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Two Minute Tweaks is a podcast from Franklin Fixtures, makers of high-quality retail display fixtures for bookstores, libraries, and specialty retail shops across America.
Hosted by Lisa Uhrik, CEO of Franklin Fixtures and Executive Director of Plenty Downtown Bookshop, each two-minute episode offers inspiration you can apply right away to make your space more engaging, efficient, and people-centered.
What began as a podcast for booksellers now inspires anyone shaping a space that connects people, whether it’s a bookstore, library, or retail shop of any kind.
From merchandising and messaging to staffing and store flow, these bite-size insights help you create powerful people places that connect, perform, and grow.
Episodes
Tuesday Jan 03, 2023
Tuesday Jan 03, 2023
This week Lisa talks about honoring and helping people who take the time to come in leave with a special treasure. Each customer gets up, gets ready, puts their kiddos in the car, drives to the store, navigates the parking lot — it's a real effort born of hope to visit a store in person. How do we honor their effort and make sure they leave with something tangible?
Click to listen now to the first of this two part episode.
Thursday Dec 29, 2022
Thursday Dec 29, 2022
This week we bring you a Tuesday Tweak on a Thursday... just in time for the New Year! Lisa reached out to three booksellers and asked what they believe is our best use of time in the space after the holidays and before the New Year.
Their answers surprised Lisa – click to listen now.
We wish you joy, insights and clarity as you reflect on the New Year this week.
A special thank you to Donna Paz Kaufman (Paz & Associates, Story & Song), Jill Hendrix (Fiction Addiction) and Linda Marie Barrett (SIBA Executive Director) for their words of wisdom.
Tuesday Dec 20, 2022
Tuesday Dec 20, 2022
A bit of a different tweak this week. With a fun way to reflect and say Thank You, Lisa counts all the gifts your inspirations have given her over the past 12 months.
We hope you tune in to hear your inspiring contribution.
Tuesday Dec 13, 2022
Tuesday Dec 13, 2022
Now that I have a small store, I'm noticing things – simple things – that I hadn't thought about too much before now. While we've created a warm, cozy store, we've not focused on customer signage – that special art of communicating without talking.
Listen to the podcast now as Lisa talks about helping customers focus & find by upping your store's signage game.
Tuesday Nov 29, 2022
Tuesday Nov 29, 2022
We bought this book to sell at our store – a big, sixty-five dollar David Bowie coffee table book. While I’m a fan of the artist, I’m not sure why we bought it, as it doesn’t fit with our plan or focus. An hour before opening on Small Business Saturday, I saw it lurking in the shadows at the very bottom of a bookcase – not exactly prime real estate for a $65 book.
Listen now as I detail how I elevated one thing and the three morals to the story.
Tuesday Nov 22, 2022
Tuesday Nov 22, 2022
We sure do love pyramids in our displays, don't we? They're a fundamental display technique that borrows from antiquity. In this episode, Lisa discusses different types of display fixtures/tables, ways you can make pyramid displays in your store using what you have, the two types of pyramids and how to choose that special item on top. Click to listen now.
Tuesday Nov 15, 2022
Tuesday Nov 15, 2022
Don't let giftwrap leave you frustrated and confounded! Organize your space and learn how to wrap it up right: looks-wise + budget-wise + space-wise. Click now to listen to Lisa's perfectly timed podcast.
Tuesday Nov 08, 2022
Tuesday Nov 08, 2022
Baskets for the win this holiday shopping season! And what better place to get them than indy bookstores?
Using her own experience plus brainstorming ideas from Jill Hendrix's Masterminds course, Lisa breaks down best practices for putting together baskets for all ages and interests, using a fun rhyme to keep your basket-making ideas & themes on track.
Tuesday Nov 01, 2022
Tuesday Nov 01, 2022
This week Lisa challenges you with a quick, simple test to see if your book displays are working. Are you able to recall 9 to 11 book titles ... or just 3 to 5? The answer may surprise you!
Click to listen now!
Tuesday Oct 25, 2022
Tuesday Oct 25, 2022
As we ready our stores for the holidays, try color flow on for size. Color can be fun … and it has a way of easing the mind and leading the eye when it flows.
Listen as Lisa shares what occurred when color flow was applied in her bookstore, Plenty on Spring, this past weekend.
Tuesday Oct 18, 2022
Tuesday Oct 18, 2022
How do we reflect in our merchandising that our customers can experience the "staple" that they count on? This week Lisa discusses how to name your staples and be the constant source for them.
Tuesday Oct 11, 2022
Tuesday Oct 11, 2022
"I've never been able to see so many books before!" exclaimed one customer who recently visited Plenty. The interesting part? We stock only about 1/4 of the amount of books that the big box bookstore he frequented stocks – so what makes our store different?
Listen to this week's episode as Lisa shares her recipe for getting customers to see all the books in your store.
Tuesday Oct 04, 2022
Tuesday Oct 04, 2022
Lisa discusses how she safely and quickly was able to move books out of the way for Plenty's first in-store author event and reflects on the importance of being able to safely reconfigure stores for events.
Are your fixtures working well for quick reconfigurations? Are you able to move them fully loaded without hurting the books, risking the staff, the customers or yourself?
Tuesday Sep 27, 2022
Tuesday Sep 27, 2022
This week, Lisa discusses how we extend aspirational stories and little luxuries that our customers cherish as gifts and as personal treats. She provides examples of these types of luxuries and how to merchandise them in vignettes that work.
Tuesday Sep 20, 2022
Tuesday Sep 20, 2022
Today Lisa discusses being responsive and creative in the moment with your displays – whether you feel prepared with books or not.
Listen as Lisa describes how she was able to create a Queen-themed full display with only a solitary book about the Queen. Using the 3 rules discussed in this episode, you'll be equipped to use what you have on-hand to create engaging displays.