One of my favorite questions to ask retailers is: what are your top selling products? I think it's a great way to find out about mini trends, fads and products that stand the test of time. This is also one of the most popular articles in our print magazine and on our website.

We track retail trends at the magazine based on search traffic, and I noticed that there was tremendous interest in the press releases we have posted on Pillow Pets for the past two months. (I was also thrilled to see we had record traffic in November and December, averaging 20,000 unique visitors a month!)

Do you sell Pillow Pets in your store? If so, how are they doing?

Gucci is planning to open pop-up stores in two to three weeks in seven cities (including New York), where they'll sell 18 sneaker styles. According to Gucci's CEO, this retail endeavor will achieve an important marketing objective—"An initiative such as this one will simply serve to enhance the brand's reputation as a fashion authority and innovator."

It's exciting to see Gucci rolling out such a niche product-focused store on a short-term basis. Not only will they benefit on a marketing level, but I anticipate it'll create an urgency to buy—consumers are fickle and hesitant to spend money on luxury goods, so they'll probably close a lot more sales than if the shoes were sitting on a shelf in a permanent Gucci store.

I hope they'll also use this opportunity to collect more email addresses, and to drive traffic to their permanent store locations.

I just read a fascinating article in Business Week that revealed a major shift in baby boomer spending may happen sooner than originally predicted, due to the current economic environment. Right now baby boomers make up about a third of American consumers—as this shift occurs, boomers will drastically cut back in all areas of spending.

Here are four things to think about as you make important strategic decisions for the upcoming year(s):

1. Who is your average store customer now?
   If the answer includes a high percentage of customers who are 60+ years old, then you should think about shifting your product selection. Start tracking who's buying what merchandise by age, so you can start to get a better understanding of which lines are most popular by age group.

2. Make sure you analyze which price points are most popular.
   This will help you get a feel for the average ticket sale, and the average price per item by age group.

3. Think about shifting some of your marketing methodology.
   If you're not already, start embracing new technology including a store website, Facebook, Twitter and email marketing.

4. Expand the scope of product lines to attract a broader demographic.
   Two growing target markets are tweens and teens.

Have you noticed any shift in buying behavior by age group in your store? Share you experience with us.

Last week I found out about a great non-profit organization, the 3/50 Project, from a fellow retailer I connected with on Twitter. This organization has put together a wonderful flyer that you can distribute to your customers promoting how and why they should (continue to) shop locally. (They are also in the process of partnering with the Chicago Market to create window clings about the project.) To request one for your store, visit their website and register as a supporter.

I believe that the essence of an effective buy-local campaign is to have literature and signage that supports why buying local is important for the economy. This flyer achieves that goal and more—it empowers and challenges your customers to take action by giving them a feasible way they can contribute in their own community. It's a brilliant marketing piece that I encourage you to use in your store right away.

I'm feeling inspired to go shopping tonight—how about you?

A few weeks ago I attended Christmasworld, an international gift fair in Frankfurt, Germany. It was interesting to see that overall show traffic was quite good despite a slowed international economy. While many exhibitors reported that sales were down from previous years, there was quite a bit of optimism since orders were being written—similar to Q1 show sentiments here in the US.

One thing I loved about the show was that management invited three industry experts from a local trends agency to research and present trends in decorating, fashion and design, and since the trends are definitely parallel to what we're seeing in the US, I'm going to cover them here.

The four trends discussed by Claudia Herke, Annetta Palmisano and Cem Bora of bora.herke were airy, sweet, comfort and obsession.

Airy
This trend was described as a style which, "radiates modern lightness: fragile, gentle, transparent, yet very contemporary." The color palette for this trend includes pastels, ranging from cream to rose to light gray, and is always in combination with lots of white. This trend may be expressed through the use of translucent materials, cut glass, fine line drawings, flowers, reliefs, embossing, engraving and the use of light and shadow effects.

An exhibit was set up for attendees and exhibitors to walk through and see the tends translated into products. This photo illustrates the trend "airy" through the use of glass. I thought it was very creative that the ornaments were hung from the ceiling in a group—it could make a great store window display.

Sweet
Sweet was discussed as a trend that is "feminine, sensual and with countless accessories." The color palette ranges from sand, aqua and turquoise to violet, lime and slate gray. Products that fall into this area include "sugar-coated" surfaces, candied and glazed, and materials such as plastics, lacquer and tulle.

This photo illustrates the use of feminine touches on a teapot set, and a few ornaments with a glitter sugar coating.

Comfort
Comfort was described as "modern style with traditional elements." One example would be a display that uses lots of natural stone combined with metallic finishes, such as chrome and aluminum, or mirrors and glass with lambskin, leathers and corduroy. The color palette includes muted colors like slate gray, graphite and caramel combined with crimson. Products in this category might have a touch of futuristic combined with traditional elements.

This photo illustrates the comfort trend—aluminum vases combined with a more traditional element, ie., the felt runner.

Obsession
Obsession was described as "feminine elegance and exclusiveness." The colors include mahogany, shades of violet and gold illuminated with rose quartz and mauve. Products in this category would be made out of lead crystal, marble and fine woods.

This photo illustrates the obsession trend—opulent colors and materials, including an ornate chandelier, gold walls and purple accent ornaments.

I observed my own German product trends as well—stay tuned for those.

I'm in the middle of a consulting project for a retailer who brought me on board to help them figure out how to increase sales and profitability. Right now we're looking at the strength of their sales team, as that tends to be one area retailers overlook.

If you have a large team, or just a few employees, you could be missing out on sales. A team is great, but not if it's filled with mediocre employees.

I know firsthand as a business owner how difficult it can be to find even mediocre employees, so the last thing you want to do is fire someone who's doing OK. But while my old mentality was that it's expensive to find new employees and train them (and who knows if a new employee would do better than the old one), my new one mentality is the opposite.

Three years ago I decided we needed a change in one department because the sales had only modest growth and I thought we could be doing much better. I fired the employee, and in only a month, the sales had tripled. And this growth trend has continued for the past three years. If I had kept that employee on, it would have cost me as much as $500,000.

What are your mediocre employees costing you?  If for example, a mediocre employee sells $250 a day and a fantastic employee sells $750, you'd be losing $184,750 a year.

I used to feel guilty about the time it takes to hire the right people. I was concerned that I was spending a lot of time on hiring when I could be focusing on other aspects of running my business.

Now I know it's worth the time to find the best people.

Hire the best-of-the-best employees and you'll get the best-of-the-best results!

For the summer issue of GIFT SHOP (due in July), we've profiled a retailer who focuses primarily on selling toys during the holiday season. What struck me the most about his story is that in the summer he starts growing his beard and then dyes it white for the holiday season—every year!

Tip of the day: dress your staff. It would be fun and seasonal if your staff wore some costumes for the holiday season (reindeer antlers, an elf hat, etc.), and smart to have them dress for special promotions (i.e., wearing the aprons you're selling in the store).

I love bags of all types: purses, lunch sacks, shopping satchels, etc. (What woman doesn't?)

So when I saw this article in the New York Times this weekend, Never Mind What’s in Them, Bags Are the Fashion, I thought, of course they are… everyone knows that!

I love when I get cute bags from stores to hold my purchases, and I always reuse them (to pack my lunch or give a gift), so it's no surprise that retailers are starting to spend more time and money on their shopping bags. Having someone reuse your shopping bag for days on end is great marketing.. and it's cheap!

One of my favorite bags to reuse is from a little shop called Cake. The bag is just your typical brown bag, but it has twisted rope handles and adorable designs. It's perfect for putting a small housewarming gift in.

Do any of you put any extra time or money into the bags you give away?

Halloween now ranks as the second biggest holiday for retailers behind Christmas. Sales have grown to $5 billion, up from $3 billion just two years ago.

Why have sales nearly doubled in the last two years?

Here what I think:

1. Candy sales… Consumers spend $2 billion a year on candy.

2. All-inclusive… This holiday is not linked to a particular religious sector. 93% of children under the age of 12 go trick-or-treating and 60% of adults celebrate, with a surprising 50% of them dressing up for the holiday.

3. Decorating… The fastest-growing segment of Halloween sales is outdoor decor. 86% of Americans decorate their houses for Halloween (both indoors and outdoors).

4. Nostalgic.. We all loved trick-or-treating as kids, so it's fun to participate in the holiday as an adult (particularly if we have kids of our own!).

I hope you had fantastic Halloween sales this year. Now it's time to gear up for a big Christmas season. Stay tuned next week for more holiday sales tips.

Today's guest post is from Poornima Apte, editor of GIFT SHOP magazine.

The National Retail Federation recently reported that the average person will spend $98.34 on Father's Day this year, up from $88.80 last year.

That $98.34? That's us! They must have been following my girls and I as we scooped up stuff for Dad this past weekend.

According to the NRF, "as in previous years, the most popular gift for dad will be a greeting card (69.9%), but he can also expect to be treated to a special outing such as dinner (42.7%). Other popular gift items include apparel (37.1%), a gift certificate or gift card (29.9%), consumer electronics or computer related accessories (17.8%) sporting goods or leisure items (13.9%), tools or appliances (13.6%), and home improvement or gardening tools (12.4%)." Even if it's my 9-year-old's favorite Daddy gift, there's not much demand this year for soap-on-a-rope!

Do you stock special products in your store for Father's Day? Remember, it doesn't have to be anything very extravagant. As the numbers show, greeting cards are very popular. Try a line with a touch of humor. Also of particular appeal are mugs and plates kids can customize for Dad.

As for our Father's Day purchases, after we returned from our shopping expedition, we ran into my neighbor who asked: "How come we have to hang out with the kids and do brunch on Mother's Day while for Father's Day, the men get to hang out with the guys and golf all day?" Good question! It's one, I'm sure, not many surveys will (or can) address!