Retailers, how's business?

Monitoring the web has become so easy with tools like Google aretls. These let you put keywords and it emails you every time their web crawler see it, some even support RSS.I do it for my dayjob, even some of our top clients, just to stay up on it all. Then I filter and pass important things along to the people that need to see it.

It is generally more prfenssiooal and polite to include a cover letter nothing fancy, just a brief outline of why you'd like a job and personal attributes. Staple your cover letter to your resume, and make sure they are both one page only as it can be annoying for employers to have to sift through pages and pages make it look a little bit different so it stands out, like underlining your name in coloured font but make sure it still looks prfenssiooal.go into the stores you consider working at and ask to hand it in to the manager. Sometimes stores have a specific written application form or request that you apply online, so remember to ask if they don't accept your resume!

Richard is right on the money. Now, more than ever, it is imperative to be conservative in a fractual marketplace. The closures of so many Top 100 retailers is indicative that pulling in the reigns r.e. overhead is a survival tool that must be utilized at a time when consumer spending on our products is on 'hold'. The buying public has made it clear that their disposable dollars are targeted on merchandise other than home furnishings at least until condidence levels rise radically...and that will take time...

The survey is interesting in that many retailers are expressing cautious optimism based on the feeling that it can't get worse. Or that positive thinking will somehow produce a lift in business. I think we need to be a little more realistic and analytical, and make sure our overhead costs are in line with our revenue. We can control that. We can't control how consumers feel in the macro-economic environment, however.