Let's Talk a Little Shop | ASD Market Week

In this episode of Let’s Talk a Little Shop, Emilie Lewis speaks with Cole Daugherty, the SVP of Exhibitor Marketing for the Dallas Market Center, about his experience in the trade show industry. They discuss the importance of relationships, collaboration, and in-person events for the success of businesses in the wholesale trade industry.

Highlights

• 0:00:  Cole Daughtery is the SVP of Exhibitor Marketing for the Dallas Marke...

In the second part of Emilie’s interview with Emily Bensen, turns to inspiration and education for small retail businesses, in this episode, they discuss:

• 0:00: How mindset is everything. 
• 3:32: That in order to solve a problem in your business, you understand the cause of the problem in order to find a solution.
• 4:17: How to improve your retail business cash flow by 20% in 90 days. 
• 6:00: When you go to trade shows, come with a st...

In part one of this episode of Let’s Talk a Little Shop, Emilie talks to Emily Benson, Author & Founder, of The Boutique Training Academy, which provides professional retail training for up and coming retail businesses. 

In this episode, Emilie and Emily discuss:

0:26:  Empowering boutique owners to start, grow, and scale their businesses with solution-focused training programs.

4:21:  Transition from studying surface pattern desi...

In the second half of this interview, Emilie and Tiffany discuss the power of the creator economy, how to work with influencers, and the role of DEI when it comes to the creator economy and the larger trends driving modern culture. 

• 0:22: The creator economy is worth ½ trillion dollars; 165 million creators joined the creator economy in 2022. 
• 0:58: What you need to consider when using influencer marketing as part of your strateg...

In this episode of Let’s Talk a Little Shop, Emilie talks to Tiffany Hardin of Gild Creative Group, an influencer marketing agency that works with BIPOC creators. Tiffany and Emilie discuss: 

1:30: Build a business around relationships

2:15: Building connections so ideas take root, that’s what influencer marketing is

3:30: Aligning your company to cultural trends through the voices leading them

5:15: Successful influences need to be ab...

In this episode of Let’s Talk a Little Shop, Emilie Lewis speaks with Lance Fensterman, CEO of Fanatics Events. Lance is the genius behind ComplexCon, the Star Wars Convention, and ComicCon NY. In this episode, they discuss: 

• 2:40: How Lance fell into ‘Fandom’ event marketing
• 4:00: You don’t know what you can learn when you say “YES”
• 5:15: How Lance launched ComicCon NY, Pax, and the Star Wars events with Lucas Films
• 06:50: What it...

Welcome to the latest episode of Let’s Talk a Little Shop. Emilie interviews Jeremy Bergstein of The Science Project. The Science Project is a digital innovation firm that works with world class brands such as Nike, Kiehl's. Uniqlo, Chanel, Calvin Klein, the Simon Group, Bloomingdale's, and Kate Spade to create digital experiences into physical store locations, and vice versa. In this episode, they discuss: 

00:00: Me...

In this episode of Let’s Talk a Little Shop, Emilie Lewis interviews Jamie Grossman, the founder of PRTNR Recruiting Firm. 

PRTNR Recruiting Firm isn’t the traditional placement agency, they specialize in full-time job placements in consumer lifestyle industries. And unlike many recruitment firms, Jamie doesn’t work with just anyone. She only works in her zone of excellence and her company’s strengths. 

In their conversation, Emilie ...

Season 3 of Let’s Talk a Little Shop is here! This season, your host is Emilie Lewis, the VP of Marketing for ASD Market Week. 

At ASD, our team sees that the retail landscape is changing. So for Season 3 of Let’s Talk a Little Shop we wanted to focus on “What’s Important.” The next 10 episodes are dedicated to discussing what is happening retail business, trade shows, and the events now, and what’s important to focus on. 

In this ep...

In this episode, Stephanie talks to Dane Cohen, Director of Sales and New Business Development, Management One, LLC.
 
 3:14: Dane joins the family business, Lesters, a multi-store location in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut!
4:06: A shift to Management One LLC, Dane uses his diverse background to help strengthen independent and family-owned retail businesses with open to buy and inventory management.
5:31:...

In this episode, Stephanie talks to Danny Kole, Co-President, Kole Imports & Closeouts.

• 1:47:  How Two Brothers started a business at swap meets using wait lines to source merchandise before the meets started.
• 3:35: The Pivot - from swap meets to selling promotional, new merchandise.
• 4:36: Sourcing - Diving to LA and using sourcing wholesale merchandise from import businesses in downtown Los Angeles.
• 7:55: Trade Shows - If you ...

In this episode of Let’s Talk A Little Shop, Stephanie Beringhele talks to Ashley Alderson, Founder and CEO, of The Boutique Hub. 

• 1:20: There is no way to lay out a perfect business plan. A business should start with a purpose and a why. 
• 3:00: How The Boutique Hub found their niche and made a pivot to support small retail businesses. 
• 5:45: From inventory to merchandise, how The Boutique Hub supports retailers’ business question...

In this episode of Let’s Talk a Little Shop, Stephanie talks to Cathy Ziegler, VP of Sales, Kheper Games, a wholesale adult novelty and game company, and Lisa Mazurek, Founder of Warm Human, a wholesale and retail brand that helps customers learn to walk through the world with strength and kindness. They discuss:

• 3:30: People should focus on building a life you love, gifts should empower your friends, family and loved ones. 
• 4:15...

On this episode of Let’s Talk a Little Shop, Stephanie talks to Derek Gaskins, the Chief Marketing Officer of Yesway, one of the fastest-growing convenience stores in the United States with over 400 stores. They discuss:

• 2:49: Trends in convenience retail. People are realizing that convenience retail is recession proof. 
• 3:21: Convenience stores take on the communities they serve. 
• 5:39: How Yesway was built and why the company is...

In this episode, Stephanie Beringhele interviews  Damian Polak, the founder of Nice Find Wholesale. Stephanie and Damian Discuss:

• 01:16: Launching a liquidation in 2020, during COVID, and the opportunity it brought.
• 02:41: Large scale liquidation is where the money is made. Big box retailers - Amazon, Target, Home Depot, Lowe's, Walgreens, and CVS need to get rid of great products. 
• 03:47: You'd be surprised where you ca...

In this episode, Stephanie Beringhele interviews Ben Saltzman, the Marketing Director of Kitty Hawk Kites. Kitty Hawk Kites has 28 retail stores and several e-commerce sites. 

• 01:25: How Ben got into the retail business
• 03:09: Understanding Kitty Hawk Kite's retail business model - Kitty Hawk Kites, Kitty Hawk Surf Company, and Life is Good stores. 
• 05:49: How Kitty Hawk Kites went from being a hang gliding school into becomi...

Using Merchandising to Navigate Recession and Generate Stealth Revenue

In this episode, we speak with Joe Baer, the founder of Zen Genius, a visual merchandising and events firm. In the past, we’ve worked with Joe to create amazing guides and videos on merchandising for the ASD Market Week community. 

In this interview, Joe Baer talk to retailers about:

🧥 Bridging the in-store experience to the online experience

👔 How showrooming is ...