that there’s always a decent merchandise churn. The old standbys like freezer-bag clips are still there, but so are the latest TV stands. Yet I get vacuumed in like everyone else and usually walk the entire showroom floor—on both floors. (There are some well-disguised shortcuts that let you get out faster, but I’ll let you find them yourself.)

Shopping should be an adventure. You can make your retail store more adventurous just by changing the aisle configurations every once in a while. Try a new paint color on the walls. Replace carpet in high-traffic areas. Hang signage from the ceiling to eye level. None of this is on the scale of an IKEA, but it just might keep your store on your customers’ “adventure list.”

I wrote a while back about the British food giant Tesco, whose Fresh & Easy markets are just getting started on this side of the globe. Looks like they’re doing pretty well, according to this article in the Los Angeles Times. The newspaper sent some notable chefs, foodies and staff writers to check out the small supermarkets. They also talked to customers.

Interesting that while they praised the food selection, they also had a lot to say about the stores’ interior layout and design. They liked the “interior design, because of wide aisles, clearly written signs, bright lighting and an uncluttered feel.” A shopper said, “I like the nice atmosphere. It doesn’t overwhelm you like other stores.”

I’ve visited Tesco stores in the United Kingdom and found them to be likewise well laid out, even for Yanks who don’t recognize all of the food choices. The stores are designed to keep you moving, ever on the lookout for the surprises ahead on the next aisle. That could apply to your store, too, even if it’s not at all food-related.

Keep your customers moving by creating logical places to stop, like sales tables or new-merchandise shelves, all tied together with appropriate signage. Add a little element of surprise to their shopping experience. From the British Isles to your store’s aisles, it’s a simple technique that will have your customers coming back for more.

I never knew that retail art galleries barely existed in this country until the mid 1920s. Or that the reason they have flourished since then is because of an Eastern European immigrant named Edith Halpert, who started her career at the original (and still standing) Macy’s in New York City.

I just learned this at a talk by Lindsay Pollock, the author of a new book on Halpert, “The Girl with the Gallery: Edith Gregor Halpert and the Making of the Modern Art Market” (PublicAffairs, a member of the Perseus Books Group, 2007, $16.95).

Halpert’s talent as an artist developed early. She went to work as an illustrator in Macy’s advertising department while in her teens. It was there, Pollock says, that Halpert picked up the principles of retail merchandising, store layout and design, and customer service.

After marrying an artist, the pair lived for a time in Europe, where retail art galleries were already established but had more of a museum atmosphere. She realized there was a market for galleries in New York after meeting and cultivating the artists she met in Europe. She took a gamble and opened her Downtown Gallery in New York, a tasteful but homey place where visitors were made to feel comfortable around the art and artists.

The gallery flourished for 44 years. Halpert invented the market for American folk art, and championed the growth of the American modern art movement. She cut legendary deals with artists and educated her patrons.

She became an icon in the art world. And she did it by doing what I constantly harp on in this blog: If you want to be a successful retailer, study what the really successful retailers are doing. Then adapt their practices to your store’s style. Halpert had the good sense to absorb it all as a teen at Macy’s. All you have to do is take a walk through your regional mall. I’ll bet it even has a Macy’s.

You probably don’t have shopping carts in your store. Even so, you use the trusty indoor vehicles when you go to the supermarket. So you know that the cart’s track record as a marketing vehicle is less than stellar.

That may change soon, according to this article on Forbes.com. The space between your hands on the cart handle could be the most valuable in-store marketing real estate yet. The Home Depot is using that space to send text messages about products and prices to a screen literally at shoppers’ fingertips.

The article points out that more than 70% of purchase decisions are made in-store. But only 6% of advertising budgets is devoted to in-store marketing. Makes you want to think about reallocating your in-store marketing budget, doesn’t it?

Have you installed any video screens with customized messaging to attract customers? It’s a growing trend, but not the most effective way to reach customers, Forbes says: “Mass merchandise and supermarket consumers go shopping to shop, not to stop and be entertained. They are conditioned to move through stores, not to stop, look and listen.”

Your store is likely much smaller than those the article discusses. But the story contains some good lessons: In-store marketing seems to work better than anything for getting customers to buy. So keep those “Sale” and “2-for-1″ signs and tags handy. Got hand baskets? Stick quickie fliers and in-store coupons in them. And keep those basket handles in good shape. The way things are going, you could be sending text messages to them in the near future, using Wi-Fi and your computer. One can only hope.

I thought something was different the last time I ate at a Submarina sandwich shop. It seemed brighter and cleaner, with improved traffic flow from the order station to the cash register. It was obvious the place had been redesigned, and for the better.

But the story behind the makeover is something every retailer should read. It shows how important and powerful branding can be. From the logo to the wall menu to the sandwich wrappers, the design firm Submarina hired analyzed every aspect of the chain. It also used focus groups, learning that passersby often thought the old logo indicated a seafood joint or marine-supply store. Read the before-and-after to learn what changed and why.

The impetus for the makeover was the fact that many potential investors wouldn’t finance Submarina’s plans to go national. Why? Because they thought the shops “suffered from bland décor and a confusing menu.” Fortunately, the guy in charge finally realized he needed help, which is why he hired the design firm. It cost $250,000 but it lead to 24 percent annual sales growth for the renovated shops, up from 7 percent before the renovation. And commitments for new franchisees are way, way up.

A retail makeover doesn’t have to cost a quarter-million bucks. I’ve seem done for about 2 percent of that, or $10,000. Even the simple act of moving the cash wrap from the front of the store to the rear can make a huge difference in customers’ browsing behavior. Take a look at our Store Planning Primer for some ideas. Think long and hard about how a simple redesign can help you retain customers. Unlike Submarina, you don’t need to spend a lot of bread.

I remember my dad telling me about the Meier & Frank department store in downtown Portland, Oregon. He used to sell store fixtures to the 13-story landmark. It was the kind of place that was going out of style, he said. Customers didn’t like using so many escalators and elevators, he said, and the place was showing its age.

I visited the store once in the late ’70s and shared his sentiments, although I was impressed to see what a downtown department store looked like vs. the suburban ones I grew up with. Even though Meier & Frank was outdated, it still had its loyal customers. And the classic building it was in really left an impression on me.

Macy’s acquired Meier & Frank and its downtown landmark last year, according to The Oregonian. I did a double-take when reading that Macy’s spent more than $100 million on renovations, with the first-phase reopening scheduled for this Friday. But that’s what Macy’s and other developers are spending to make the building a downtown destination. There’ll be a hotel on the upper floors, a rooftop lounge, a restaurant—all the things that are drawing younger, more urbane shoppers to other downtowns such as San Diego, Boston and Chicago.

The revamped department store will have just five floors of sales space, each with a layout that makes it seem roomier. Macy’s designers must have done their research, because that’s the kind of style today’s retail shoppers appreciate in a department store.

“Modern nostalgia” is the style of the new hotel, its owner says. I like that description. I think it could apply to the entire building as well. I wish Macy’s all the best. The next time I’m in Portland, I’ll be checking the building out for great design ideas.

An email from Doris Anderson of the Golden Pear gift shop on Main Street in Kelseyville, California:

“Loved the article ‘Sense of Smell.’ This is something that has been overlooked for too long in business. I use this marketing device all the time, as well as music to get people to come into my store (I piped music outside of the store). It’s incredible how well it works. I would suggest that small businesses, in particular, just try it!

“I also have a cat (real) in my store, loves to lay in the window; you would think by the response that people had ever seen a cat before. Sasha, my little black and white cat, is my best salesperson. I have rescued and adopted out three cats. They are great company on those slow rainy days, and on top of all this, a great way to save a little life.”

Quite a combination–scents, music and a cat. Animals are something I hadn’t thought about as merchandising tool. But I have seen quite a few shops of all kinds that have a talking parrot inside or out. That never fails to bring in the customers.

Sounds like Doris did what I recommend: Experiment with all the senses. Scents, sounds, pets–any kind of unexpected sensory stimulation might do the trick. Just don’t put Sasha and Polly in the same window. At least until they learn to tolerate each other.