The Human Edge

A checkout line at Trader Joe’s taught me the one thing about your store no competitor can copy — the thing your customers actually remember.

Give the Best of You This weekend, the youngest of our three sons is getting married. Wedding weekends have a way of pulling those closest to us into one room. It’s had me reflecting on family this week, as my husband and I sew up the last details for the rehearsal dinner Friday night. I…

Tidbit #250. The country turns 250 on July 4. Both milestones are about staying with something. Plus three picks for the Fourth, a market prep checklist, and a tech tip on the two data sites quietly listing you.

Five years of merchandising cards taught me what compounds when one person owns a section of the store. Plus: the full Tango lineup as of May 2026 — four new lines have joined since January.

What Shoptalk’s loudest conversation revealed about the four things humans bring to retail that no algorithm will ever replicate — and why independent retailers already have all four.

“There’s not one specific thing or skill people have to have to work for us. But I can tell you why we fire people: soft skills. We hire for hard skills. We fire for soft skills. The ability to interact and communicate with others or behave ethically and take responsibility for things tends to be…

“Lifetime Value is the total value of a customer’s business over the lifetime of their relationship with your company.” — Josh Kaufman When our 3 sons were still at home, our grocery bill was a lot more than it is today. I shopped at the grocery closest to our home that had the best specials…

“People are actually craving those in-person interactions.” — Neil Patel, marketing expert As I chatted with one of you this week who is moving to a larger space, she mentioned she was trying to get her business online, too. After my sympathetic overwhelmed moment passed, I thought, I need to remind her about her unique…