Welcome, fellow retailers! I’m Brad Gullion, and I’m thrilled to kick off this series of blog posts delving into the world of retailing. You might be wondering why I decided to embark on this journey of sharing insights and experiences from my four decades in the industry. Well, let me give you a glimpse into my background.

Before stepping into my role as Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Melrose, I spent a significant portion of my career on the frontline of retail. Overseeing a whopping 250 retail stores, both franchise and company-owned, I had my hands in every aspect of the business – from marketing strategies to vendor negotiations, purchasing decisions, and scrutinizing P&L statements.

I was given an unbelievable education in marketing, retail, and retail management. The corporation I worked for believed in weekly training by experts in all aspects of the business. They believed that this was the best way to be successful. I also had many members of my team that had been in retail their whole lives and they taught me as much or more about the business.

Transitioning to the wholesale industry and consulting, I leveraged this education to help make wholesalers successful. I’ve found retail and wholesale pretty similar, with much nicer customers in wholesale!! I have also found that retail owners and managers are some of the finest people and hardest workers I’ve ever met, and I have learned so much from them. It finally hit me one day that I should also share my information with our retailers and that maybe they might find something of interest or help.

Most of you have so much more experience than I do in retailing but there are others who are just starting and may need some assistance. Not every post will apply to you or may just be too basic, but there might be others of interest or maybe for looking at new ideas. I know I’m not reinventing the wheel; I just want Melrose to be your business partner. When we say that, it’s not just lip service. Working for Melrose has been one of the best experiences of my career. They truly understand and care about their customers and their employees. They want to work with you and help in your success in any way they can.

I will be covering topics about employee training and turnover, pricing, marketing and so much more. You will find out quickly that I am a big fan of AI and in particular Chat GPT-4. I think it is going to revolutionize our industry and it will now give independent retailers the same tools that big box retailers have with very little additional cost. Anything I cover will almost always add how the AI element can help you. We are implementing AI throughout our sales and marketing departments, so I will be able to share how that is working as well.

But hey, this isn’t just a one-way conversation. I’d love to hear from you! Whether you agree, disagree, or have specific topics you’d like me to cover, your feedback is invaluable.

Feel free to reach out at marketing@melroseintl.com Thank you!