Two Minute Tweaks w/ Lisa Uhrik

Tweak #084: Hope for the Bottom Shelves

After seeing many great stores with some hungry-looking bottom shelves, Lisa brings attention to this valuable space with proven strategies that bring hope (and sales!) to the bottom. The key is visibility and connected content that sizzles. For visibility: if you've got Franklin Fixtures, you've likely got a the superpower of a tipped bottom shelf, or even a flared or tapered case, all designed for visibility and sales. Let's use them!

Tweak #083: We're In a Different Business Than They Are

Join Lisa Uhrik in this week's Two Minute Tweak – a small shift in thinking that hopefully has a big result in your store.

Though I cringe when I watch someone default to Amazon to order a book in the middle of a conversation, my hope and belief lie here: We're different. We are as different from that A store as fast food is from the best farm-to-table restaurant. Grokking that deeply leads to radically different thinking about what we do in our bookstores and how we do it. Listen now!

Tweak #082: The Shelves in the Middle - Part III

We're wrapping up the three-part series on shelving standards with a look in the middle of the floor, where we may see a lot of white paper edges from face-up books. We can do better. Waist high still counts, and so do all the visuals. 

Listen now to continue the Shelving Standards exploration!

Tweak #081: Shelves With Higher Standards - Part II

In part II of this "Shelving Standards" mini-series, let's explore what stops your customers from going all the way. What inspires the most casual browser to stop about one-third of the way in and leave? And how can standards help with that? We're looking particularly at floor fixtures and a tiered display in this episode, with three keys to success. Click now to continue the Shelving Standards exploration!

Tweak #080: Sizzling Shelving Standards - Part I

Join Lisa Uhrik in the latest edition of 'Two Minute Tweak' and step into Brookline Booksmith with an overview of Lisa Gozashti's shelving standards – the specific "rules" that she uses to produce sizzling display on every shelf. Be inspired, start considering your shelves as your canvas, and master the art of display with this enchanting episode.

P.S. You may want to play this one a few times as you try it – it's action packed!

Tweak #079: Writing Signs That Change the Air in the Room

In part one, we were omitting signs that distract. Now, we're talking about writing that thing that can ONLY come from you. Something scintillating. Something that is charged with your energy and your experience. We're bringing good writing into our signs – worthy of the good stories on our shelves – and enhancing the experience for every friend and customer. 

Tweak #078: When Less May Be More

We're exploring two principles of signage in our bookstores. In this first episode of two, we're editing the signs by reducing the quantity and helping people keep their focus on browsing and learning, rather than discarding and deciding. Join us on this journey of constant adaptation and discovery – where retail rules are bent and a whole new world of connection and creativity awaits!

Tweak #077: Our Radically Changed Workforce

Rather than measuring retention, here is an offering of four questions that may better define staff success today. We're building on our understanding of the sansdemic (without enough people) and how that has shifted so many things about our work with others. 

Tweak #076: Tending the Flame

Each of our stores has a flame — an intangible essence that gives it unique life and meaning. And just as we might work to keep a physical flame going, our daily work in bookshops is rooted in tending this flame. Being in touch with the hearth — and the heart — of our store is such a rich way to begin each day. And it is where each day of display... each event... each cash flow report... starts. 

How is your flame doing today? What do you need to keep it burning and giving warmth?

Tweak #075: What Can a DIY Heat Map Help You See?

Today's episode provides insights into an effective and simple method of analyzing your store's visitor journey using a low-tech heat map. Join host Lisa Uhrik in the latest episode of the 'Two Minute Tweak,' where she explores this idea and her thoughts about "putting the milk in the back of the store." 

Tweak #074: Bookshop Mindflip — Thinking Like a Publisher

What would happen if we looked at our bookshops like a publisher looks at a book? Take a mental walk through the store with me and let's consider how the things that we know so well about the best books can help us in crafting the best bookstores. 

Tweak #073: It's All Display

Many of us lament our lack of display space in our book spaces. We know that when we elevate something and make it special it moves quickly into the hands of a happy customer.

But what if we thought about this differently? What could happen if we think of our shelves as fixtures -- a kind of extended staff member -- and we consider it ALL as display?  

Tweak #072: On Being an Illuminator

We're exploring a book club pick that is making a difference in the way we approach relationships: David Brooks' How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen. It's a small and subtle shift that can make a big difference in your store. Click now to listen to this timely tweak.

Tweak #071: Sense and Stability

In this season when stores are packed with people and stacked to the rafters with books and gifts, Lisa talks about creating stable displays -- and reveals her own mishaps with displays. Click below to listen to this timely tweak.

Tweak #070: Butter Cups & Important Stuffs

Re-telling a Ken Blanchard classic about Butter Cups, Lisa reminds us in this busy season that it's easy to miss the mark with our focus.