After my post on pizzelle-maker and community-do-gooder Little Pepi’s ran a few weeks ago, owner Stan Kourakos dropped me a line to talk a little shop.

Hi, Lynda,

Hope this email finds you well.

I am thoroughly enjoying your book, and it reminds me of my college days, rereading paragraphs and chapters in an attempt to absorb every detail. I am out of practice, hence the reason I am still only two-thirds of the way through it! The rationale behind the close scrutiny to your words is, frankly, to change (more…)

Have you noticed the number of boarded-up malls? Have you driven down Main Street and seen how many of your old friends’ businesses are gone?  That’s a sign that brick-and-mortar marketplace survivors are becoming increasingly rare, while their virtual counterparts are on the rise. If you want your brand to survive, you have to think inside the box – that little ubiquitous box that’s on your desk – and evolve your online marketing plan so that it will survive the next generation.

Prior to the Great Recession, scoring placement at Henri Bendel would have guaranteed a bath-and-body product line a home run. But in our new economy, are retail sales enough? Gregg Schwartz of Priel asks that very question as he seeks to take his luxury Dead Sea beauty treatment products to the next level.

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