How can it possibly take 16 hours to fly to Sao Paulo, Brazil, when I can get to Hong Kong, which seems much farther away, in 14 hours? I’m preparing to exhibit at Serigraphia in Brazil in July and it looks like my biggest challenge will be dealing with the elapsed flight time. I have a hard enough time managing the tedium of a one-hour commute to my office every morning, so 16 hours in the air may require extensive counseling. This trait has earned me the nickname “La Paciencia” (the patient...
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One of my weekend activities is waterskiing in a slalom course. Over the past 10 years, I’ve noticed that my waterskiing friends have broken into two groups. There are those who invest in the latest equipment, read constantly about improving technique, and consistently push themselves to do better.
The other group holds on to equipment from the ’80s, neglects to read articles on improving technique, and eventually stops skiing when their performance deteriorates.
Which group am I in?...
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If a person who speaks three languages is trilingual, and one who speaks two languages is bilingual, what do you call a person that speaks one language?
American.
Or so the common worldwide joke goes. While Americans are stereotyped in this way, there is a lot of truth to it, and when it comes to doing business across the globe, Americans in this day and age cannot afford to focus only on sourcing and selling domestically. Forward-thinking, successful companies are reaching out to...
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When it comes to fashion, I have never been accused of being ahead of the curve. While the fashionistas buy Gucci crocodile lace-ups, I repair my nine-year-old Johnston Murphy tassel loafers. I still like pleated, cuffed slacks, while the trend is flat front without cuffs. But when it comes to business, keeping ahead of the curve is critical in order to survive and grow.
In 2006, my company started developing LED technology for illuminating our lightboxes. The first year, LED product sales...
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There is really no doubt that a recovery is underway in the retail environments industry. Here at A.R.E., we’ve just received the results of our 2011 Industry Performance Report. The draft I’m looking at is still hot from the printer, but by late June the reports will be available electronically and in print.
There’s a lot of good news in this year’s report. First, industry revenues actually grew 9.4 percent in 2010. That’s good news after the declines in both 2008 and 2009. And sales...
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