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Specialty Retail Report In The Press:

Specialty Leasing's Place in the Sun

Thursday, Feb. 22 - The proliferation of open-air centers has created new challenges in an often overlooked area: specialty leasing. Temporary tenants want exposure in these properties, but putting carts outdoors creates problems for both owners and retailers that require foresight, planning and additional cash. Retail merchandizing units (RMU) have become integral to the shopping center industry since their introduction in the 1970s. They can generate 10 to 15 percent of a mall's annual revenue for the shopping center owner by capitalizing on high-traffic common areas and allowing fledgling merchants to get a toehold in the market before they get their own storefront. More

Scenes from a mall: Weary shoppers push back at kiosk peddlers

Tuesday, Jan. 2 - They've become as much a part of the holiday shopping mall landscape as Santa's workshops and mobbed return counters: kiosks, the small square huts lining the center aisles and hawking products from hand lotion to cell phones to modeling tryouts. But the ubiquitous booths and carts also have become a source of frustration for many New Jersey shoppers, who say their distaste for kiosk staffers' aggressive selling approaches drives them to spend less, not more. As they hurried to trade in unwanted gifts or to capitalize on steep post-Christmas discounts at malls across the state last week, customers and the kiosks vying for their attention toed a new fine line of consumer etiquette: In a shrine to selling, who's to say when a sales pitch goes too far? More

Ghost of Christmas presents: Temporary stores materialize

Wednesday, Dec. 6 - They pop up just before the Thanksgiving turkey and are usually gone with the last traces of the New Year's hangover. In between, if they're lucky, they make a living. Temporary seasonal stores have long been a way for malls to fill empty spaces while offering entrepreneurs a chance to test their wings. Increasingly, though, the temporary outlets are starting to look like they've always been there. "I definitely think what's happening is the malls are raising the bar for what they're looking for in visual-merchandising excellence," said Patricia Norins, publisher of Specialty Retail Report, a Hanover, Mass.-based trade publication. More

SpecialtyRetail.com Joins Forces with CareerBuilder.com; Bringing Holiday Staff Relief to Carts & Kiosks Across the Country

Wednesday, Nov. 1 - The number one online resource for the cart and kiosk industry announced a partnership with CareerBuilder.com, the leading U.S. online job site with more than 23 million unique visitors per month. The partnership will provide job seekers as well as employers, retailers, wholesalers, and mall management instant access to a multitude of new job opportunities in the cart and kiosk industry this holiday season. "Hiring temporary staff to help with the busy holiday season is the number-one challenge for cart and kiosk owners," said Patricia Norins, CEO and publisher of SpecialtyRetail.com. "This partnership will make it easier for both companies and job seekers to find each other in a quick and effective manner." More

How to Start a Kiosk Business

Wednesday, Nov. 1 - In a world dominated by big-box retailers, wanting to start an independent retail business probably feels a bit like David battling Goliath. "Why bother?" you think. "I'll only get crushed." But these days, your small size could save your business. The big boxes have gotten so bloated. The good news is, retail spending has remained strong through the economic ups and downs (it totaled about $3.58 trillion in 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau). While the costs of establishing a permanent retail location can be steep--you may spend up to $100,000 or more, with leases spanning three to 10 years--carts, kiosks and temporary spaces can be an easier way to get a foot in the door with a lot less risk. The upfront investment for a kiosk or a cart ranges from just $2,000 to $10,000, according to Patricia Norins, publisher of Specialty Retail Report, a quarterly trade publication for specialty retailers. And today, carts and kiosks are a $10 billion industry. More

How Retail Managers Can Stay Sane for the Holidays

Tuesday, Oct. 17 - Scratch beneath the surface of managers' scheduling and staffing woes, and you'll find the true source of all that holiday stress: Concerns about the bottom line. Retail managers know that the consequences for failing to hit their holiday sales numbers can be severe. As Patricia Norins, publisher of Gift Shop magazine and author of the Ultimate Guide to Specialty Retail, points out, training sales staff in the art of holiday upselling is an effective, inexpensive way to boost seasonal sales figures. "During the holidays, if someone comes into a store asking for help finding a gift for Aunt Jane, salespeople should know to ask questions that uncover what might be the perfect gift," Norins says. Other upselling techniques include asking customers if they need help selecting other gifts on their lists as well as asking if there's anything they might want for themselves, she suggests. More

All the Right Moves: Independent Retailers Can Find Success in Large Shopping Malls

Tuesday, Sept. 26 - Jeff and Linda Ball have made a business of telling people's life stories. The husband-and-wife entrepreneurs sell Italian charms -- tiny rectangles that fit together into bracelets to reflect a person's tastes and passions. Over a year ago, tired of traveling the craft-show circuit, the couple paid $500 a month to rent a kiosk in Coeur d'Alene's Silver Lake Mall. Surrounded by giants like J.C. Penney and Sears, they focused on a niche product delivered with personalized service. Sales at Charm Depot took off. Their success led the Balls to consider upsizing the operation, and in April they moved Charm Depot into a 600-square-foot storefront at the mall. Although they pay about $1,500 a month all-in for the shop, the added space allowed the Christian storeowners to expand their selection of charms and add a line of gifts expressing their faith. Charm Depot is one of dozens of small local businesses finding a place among anchor and chain stores at area malls. Although independent stores don't play the role they once did as shopping center mainstays, retail experts say they offer a unique flavor that can incubate into something bigger. More

Scaring up store space

Tuesday, Sept. 26 - Eight years ago, Jon Biggs asked Crabtree Valley Mall for a two-month lease so he could peddle Halloween costumes, decorations and pumpkin-carving tools. He was greeted with open ears, but not a red carpet. The mall offered his venture, The Halloween Zone, a spot in a service center hundreds of asphalt yards away from the main shops. "We weren't Macy's," he said. But The Halloween Zone and other companies like it are getting closer after years of being stuck in low-profile parts of shopping centers and malls. Landlords -- who for years have worried that slipshod, fly-by-night appearances would scare shoppers away from long-term stores -- are now more inclined to place seasonal retailers in more luxurious digs that become available. More

Middle of the road

Friday, Aug. 25 - Late last year, Sharaz Azim leapt into retail, peddling T-shirts at Huntington’s Walt Whitman Mall before moving operations to Lake Grove’s Smith Haven Mall. But shoppers won’t find his name on either mall directory. In both shopping centers, Azim snapped up some of the smallest retail real estate known to man: 25-square-foot kiosks occupying space between giants such as Express and the Gap. After working for other kiosk owners, Azim said, he decided to take the plunge himself. “It’s doing fairly well,” he said of his Smith Haven stand, filled with neatly folded T-shirts adorned with TV characters and logos. “The business has gone down over the years, but it’s still profitable.” More

What's Hot What's New-- GIFT SHOP Magazine

Sunday, Aug. 6 - The American Dream is fueled by success stories of "the little guy." For all the gift shop little guys out there, here is a title that may make you one of those success stories. From the publishers of Specialty Retail Report comes "fresh ideas for retailing success." Not only does this new launch give gift shop retailers information on what products are selling well across the country but it also highlights gifts shops from coast to coast. So no matter the size of your store, picking up Gift Shop may help boost those profits just a little higher. More

Kiosk malls goodbye

Monday, July 24 - LONG BEACH - For decades the shopping mall was seen as the mortal enemy of the small entrepreneur. With limited start-up cash, and a small inventory - maybe even only a specialty item or two to stock shelves - the high-rent, big-volume demands of an indoor shopping center has slammed the door on many an aspiring businessperson. But as any mall walker can attest, shopping centers have filled what once were vast open spaces on their shiny concrete floors with what's become one of the hotter trends in retail. Temporary shopping kiosks and mobile pushcarts now fill many "centerlines" in shopping malls. And the latest evolution in shopping malls, the fast-growing, open-air, California-born "lifestyle centers" dotting the retail landscape - including the Irvine Spectrum and Long Beach Towne Center - have joined their brethren to make way for these popular tiny shopping islands. More

Roll out carts & kiosks, reel in profits

Monday, July 3 - The specialty retail industry — the carts, kiosks and temporary in-line stores that are now everywhere selling everything from iPod accessories to Christmas ornaments — was virtually unknown until highly successful programs were implemented in the mid-1990s. In a little over 10 years, these carts and kiosks have become ubiquitous at shopping malls, airports, entertainment centers and festivals, growing into a $10 billion dollar business. Specialty retail is appealing to many entrepreneurs because there are few barriers to entry. More

So You want to own a...Retail Kiosk

Tuesday, June 13 - Shoppers spend nearly $10 billion each year on retail products sold from carts and kiosks in malls, subway stations, and upscale resorts, according to Specialty Retail Report (www.specialtyretail.com), the industry's magazine. Although small in size, carts and kiosks are popular for many reasons, including high profit margins, low startup costs, and the option of working only a few months a year. Patricia Norins, author of the Ultimate Guide to Specialty Retail: How to start a cart, kiosk, or store (Specialty Retail Report; $49), and publisher of Specialty Retail Report, offers advice for getting started: Products You Love. "Select a product you like, even love," says Norins. More

What to sell at a kiosk- Entrepreneurs will be getting ideas at a specialty retail expo in Boston.

Thursday, May 4 - Successful business people are typically good with numbers, finding profits where others see only a jumble of digits. Determination and instinct often play large parts in that success. "My grandfather thought I was a lunatic," said Gary Garabedian, president of Aah La Cart, a Warwick retail company. In 1981, Garabedian was looking to start a business selling goods from a pushcart -- a style that had gone out of vogue after World War II. Pushcarts were making a comeback as shopping malls tried to mimic the success of Boston's Fanueil Hall Market Place, where the carts were seeing great sales. Garabedian thought he could make a go of one. More

WBIX Business Talk Radio Interview

Wednesday, May 3 - Listen to WBIX Business Talk Radio interview with Patricia Norins ... More

SPREE East 2006 Expo & Conference Opens In Boston

Tuesday, May 2 - SPREE Expo & Conference East 2006 HANOVER, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 26, 2006--Specialty Retail Report, the leading publication for retail entrepreneurs and managers of carts, kiosks and temporary in-line stores, is expanding its' conference and expo - SPREE 2006 - to include events in Boston, MA and Long Beach, CA. The Expo, which debuted in Boston last year, will be held May 4 - 6 at Boston's Hynes Convention Center. Specialty Retail, a $10 billion industry, remains one of the hottest growth areas in the retail marketplace. More

3rd Annual Million Dollar Ideas - Kiosks

Saturday, June 10 - Dolls, T-shirts, cell-phone deals, weight-loss plans, calendars, toy helicopters that whirl into the sky, rings, watches, bracelets, baseball caps and bonsai trees. Kiosks sell it all. And you could be earning it all. Also known as booths or shopping carts, kiosks located in shopping malls or outdoor shopping districts provide a potential gold mine for both established entrepreneurs and up-and-comers trying to gain a retail foothold. Specialty retail, including kiosks and temporary in-line stores, is a $10 billion business, according to Patricia Norins, publisher of trade magazine Specialty Retail Report. "It's definitely still on the upswing," says Norins. "A lot of malls are clearing out planters and benches and making room for kiosk operators, recognizing the real benefits to consumers and to their own bottom line." More

How to Start a Kiosk Business

Saturday, June 10 - In a world dominated by big-box retailers, wanting to start an independent retail business probably feels a bit like David battling Goliath. "Why bother?" you think. "I'll only get crushed." But these days, your small size could save your business. The big boxes have gotten so bloated. The good news is, retail spending has remained strong through the economic ups and downs (it totaled about $3.58 trillion in 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau). More

Impulse buying builds a sunglass empire

Saturday, June 10 - WOONSOCKET -- Dan Zuckerman, a Woonsocket businessman, had a bright idea that led to a small, thriving business. You can make a good living, he discovered, selling sunglasses to fashion-conscious mall shoppers who want the latest looks without spending a week's paycheck on a pair of shades. "Every mall has a sunglass cart by mid-May," Zuckerman said. "When you buy at a kiosk, it's an impulse item." Zuckerman, president of Heatwave Sunglasses, ran a string of 20 sunglass kiosks in malls throughout New England and New York during the 1990s. He was to offer prospective business owners tips on managing kiosks at the Specialty Retail Entrepreneurs Expo and Conference at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston last week. Sponsored by Specialty Retail Report, a Hanover, Mass., trade publication, the conference brought together product wholesalers, mall managers, leasing agents and people looking to get into the kiosk business. More

Retail kiosk: here's how to start a specialty cart for under $10k

Saturday, June 10 - Shoppers spend nearly $10 billion each year on retail products sold from carts and kiosks in malls, subway stations, and upscale resorts, according to Specialty Retail Report (www.specialtyreport.com), the industry's magazine. Although small in size, carts and kiosks are popular for many reasons, including high profit margins, low startup costs, and the option of working only a few months a year. Patricia Norins, author of the Ultimate Guide to Specialty Retail: How to start a cart, kiosk or store (Specialty Retail Report; $49), and publisher of Specialty Retail Report, offers advice for getting started: Products You Love. "Select a product you like, even love," says Norins. More

50 Ways to Save Money in Your Business

Saturday, June 10 - 12. Be mobile. While the costs of establishing a permanent retail location can be steep—you may spend up to $100,000 or more, with leases spanning three to 10 years—carts, kiosks and temporary spaces can be an easier way to get a foot in the door with a lot less risk. The upfront investment for a kiosk or a cart ranges from just $2,000 to $10,000, according to Patricia Norins, publisher of Specialty Retail Report. License agreements for carts and kiosks are shorter and are usually renewed every month up to one year depending on the location. This arrangement makes it easy for entrepreneurs to "come in, try it out for a month, and if their product isn't working, shift to a new product line or close up shop and move to a new location," Norins says. More

Tiny carts bring in big bucks

Saturday, June 10 - FRISCO, Texas - They are one of the most lucrative sectors in the retail industry, generating billions of dollars in sales, and arguably are the most underpublicized: the kiosks and carts that dot the aisles of big shopping malls, selling items as diverse as candles and computers. These freestanding merchants are tremendously popular; Tillie Martinez says she sometimes has customers lining up 10 and 12 deep to buy her personalized Christmas ornaments at Stonebriar Centre mall north of Dallas. And while she sells just a few months a year, she has a loyal following. More

Discount titles are available - but don't wait too long

Saturday, June 10 - Here today, gone tomorrow. It's a phrase that can send a retail store into a panic or send a chill down a new store owner's back. But for one new Northwest Side bookstore, the business adage isn't a cause for concern - instead it's treated like a company mantra. The Book Market, a temporary retailer based in Knoxville, Tenn., will open Thursday and will occupy the former Just for Feet store at 4848 N. Oracle Road, for the next three months. More

Little kiosks big business for U.S. shopping malls

Saturday, June 10 - FRISCO, Texas — They are one of the most lucrative sectors in the retail industry, generating billions of dollars in sales, and arguably are the most underpublicized: the kiosks and carts that dot the aisles of big shopping malls, selling everything from candles to computers. These free-standing merchants are tremendously popular — Tillie Martinez says she sometimes has customers lining up 10 and 12 deep to buy her personalized Christmas ornaments at Stonebriar Centre mall north of Dallas. And while she sells just a few months a year, she has a loyal following. "The fun part is getting the repeat business from someone who last year bought something for their baby's first Christmas," she said. Carts and kiosks are a thriving industry, bringing in an estimated $10 billion in annual sales for the merchants and landlords, more than triple that of 10 years ago, industry analysts said. More

Pushcart wars yield prize

Saturday, June 10 - Philip Green got into the push cart business because he saw friends and relatives succeeding in it. Now, with nine carts to his name selling either toys or beauty products, the New Yorker is looking to expand. He hoped to find a few great concepts in Boston yesterday at a new trade show, SPREE More

Moneymaker Without Walls

Saturday, June 10 - TAMPA - Jerry Bonalle loves being stuck in the middle. The past four years, Bonalle and his wife, Mary, have operated a See's Candies holiday gift shop in the heart of Westfield Citrus Park mall. Shoppers swarm from all directions for See's vintage candies, making the Bonalles' two-month gig a lucrative venture. More

Deck the malls with kiosks

Saturday, June 10 - This holiday season, Scott Tansil and his wife, Lisa, will spend 80 hours per week tending a 4-by-7-foot cart on Main Street in Concord Mills. Tansil, 25, owns and operates The Bead Factory, which sells body jewelry, earrings, bracelets and other accessories. His cart itself seems a miracle balance of thousands of products, reminiscent of a tinker's caravan. More

Putting the carts before stores yields benefit in world of malls

Saturday, June 10 - MATT Sebree isn't shy about his ambitions. He wants to revolutionize the business of vending carts. Sebree, director of specialty leasing for Caruso Affiliated Holdings, knows his enemy well: packed malls teeming with kitsch-crammed carts. "It is the same product pretty much every place," he said. "The consumer gets bored with it after a while." More

Mall kiosks and carts account for billions in sales

Saturday, June 10 - Trevor Giddens knows he has a good thing going. He couldn't have asked for a better location for his auto accessories business, Auto Xtras. It's in the Dillard's department store wing at Governor's Square mall - right smack dab in the middle of the mall aisle near the food court. "This is the best spot, being in the common area," Giddens said. "We get a lot of impulse buys." That's why he has set up shop as a free-standing merchant. He doesn't think he'd get as much traffic if he had a traditional storefront or in-line store. "In an in-line store, customers can walk by you and not see you," said Giddens, who has had his business at the mall for nearly 10 years. "With these, customers have to walk into you." More

Holidays bring more kiosks to area malls

Saturday, June 10 - Seasonal kiosks and carts are becoming more popular at local malls, as retailers discover they are an inexpensive way to sell seasonal products and holiday gift items to mall-marching throngs. Florence Mall, Kenwood Towne Centre and Tri-County Mall reported a higher number of seasonal retailers at their malls this year. Kiosk retailers say their location, in the middle of the mall's walkways, gives their merchandise more exposure. More

Merchants Think Small

Saturday, June 10 - FRISCO, Texas - They are one of the most lucrative sectors in the retail industry, generating billions of dollars in sales, and arguably are the most underpublicized: the kiosks and carts that dot the aisles of big shopping malls, selling everything from candles to computers. These freestanding merchants are tremendously popular - Tillie Martinez says she sometimes has customers lining up 10 and 12 deep to buy her personalized Christmas ornaments at Stonebriar Centre mall north of Dallas. And while she sells just a few months a year, she has a loyal following. More

Kiosks a holiday tradition in retail

Saturday, June 10 - Some people may think Santa Claus ushers in the holiday season when he arrives at the mall. But Rick Luna's customers tell him they know the holidays are near when they first glimpse a Beef Stick Summer Sausage nestled in a gift basket. For the past five years, Luna has managed the Hickory Farms holiday kiosk store at Edison Mall in Fort Myers. Zainab Walker, manager of The Bear Mill, meets and greets customers. The Bear Mill is next to Santa Claus in Edison Mall. Just a reindeer hop from Santa's chair, customers stroll by the kiosk and try samples of sausages, cheese and other favorites. More

Mall walkways become money-making promenades

Saturday, June 10 - FRISCO, Texas -- They are one of the most lucrative sectors in the retail industry, generating billions of dollars in sales, and arguably are the most underpublicized: the kiosks and carts that dot the aisles of big shopping malls, selling everything from candles to computers. These freestanding merchants are tremendously popular -- Tillie Martinez says she sometimes has customers lining up 10 and 12 deep to buy her personalized Christmas ornaments at Stonebriar Centre mall north of Dallas. And while she sells just a few months a year, she has a loyal following. More

Dreams Incubate in Shopping Mall Carts

Saturday, June 10 - Ertac Gungor stood near his kiosk in Tysons Corner Center, watching as a woman wearing a maroon headscarf thumbed through the pillowcases, copper earrings and scarves that fill his kiosk. "Everything I sell is from Turkey," he said. Gungor came to Fairfax from Turkey's south coast four years ago after visiting the Washington region on a vacation. During that trip, he noticed the ethnic diversity of the mall kiosk vendors and their wares but did not spot anyone from Turkey. More

Kiosks Aren't Just for Tchotchkes Anymore

Saturday, June 10 - This past holiday season, mall common areas were, as usual, filled with the carts and kiosks of local retailers — the mom-and-pop t-shirt, hair accessory and sunglass vendors who have always dominated specialty leasing. But there was something new in their neighborhood: national brand-name products. In an effort to connect more directly with shoppers, consumer goods manufacturers took to the common areas and vacant inline stores in record numbers. LEGO, for example, had 150 kiosks, triple the number it had the previous season. Neutrogena skin care products were sold via kiosk for the first time, and Dell Computer introduced kiosks to showcase its PCs. Bose, meanwhile, offered its audio gear at seasonal inline stores, and Le Creuset did the same with its cookware. More

SPECIALTY LEASING MOVES OUTDOORS

Saturday, June 10 - Mall specialty leasing programs have a reputation for raking in big bucks. So it is no wonder that lifestyle center owners are trying to get in on the action. “Specialty leasing is extremely lucrative for enclosed shopping centers, so — weather permitting — it would make sense for lifestyle centers to operate some type of leasing program with outdoor carts and kiosks,” says Patricia Norins, group publisher of the Specialty Retail Report. The Hanover, Mass.-based company publishes a quarterly magazine and annual directory for cart and kiosk operators. Norins estimates that carts and kiosk generate $10 billion in retail sales each year. More

OUT IN THE OPEN - Kiosks increasingly find a home in open-air centers

Saturday, June 10 - Kiosk retailers, long established in malls, are becoming increasingly ubiquitous at outdoor centers. But don’t call them carts, at least not within earshot of their owners. They are RMUs, if you please (short for retail merchandising units), and they’re rolling out at a furious pace in a variety of warm-weather venues — and even some cold-weather ones. More

SPECIALTY LEASING'S BIG CHALLENGE

Saturday, June 10 - How does a $10 billion segment outdo itself? They're not just temporary tenants anymore. Once taken for granted as nothing more than pushcarts good for a few extra dollars at the holidays, the specialty leasing segment has grown into an estimated $10 billion, year-round business that can add millions of dollars to a developer's bottom line. More

Retailing a La Cart

Saturday, June 10 - Dec. 25--At 17, Yesim Ecer already had a growing clientele for her knitted sweaters in Ankara, her hometown in Turkey. Her success there made her nurture the hope of owning a store some day. Three months ago Ecer, 34, realized her dream, albeit in a small, temporary way. It's not sweaters she sells, but self-designed purses, jewelry and other knickknacks from the Middle East and Asia. Her store, Moda Factory, is a pushcart located between Macy's and L.S. Ayres at busy Castleton Square Mall. More

Big Bucks, Small Footprint

Saturday, June 10 - In 2004, Richard Marston, 32, and his business partner, Gerel Ransfer, 43, took over a Southern California Color Me Beautiful kiosk with a $5,000 investment and confidence that the makeup would sell if marketed properly. A little more than two years later, Marston--who handles the day-to-day operations of the business--now has two kiosks and more than 2,000 customers, 40 percent of whom are regulars. What sets Marston apart from many kiosk owners is his willingness to approach customers and actively demonstrate his products. He also operates his kiosks year-round, while most other kiosk owners only operate during the busy two-month holiday season, when 80 percent of kiosk sales occur. More

Kiosks and Carts - Knowing what to expect helps stand owners survive

Saturday, June 10 - Don Hayes used to build power lines, but he decided he needed a new line of work one day when he was sent to Columbus, Ohio, where it was 15 degrees and the ground was covered with snow. "I knew it was time to make a change," so in 1991 he started selling hot dogs and sandwiches at Sixth and Liberty streets in downtown Louisville. "It's the greatest job in the world," he said. "The people are so much fun. There's not a day goes by that I don't laugh." More

Big sales in little carts

Saturday, June 10 - Stuck between a cart where a guy is monogramming a chenille stocking and another is selling etched crystals sits Jennifer Langford's stand of crosses and other Christian symbols in North Star Mall. Jennifer Langford sells religious items at her At the Cross kiosk in the North Star Mall. She says higher sales make up for the higher Christmastime rents. There are shelves of crosses, doves and fish in pewter, seashells, limestone and wood. They dangle on pendants in bright colors. Scriptures accompany some items. "I should have ordered more of these," she says, picking up a palm-sized cross priced at $4.95. "I sold 1,000 of these in two weeks." It's her first time selling in a mall at Christmastime. More

SPECIALTY LEASING MOVES OUTDOORS

Saturday, June 10 - Mall specialty leasing programs have a reputation for raking in big bucks. So it is no wonder that lifestyle center owners are trying to get in on the action. “Specialty leasing is extremely lucrative for enclosed shopping centers, so — weather permitting — it would make sense for lifestyle centers to operate some type of leasing program with outdoor carts and kiosks,” says Patricia Norins, group publisher of the Specialty Retail Report . The Hanover, Mass.-based company publishes a quarterly magazine and annual directory for cart and kiosk operators. Norins estimates that carts and kiosk generate $10 billion in retail sales each year. More

Retailiatory Strike

Saturday, June 10 - In a world dominated by big-box retailers, it's easy to feel like David battling Goliath if you want to start an independent retail business. "Why bother?" you think. "I'll only get crushed." But your small size could save your business these days. "[Many big boxes] aren't as invincible as they once seemed. They've gotten so big and bloated," says Bob Phibbs, a Long Beach, California, small-business retail consultant and author of You Can Compete! The Retail Doctor's Tools to Doubling Your Sales. Another plus: Consumer spending and retail have remained strong through the economic ups and downs. Retail sales in 2001 totaled about $3.5 trillion, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, which compiles retail statistics. More

4 Cheap Ways to Break Into Retail

Friday, June 2 - Forget what you've heard about retail businesses requiring tens of thousands of dollars, long-term lease agreements and several months to get up and running. The truth is, there are plenty of retail opportunities that break all those rules, requiring little time or money to start. From online storefronts to mall-based kiosks to shop-at-home events, we found several retail businesses with plenty of profit potential. More

Kiosks become a mainstay in the mall landscape

Friday, March 31 - For some, it is the beginning of an adventure. For others, it is the end of the line. No matter which way you look at it, the $10 billion industry of kiosks is making its presence known in malls across the country and in Hampton Roads. From established enterprises to start-up businesses, entrepreneurs are embracing the once-transient world of kiosks. Kiosks, the generic name for the retail units often placed in corridors and common areas of malls, offer anything from real estate to knickknacks. More

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