My grandfather and father began teaching me retailing in our family business (Amro Music in Memphis) before I was legally old enough to work.  Then came 38 years in the trenches, practicing their lessons and accruing my own in the school of hard knocks. When it was my turn to pass on what I'd learned to my younger brother and son, it was apparent this process we are chronically in the middle of could be so much easier if we wrote it down. Retail Truths is the product of that effort—twelve years of recording the daily lessons of retailing. My goal was to avoid the business education abundantly available in business schools and books.  I wanted instead to focus on the daily operating wisdom and street-smarts of retailing—negotiating with suppliers, choosing among job applicants, setting profitable prices, resolving employee disputes, sending messages to competitors, designing motivational incentive plans, attracting bankers, etc. These, it seemed, are available only through experience, where the tuition is high and mistakes painful.  I honed it down to my favorite 427 lessons, each accompanied by a short explanation and many illustrated with personal anecdotes.  I harbor no delusions that this book will fund my retirement—that would be nice but it wasn’t my intention.  Despite the innumerable hours I invested, I consider getting an email or call from a fellow retailer excited about a few ideas he gleaned from it more than adequate compensation.

Finalist - 2012 Eric Hoffer Awards