Shelfspace.ca MerchantHub

Should we all vote NDP to get the banks back in line

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 11:49:52 GMT

With the announcement that the NDP would lower credit card interest rates, a break for consumers (which I am one) and lower rates to small businesses (which I am one) they have my attention for the first time in, well, the first time ever....

Kristina Egyed
LaLa's in The Cove

LaLa's...putting the ooh LaLa into gift giving and getting!
4381 Gallant Ave., Deep Cove, North Vancouver, BC V7G 1L1 604-924-2016

Improving Productivity - How To Use Outlook For Fast Filing

Thu, 03 Feb 2011 09:07:18 GMT

I get about 150 emails on average, per day. People ask me how I sort through and file all of these emails. I realize that many people save the emails to a specific file on their hard drive. I don’t have time to do this. Many of my emails are keepers. Therefore, I use my Outlook as a filing system.

1. Under personal folders, I create a new folder. For example, to track my blog posts for “Software is like an onion”, I created All Blogposts for Software Onion

2. When new postings come in via RSS feed, I simply drag them to the folder that I created as you can see from the image below. Note that this is exactly how it appears on my Outlook.

3. Now, if I need to search for something in this blog, I have a handy filing tool that I can search through either using the “Search all blogposts for Software Onion” that you can see displayed at the top of the image, or, I can use Outlook’s advanced search.

4. I like to keep my files current for the past several months and then I archive them. Outlook’s .pst files in Office 2007 do have the capacity to go up to 20GB. However, I like to keep them smaller than that.

The best part is that I don’t have to try and remember what I called the file when I stored it on my hard drive, which is a problem that my friends talk about. I would find it very frustrating to have to sit and search for files that I could not remember the name of.

By having the file in my Outlook, the file name is in front of me when I do my email, and I find that I can easily remember file names even if I do not use them for several weeks.

If I am working on a project or event, I find this filing system handy to use to track the emails around the project. Then, when the project is done, if I don’t need the emails anymore, I can simply delete the folder, and everything goes to the DELETE folder intact in case I ever have to search for it.

I have files stored in this manner in my Outlook Archives going back to 2003. And, this filing is efficient and paperless!

*****************

Judy@datacloudconsulting.com www.datacloudconsulting.com

More cash in the till

Fri, 07 Jan 2011 14:15:21 GMT

Over this past holiday shopping season speaking with retailers I stumbled upon an interesting comment by an employee who mentioned that she noticed more cash in the till this year vs previous.

My natural curiosity led me to ask others if they noticed a difference and indeed in a variety of retail sectors staff confirmed this anecdotal evidence. It makes sense, given so many people budgeted their purchases this year; they may have returned to a cold hard cash method of payment to ensure they stayed within their plan. What an interesting trend this would be if it were so; imagine customers giving up extra dating and loyalty points to stay on budget.

So, just wondering if anyone else in the Shelfspace community noticed a difference this year. For retailers, it may have represented a little extra profit given the fees associated with credit and debit cards.

Gerry Spitzner
retailSOS.ca

Standing up for local shopping

Thu, 25 Nov 2010 15:39:00 GMT

An issue that has always impacted my businesses has recently become a huge problem is shopping in the States. Recently we have had an influx of customers that spend hours in our stores, being helped by my sales staff, and then take an unusually long time in the change rooms as they write down style numbers and codes. These customers will then either cross the border or search for the items online. I’m not sure what we can do as a group but I have been discussing this with other retailers lately and we feel we must get the word out. Education is the key. I know in my immediate circle I’ve resorted to shaming my friends into shopping locally J . I have had “shop local” campaigns at my store, but I don’t feel they have been successful. Customers need to hear that our economy is being severely impacted by this. Their children will not have retail jobs to support them through university if this continues.

Retail Sales

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 16:22:50 GMT

I'm a women's boutique in Edm. and wanted to let you know how surprised I am at the sales this month. We've been up every month this year (from 2009) with the exception of Oct. - ususally our second highest month. I've spoken to three sales reps from B.C. that cover B.C, Alberta and Sask. - say all their retailers with the rare exception, are complaining of a slow Oct. I've spoken to people in other industry who say the same. One of my employees was at The Bay and the sales associate there told her they've been so slow this month she fears they are in serious trouble.

Can anyone shed any light on this? Are you guys experiencing a similar situation??

Help needed for flooding victims

Thu, 21 Oct 2010 10:53:40 GMT

Retailers in the flooded Highway 20 region - from Williams Lake to Bella Coola - are struggling along with the community at large to cope with devastating floods and the threat of more rain to come!

Retailers are encouraged to assist in the emergency by making contributions to Donations should be sent (by cheque -- unfortunately, no online process) to:

Central Coast Regional District (CCRD) Disaster Relief Fund, c/o Williams Lake & District Credit Union, Box 214, Bella Coola, BC V0T 1C0. The CCRD will issue tax receipts, and the funds will be allocated by a local committee to those who have suffered the greatest losses.

You can also read more about this at http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_cariboo/williamslaketribune/news/105416338.html