On Brick and Mortar Retailing, the easy way to learn the things you'll have to learn the hard way in retailing, is a different kind of business book. It deals primarily with the relationships and feelings among the players in the retail drama, rather than the technical side of the business. The players include you, as the potential or actual owner, partners, employees, customers, lawyers, nasty and annoying people of all sorts (folks who will never spend a dime, salespeople, flimflammers, thieves and con-artists, to name but a few), landlords, suppliers, significant others and business associates.
The first part of the book, "Retail Tales", describes many of the interactions I had with the nasties, mentioned above, and how I dealt with them - sometimes well and sometimes not very well. If you are a potential retailer, these stories, though difficult to believe, will prepare you for life in the real world and, hopefully, the bad things may not depress you as much as they did me. As they say, forewarned is forearmed.
The second part, "Retail Realities", covers some of the aspects of buying or starting a business, operating and managing it and managing yourself. The emphasis is again on human interactions and the effect of your behavior and performance on others and their behavior on you. Reading and thinking about these things in the cold light of day before they occur, rather than in the heat of battle, may make the difference between your happiness or depression and, therefore, your success or failure in retailing.
