Boulder merchants head to boot camp – Seminars arm stores with ammunition for retail wars

With sales down and competition up, Downtown Boulder Inc. hopes the first in a series of monthly educational seminars gets business rolling again for local merchants.

Topic No. 1: Guerrilla-style tactics.

By Matt Branaugh, Camera Business Writer

http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/local_business/article/0,1713,BDC_2461_2665900,00.html

The Guerrilla Group Inc., a Boulder-based sales and marketing consulting firm, hosted a 90-minute seminar on the topic Tuesday morning and will do so again at 3 p.m. today. The first session filled up with a dozen people. Today’s workshop has already filled up, too.

The strong interest reveals the severity of the situation, said Orvel Ray Wilson, a senior partner with the 24-year-old Guerrilla Group.

The subjects also are covered in Guerrilla Retailing, a book Wilson released in January with co-authors Jay Conrad Levinson and Elly Valas, as well as a four-evening workshops slated for early March by Guerrilla Group.

"It’s never been a tougher time to be in retail," Wilson said. "(Owners) are facing an onslaught from a number of different fronts."

He’ll cover several issues in today’s session, including location, merchandising, pricing, training and employee compensation. He said he’ll explain how to do them better, even when the competition boasts more money and resources.

Locally owned stores not only face mounting pressures from big-box chains, he said, but also find themselves dealing with shrinking margins, particularly as more product manufacturing goes overseas.

Plus, customers are as tight-fisted as ever, thanks in part to the recent recession and the war in Iraq. "They’re just not spending," Wilson said.

Then there’s Boulder’s woes. Broomfield added FlatIron Crossing mall. Louisville and Superior bolstered their big-box shopping selections.

Meanwhile, Crossroads Mall died. Construction projects hampered traffic patterns. And Boulder’s year-to-date retail sales tax receipts, compared to the year prior, have slumped 33 straight months.

All of those elements added up to a need for more training to help downtown businesses fight back, said David Adams, Downtown Boulder’s program director.

"The folks in downtown Boulder have to become more competitive," he said. "Everybody’s got to be sharp."

Next month’s seminar will focus on database marketing, he said. Future topics include developing loyal customers, resolving conflict, creating employee benefits and improving training.

Downtown Boulder members pay $10; nonmembers pay $12. The group limited participation in the seminars to 12 people each because "we want them to be intimate and interactive," Adams said.

In next month’s Guerrilla Group workshop, a four-part program running March 2,4,9 and 11, participants pay $695. Four of the six seats are still available.

Contact Matt Branaugh at (303) 473-1363 or [email protected].