Kishore Biyani Rup and Co 2007

In 2007 the International Retailer of the Year, as awarded by the US National Retail Federation, was Pantaloon Retail from India.  This retail chain was created by Kishore Biyani. How id he achieve such a great success in a country of family retailers such as India.

The life story of Kishore, India’s Richard Branson, is revealed in this intriguing book.  Kishore’s management style is fascinating, he is the ultimate empowerment leader.  I have had the opportunity to visit some of his stores and what he has achieved is commendable.

If you  are looking for a retail autobiography with a twist, then this is a book to read.  He discusses his failures in the movie industry as well as successes in retail.  One section I particularly enjoyed was how Indian retail store design has to be different to western store design.  Indian’s prefer one level stores, the whole family goes on a shopping expedition together and that you need to consider cluster retailing rather than long rows of product.

An enjoyable read.

BBC Books, ISBN 978 1 849 07214

For some unknown reason, I could not get this book in Australia, many thanks to Neil Grant at Ferndale for sending me a copy.

This is a book with a difference.  Mary Portas is a UK retail consultant, ex Harvey Nichols, who is writing a book for the consumer to explain to them the mystery of retailing as understood by retailers, a “Dummies Guide to Shopping” if you like.

Mary specializes in the fashion clothing retail sector and this book concentrates on that market.

It is an easy book to read and exceptionally well presented.  Personally, it was a book I scanned, more than read page by page.  I found a few gems, but would have like Mary to gone into more depth, but having said that, I am not her target market.

One of the gems I did pick up was that when clothes shopping, a woman on her own spends 5 minutes and 2 seconds in a store.  If she is accompanied by a man that time goes down to 4 minutes 41 seconds, but if she takes a female companion it goes up to 8 minutes 51 seconds.  There are some great lessons to be learnt there.

This book has a few ideas in it, but it would not be one of my essential books to have on the shelf.

Not another book on branding, I thought, as I flipped open the pages of this new book by Martin Butler, CEO of RPM3 one of London’s leading retail advertising and marketing agencies. But at the same time I was intrigued. You see, this book was recommended to me by Jeannie Willis of the British Shops and Stores Association (bssa) when I was over in the UK earlier this year. And it promised case studies on some of Britain’s best-known retailers including John Lewis, Carphone Warehouse, Oddbins, Topshop, B&Q, Selfridges and HMV. It would be fascinating to get behind the scenes of these companies. But then again, most books on branding seem to be full of pretentious drivel. Could this one really be a good read? The answer is an emphatic YES. This is a must read for anyone with an interest in retailing, in marketing or who finds shopping in British stores a fascination.

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When we become happy then our workplace becomes a happy place for our clients to come to.

If this seems like a challenge at times imagine if you managed a dental surgery. How would you create a happy environment for your clients in that setting?

Some years ago a Brisbane dentist by the name of Paddi Lund took up this challenge. He realised that he wasn’t enjoying his work in the way that he used to so he set out to find a way to make his dental practice a happier place.

He has been so successful in doing this that he has even written a book about it called “Building the Happiness Centred Business”. In it he sets out his theory of happiness which really has two fairly straightforward parts.

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