John’s Blog

Ref: The Weekender South Africa Posted to the web on: 17 March 2007 by PATRICK BURNETT A NEW debate over environmentally friendly food in the UK, a major market for South African fresh fruit and vegetables, has raised concern about possible knock-on effects for the local export industry. Major UK supermarket chain Tesco announced last month that it planned to introduce �carbon-friendly” measures such as carbon-counting labelling and restrictions on

The Salinas Valley in California is often called the salad bowl of the USA. The rich soils, level land, a ready source of labour and a superb climate make it the ideal growing area. The fruit and vegetable industry started in the 1850�s with apples being exported to Europe. Today apples, artichokes, beets, spinach and berries are commonly grown crops amongst a host of others. I was in the Salinas

Since my first visit to the USA in 1976 I have seen the slow decline of customer service across the country. In the 70�s I admired their customer service and it was a place to learn new techniques. Since then it has slowly declined, mainly due to the low wages of people in this part of retailing, which has not increased apart from a few cents for a decade. This

Have you caught up with Time Magazine 12 March 2007 yet? If not you should get a copy. You cannot miss it in the newsagents, it is the one with a big apple on the cover. When you get it you should read the article by John Cloud. In my presentations the issues I have been bringing up are discussed in depth in the magazine, for instance, should we buy

Ref: www.gov.ns.ca February 21, 2007 12:34 Consumers want more Nova Scotia products and they want to see retailers and government purchase more Nova Scotia goods. The findings of the 2,400-person survey were released today, Feb. 21, by the Women’s Institutes of Nova Scotia, with the support of the Department of Agriculture. “We know the importance of having choice and availability of locally produced goods,” said Ron Chisholm, acting Minister of

Over the last few years we have seen the growth of domestic landscape design,mainly driven by the Do It For Me Baby Boomer Generation. This is the generation that helped build the garden centre business over the last twenty years. They have now left garden centre to attract the Jones generation and Generation X. Both are groups that are less inclined to be gardeners and who look on the garden

According to Small Business Trends blog, the top ten trends for 2007 are as follows: By Cheryl Russell, New Strategist Publications It is not easy to figure out what Americans do with their money. First, you have to ask enough people so that the answers are statistically representative. Second, those you ask must keep tedious track of their spending. Third, the data must be organized into meaningful categories or the

By John Stanley In a world of constant change every organisation has to think outside the box and come up with new ideas to attract their cliental. As far as trade shows are concerned, in the modern world the retailer does not need to go to the show to discover new products or to place an order, that can be done by a number of different channels in this computerised

Good ideas can appear any where. I was recently in an elevator at the Marriot Hotel in San Mateo in California and came face to face with the barman on the side of the elevator. Think about it, what happens to most people in an elevator, they stare up at the floor numbers passing by. This sign served many purposes, it overcame the stare embarrassment and entertained the guest as

By John Stanley I recently read an article that stated that the number of coffee shop brands in the UK had doubled to over 2,500 brand outlets in eight years. I realize we are now in the �coffee culture�, but take Starbucks out of the list and how many retail coffee shop brands can you name?, that�s before we start on the list in your local supermarket. Branding, in today�s

By John Stanley In the last few weeks a number of events have caused me to focus on 2026. Twenty years into the future. Firstly, Linda and I became grand parents for the first time and this inevitably causes you to look at the future. While we awaited the great event, the �Australian� our national newspaper ran a 13 edition colour supplement forecasting what life will be like in 2026.

Christmas 2006 has come and gone. Prior to Christmas there were the motivational articles to get your teams to increase sales over the busy period and we have now had the financial reviews on how successful the Yuletide trading was compared to other years, but what were the retail trends this last year and what can we introduce this year. Over the Christmas period I had the opportunity to review

By John Stanley I recently read an article that stated that the number of coffee shop brands in the UK had doubled to over 2,500 brand outlets in eight years. I realize we are now in the �coffee culture�, but take Starbucks out of the list and how many retail coffee shop brands can you name?, that�s before we start on the list in your local supermarket. Branding, in today�s

By John Stanley On a recent flight to South Africa to work with clients I read Dr Paddi Lund�s excellent new book �The Absolutely Critical Non Essentials� If you have not read it, I recommend you should. For those that do not know Paddi and his story, he is a Dentist based in Brisbane, Queensland. This is the second book of his that I have read and this one I

By John Stanley I know what your thinking, how can a bucket of 12 tomatoes cost $15,000? Nobody would pay such an exhorbitant amount of money for tomatoes! But read on, these tomatoes cost $15,000 Australian dollars. The actual bucket did exist and was located in a small fruit and vegetable shop down the road from where Linda and I live in Perth, Western Australia. I say did exist, because

This may not shock you, but it surprised me and thank you to Nottingham County Council libraries and the local pub for providing the information ….. let me explain. Nottingham had a major problem, they were finding it difficult to attract youth into their libraries. They found that youth preferred the pub to the library. Therefore when it comes to target marketing, the pub was the obvious place to go.

By John Stanley In the last few weeks a number of events have caused me to focus on 2026. Twenty years into the future. Firstly, Linda and I became grand parents for the first time and this inevitably causes you to look at the future. While we awaited the great event, the �Australian� our national newspaper ran a 13 edition colour supplement forecasting what life will be like in 2026.

Baby Boomers are the �Do It For Me� Market and when it comes to sustainability they are no different. Imagine someone coming in to your yard, building an organic vegetable garden and maintaining it. That is exactly what �Your Patch� (www.yourpatch.com.au) will provide. They will select the best location your garden, work with you to plan a planting around your favourite vegetables, build it, reticulate it and maintain it. All

In the last two years chocolate fountains have been all the rage. Is this the next stage? Will garden centres and farm shops be building chocolate Christmas trees next year�� it would be a crowd puller. Ref: Retail Link – Bangkok Hotel Building a 200kg Chocolate Christmas tree – www.hospitalitynet.org/news/154000320/4025643.html

By John Stanley One of the challenges for any retail business is getting new consumers to enter the store. The mass merchandisers normally rely on price promotions to get the consumer through their front door and this means small independent business have to rely on other means of �touching the consumer� to get there attention. To achieve this, a retailer needs to know their consumer target exceptionally well and to

My local garden centre, Zanthorrea, has just been awarded in the inaugural �Australia�s Most Weed Wise Nursery� by the Australian Weed Societies. The award is presented to the nursery that is most proactive in its approach to environmental weeds that present a threat to native plants, wildlife and the environment. Zanthorrea refuses to sell high-risk invasive garden plant species and did so well before state legislation banned the plants. Congratulations

Today’s marketplace holds few competitive advantages in terms of product or price, therefore emotional engagement and memorable experiences are more important than ever. Click below for a message from John Stanley and Pete Luckett about making your customers say WOW! about their shopping experience. Cant see the video? Click Here to download Flash Plug-in for your Browser!

By John Stanley Japan with a population of 127 million, most of whom are congregated along the eastern side of the main island, is an intensive market. Traditionally known for Japanese gardens, bonsai and chrysanthemums, the market is now expanding as the population becomes more demanding. In October I had the opportunity to speak at the IFEX Conference just outside Toyko and also the opportunity to look at the garden

By John Stanley Christmas is one of the most important trading periods of the retail year in the Western world. The impact it has on sales will vary with each retail sector but, whichever sector you belong to, it is critical that you maximise the sales potential of this peak festive season. One of the keys to success is staff trained and ready to handle the extra demands of this

By John Stanley It is always a challenge for me to walk past the coffee shop in our local town. The aroma of those fresh coffee beans being grinded draws me to the store every time. I then have the challenge of passing our local bakery where that aroma gets to me again. My daughters rave about a company called �Dusk� who have created a scented candle haven. �Lush� natural