Look great in this stylish Harley T-shirt from Folk Shirts

At ‘My Time In Retail’ I like to highlight products and companies from time to time that stand out in the crowded marketplace. Today I take a look at something that will allow the Harley lover the opportunity to share their love of the Harley with the world.

The Harley fan is always someone who wears their heart on their sleeve. But what if that sleeve was attached to a fantastic Harley Davidson T-shirt? Well now it can be with the great t-shirts available from Folk Shirts, which can be found on Amazon.

You want to look great? You want to show your love for all things Harley? You want to look stylish and cool?

Well look no further than Folk Shirts – find them on Amazon.

It is a fantastic thing to be able to let the world know your true colours through the medium of your clothing. It unites Harley fanatics and creates a bond that this tribe will never lose. Harley lovers want everyone they meet to now that they just love their Harley and they want to meet as many fellow Harley enthusiasts as they possibly can.

These T-shirts are really well made and the highest standards are applied to their production. The features of the Harley T-shirt are-

·         Made from 100% Cotton

·         Machine wash cold with like colors, dry in low heat

·         This is an original Brand Name Folk Shirts T-shirt

·         Great for all Harley Lovers

·         Lightweight, Classic fit, Double-needle sleeve and bottom hem

So you are buying real quality that will last a long time so you can look great week after week, year after year. When you buy clothing you want it to look right even after it has been washed many times. The T-shirts from Folk Shirts will keep their quality because of the production values that have gone into this great Harley T-shirt.

Folk Shirts say it all with their tagline for this T-shirt-

“Wanna be seen as a badass Harley lover without saying a word? You know what to do right now!”

It takes your Harley love to a new level because you can be seen to be Harley and be seen to look great without opening your mouth. These are limited edition T-shirts that won’t be around forever. Once you have yours then tell all the other Harley lovers in your life. These T-shirts are available for men, women and children.

A purely retail task on The Apprentice, a Welsh village taking a stand and a message to the multinationals

At last there's been a purely retail task on the current series of The Apprentice. It will strike a chord with my readers that are independent retailers themselves.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b06q7jtl/the-apprentice-series-11-7-discount-store

The task was to operate as a discount retailer by selling and reinvesting the proceeds in the items that have actually sold well. Which is independent retail in a nutshell.

There's the obvious and repeated issue with The Apprentice of many pieces of expenditure being totally ignored when it comes to calculations of profit and loss at the end of the task. I looked at it in a previous blog here - http://mytimeinretail.blogspot.com/2015/10/see-lessons-to-be-learnt-from-this.html

This week the ignored items included-

• Rent
• Staffing costs
• Tax
• Licence on the stall

I know it's the land of television and normal rules don't apply, but it's just not a level playing field.

Which brings me to my second story this week. It's about a village in Wales that is trying to level the playing field when it comes to competing with Starbucks and Amazon.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crickhowell-welsh-town-moves-offshore-to-avoid-tax-on-local-business-a6728971.html

The tax structures of local business and multinational business are so different that it allows the biggest companies to move their money across divisions and borders to minimise their tax burden.

I personally think it's time for the government of the day (whichever party they may be) to stand up. The message needs to be-

If you want to do business in this country then you'll have to accept lower profits.

The message is stark but necessary. Reduced profits for these companies mean several things-

• Higher wages for the lower paid in society
• Smaller tax credit burden on the government and tax payers
• Large multinational corporations paying their fair share in tax

I'm sure that everyone would agree that these are positive things that we can all get behind.

You can have an online offering and not damage the High Street

I was reading this article on the BBC website this morning and it seemed to strike at the heart of the online vs High Street battle-

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30928438

Although it's difficult to fully quantify eBay as a direct competitor to your UK High Street store, there's more than meets the eye in what eBay offers. Established retailers have their own eBay pages where they sell off stock that is discontinued or slow-selling elsewhere. As long as you have a fix on the costs then there is nothing stopping you using the eBay marketplace for any if your products.

I have spoken many times on this blog about the advantages of having an online offering, especially when you offer Click & Collect as the main way of delivery. This gives your customers access to a range that you may not be able to carry in your shop every day of the week. eBay could be an extension to this - carry your full range, offer larger items as collection only and smaller items for postage. Amazon marketplace is another option for sellers of some products.

As well as individual retailers making use of the technological marketplaces offered by these American retailing giants, there is the question brought up about how this competition affects the future if the UK High Street. My blog is based around how I see the future of the High Street. I can see a massive challenge from online, I can see a massive challenge from overseas companies, such as eBay and Amazon, but I can see a bright future if retailers differentiate and if they can make the most out of online.

It's not a direct choice between online or offline, but the two markets will change. The main man at John Lewis has recently said that customers can't go on expecting to have items delivered and pay the same price that they pay in physical shops. This to me seems contradictory, even taking into account delivery costs online must have much less in the way of overheads.

Overall, I think that if you are an individual High Street retailer you can still stand out and be successful. If you differentiate on quality and service and use online to supplement your offering then this will keep your business vibrant and Click & Collect will help keep people coming to the High Street and keep that vibrant as well.

Black Friday - are you participating?

In a really crowded marketplace, are you participating in the Black Friday sales bonanza? I think that this event has been created out of nothing relevant to the UK but retailers wanting to shift as many units as possible. Amazon started the trend and it's the big online retailers and multiples that have run with it. The good thing for retailers with the timing of the event is that it coincides with many people's last payday before Christmas, so they are feeling a little flush and many are ready to spend and get a large chunk of their Christmas shopping done.

As a small independent retailer, you have one of two options, in my eyes. You can either roll with it or try to stand against it.  Here's what I mean-

Roll with it

There has become such hype about the event, many independents will feel that they simply have to offer some Black Friday savings or promotions. To get lost in the retail marketplace on such a busy day would be a major trading blow. To compete with Amazon, Tesco and the like, you'll have to box quite clever to find a niche in the marketplace but they exist. I would think that this will be a good strategy for retailers that will see a large footfall passing their door - those in major shopping centres or city centres or those near a Tesco.

Try to stand against it

There is a viewpoint that independents won't be able to price compete on days like this. Independents can offer their own bespoke products and services at their own prices. Next Saturday is Small Business Saturday, and that's when you can get behind a marketing event that is designed just for you.

I'm sure that retailers will take many different stances in relation to this but the one thing I advise is that you measure how successful it has been and learn from it for next year.

Amazon's 13,000 seasonal staff