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Haul Out the Holly: Store Planning
Planning for the holiday selling season in well in advance will give you more time, greater flexibility, and happier customers later.

How To Survive Renovation Projects
Retailers can have been running successful businesses for years, but when the bulldozers and the jackhammers arrive outside the door, their sales plummet, customers abandon ship and retailers panic. But it doesn't have to be that way. Retail expert T.J. Reid has survival tips for retailing in the construction zone.

Christmas in July - Critical Tips to Wrap Up a Successful Year
Like it or not, Christmas is only about 27 weeks away. That may seem like a lot, but when Anne Obarski reminds you that there are only 27 Fridays until Christmas it seems right around the corner. Find out what you can do now to be prepared this holiday season.

The Wal-Mart Effect
McKinsey Quarterly explains that it isn't just information technology strategies, but also managerial innovations, that improve the efficiency of the retail giant's stores.

Managing the Costs of Payment Acceptance - Keeping Debit and Credit Transaction Costs Down
Best practices and tips for retailers to help them keep down transaction fees and the other costs associated with accepting credit and debit cards, from Scott Cruickshank of Paymentech.

EST Retailing and How to Avoid the Black Hole
A well respected and easily understood model, developed by McMillan|Doolittle, explains who is winning at retail and why. Also read the followup piece, A Fifth EST (PDF).

Looks Can Kill
Is your store customer friendly? It seems like common sense retailing, but don't you fall into these traps that lose sales and customers.

Retailing's Next Frontier: The Efficient Consumer
Retailers have always focused on productivity, their own, but McMillan|Doolittle believes that it is time they started focusing on the customer's (PDF).