MSA Members & Affiliates: Update Your Contact Information
from MSA
MSA is preparing information for its 2009 Directory & Buyers Guide. If you haven't already done so, please review your basic contact information by logging in to the MSA Web site and then search for your name in the online directory. If you need to update any information, please send an e-mail to MSA Membership at membership@museumstoreassociation.org. Changes must be received by Tuesday, July 28, 2009, in order to appear in the Directory.More

One New Position Posted to MSA's Job Source
from MSA
One new position has been posted to Job Source, MSA's online resource for the most up-to-date job listings in the cultural commerce industry. More

Getting the Lead Out Kills Small Businesses, Doesn't Save Children
from the National Center for Policy Analysis
The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which was passed hastily in response to 2007 recalls of toys imported from China, was intended to protect children (12 years old and younger) from lead poisoning. However, it targets products that pose a miniscule risk to children, it threatens to shutter small businesses, thrift retailers (including some large charities) and public libraries, and it limits the availability of consumer goods for children. More

Stores Roll Out 'Christmas in July' Sales
from The Baltimore Sun
Retailers looking to draw consumers to their stores during the slow economy are trying to get shoppers to think like it is the Christmas season, when stores offer some of the best deals of the year. They are looking to woo people with "Christmas in July" sales that they say are as good as the bargains in November and December. More

Holiday Shopping Season Starts Now for Online Retailers
from the NewsFactor Network
Online retailers should be asking themselves today, "Are we ready for the winter holiday shopping season?” This year, because of flagging retail sales, there will be particularly intense pressure on the winter holiday shopping season for retailers to meet their annual sales goals. More

Retail Trends Show Consumers Still Want Values and Bargains
from Seeking Alpha
Consumption is what drives the American economy. Retail trends are likely to recover but at a slower pace. Recent retail trends are likely to continue for awhile. That is, at least, until unemployment drops and household income goes up again. More

No Green Shoots for Two Years, Say Retailers
from Retail Week
The world’s top retailers do not expect any recovery in the economy for up to two years, denting any hopes of green shoots. Two thirds of retailers said they are experiencing difficulties with suppliers, resulting in stock shortages, while almost three quarters were not communicating frequently with their suppliers’ credit insurers. More

Downtown Ambassador Program Added to MATC's Curriculum
from The Milwaukee Business Journal
More than 650 Milwaukee-area hospitality and tourism employees, representing 136 different businesses, have earned the designation of certified tourism ambassador through Visit Milwaukee, the local visitors and convention bureau, since the program’s inception locally in late 2007. More

10 Marketing Tips that Won't Cost the Earth
from Smart Company
Businesses all over are trying to do more with less as marketing budgets are slashed in these tougher economic times. But with a nose for a bargain and a little know how from the experts, it is possible to extract good value from a shrinking budget. More

Ecommerce Know-How: Turn Customers Into Fans
from Practical Ecommerce
Often online retail marketing focuses on increasing site traffic and converting visitors. This strategy is really the heart of selling online and certainly worth a lion's share of any ecommerce marketing campaign. Yet devoting some portion of your marketing budget to acquiring subscribers or members could pay long term dividends, potentially improving sales, earning a better return on marketing investment, and even serving as a sort of cushion during recessions. More

Retailers Say Losing CIT Would Crimp Supply Chain
from The New York Times
For the nation's already struggling retailing industry, the collapse of CIT would send yet another wave of pain through the supply chain, wiping out suppliers capital, depleting retailers' credit and leaving the racks and shelves of the nation's stores sparsely stocked – just in time for Christmas. More

CIT $3 Billion Rescue May Not Provide Permanent Cure
from Bloomberg.com
CIT announced an agreement with bondholders to provide the emergency financing late yesterday, keeping the 101-year-old commercial finance company out of bankruptcy. More

Pay Attention! If Selling Tickets Is Your Business Model, You've Got A Problem
from diacritical
Another lifetime ago we were in the Manufacturing Economy. We made things. Then we were in the Transportation Economy. We outsourced making things and brought whatever we needed to us. Then it was the Experience Economy. We created entertainment around the things we buy (how we justify paying $4.50 for a 50-cent coffee). Now we're in the Attention Economy. In the infinite choice marketplace, ideas and products only get traction if they get noticed. More

"Harry Potter" Works Wonders at Chicago Exhibit
from Reuters
Leave it to the Warner Bros. marketing team to get the last nickel out of Harry Potter, beyond the nearly $5 billion the films have grossed at the box office worldwide. The studio has been collecting millions more from the Harry Potter Exhibition, which opened April 30 and runs until September 27 in a prefabricated 10,000 square foot tent directly in front of Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. More

Drawing up Battle Lines -- Art Gallery Takes on Wikipedia
from The Independent
In her coronation robes, Elizabeth I looks formidable and stately -- the Virgin Queen in her pomp, an image to propel rivals into battle. Some 400 years after her portrait was painted, that is precisely what she has done. Hers is one of more than 3,000 images from the National Portrait Gallery uploaded onto the free internet encyclopedia Wikipedia in April by Seattle-based Derrick Coetzee. The gallery, founded in 1856, responded last week by threatening legal proceedings against the PhD student. More