
Inherent in streamlining operations is maximizing your own expenditures. And for one retailer, that means greater involvement in cooperative efforts, specifically those geared toward promotion.
For the past year Jay Tucker, owner of Swim World Pools in Gallatin, Tenn., has participated in a Retail Roundtable hosted by the local Chamber of Commerce.
The regular, hour-long meetings are free and open to area retailers. They’re even promoted on the social networking site Facebook.
In an informal setting, the gatherings provide a forum to discuss, among other things, how to merge marketing resources to reach a larger target audience.
“It’s a group of businesses that combines funds to do local advertising on cable TV and in movie theaters,” Tucker says. “Cooperatively, our monies go farther.”
The collective includes banks, Realtors, interior design firms, and patio and outdoor furniture stores.
“It forces us to concentrate on our business more,” Tucker says of the big picture, “where we can be leaner and meaner, survive the ebbs and flows, and just be more astute about future decisions.