Chicago Forum Features Local Business Owner

January 9, 2006 - A select six-person panel including Cinda Baxter, owner of Details, Ink in Minneapolis, was featured at a forum held on January 21, 2006 focused on helping vendors, sales agencies and manufacturer’s reps better understand and service independent retailers. Held at the Chicago Merchandise Mart during the annual winter market, more than 100 attendees learned about topics as diverse as their businesses, from maximizing trade show productivity to better supporting the “shopping experience” in individual stores. Ms. Baxter’s area of expertise centered on the critical interplay of communication and modern technology as they impact marketing, internet and security issues.

“Admittedly, most small, independent retailers are still on the learning curve where technology and marketing meet,” explained Baxter. “However, those of us who are ahead of the pack got there, in great part, because we recognized the potential to beat the big boys at their own game, combining cutting edge internet and production resources with our ability to be more nimble and move more quickly since we’re smaller.”

Credit card security was another topic she addressed, having been on the receiving end of a misused card when a leather vendor repeatedly charged another store’s orders to it. Quickly learning just how little protection was in place to prevent such costly mistakes, she created a new system for credit card requests and authorizations that has since been adopted by other stores. “Using our card without specific permission is no different from reaching into my wallet and taking the card without my knowledge“ explained Baxter. “To resolve the problem, we‘ve created an authorization system that protects both ends of the credit card transaction. The vendors who are responsible have embraced it; those who fight the process don’t get our Visa number...or our orders.”

Other panelists on the forum included: Vasilios Kanris (Zinc Details, San Francisco), Carol Schroeder (Orange Tree Imports, Madison WI), Sonia Mott (Motif Decor, Milwaukee WI), Melissa Haberstroh (Boerne TX) and Tom Ungrodt (Ann Arbor MI). The presentation was sponsored by the Gift and Home Trade Association, Merchandise Mart Properties Inc., OneCoast and Wellspring. For more information about the GHTA or the Retail Advisory Group the panelists participate on, visit www.giftandhome.org.

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Media contact:
Gregg Marshall
GHTA Exec. Director
303.475.6634