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“It’s Super Bowl Sunday”

“It’s April tax time”.

“Everyone’s at the beach—mountains—(fill-in-the-blank)”.

We independent retailers have been known to use excuses and blame circumstances beyond our control for lack of business. The media’s relentless focus on rising gas prices lately gives us another source and excuse for lack of customer traffic, should we need one. An article in the New York Times tells us a different story. According to the story, only 4 cents of every consumer dollar goes to gasoline. Couple this with high consumer confidence and higher wages and gas prices are not keeping customers from buying. Blaming the high cost of gasoline is not going to cause someone not frequent your business.

Try not to fall into the game of blaming extenuating circumstances for a lack of business. With the blame game comes a sense of complacency and lack of control. Take advantage of the buzz surrounding gas prices and offer your customers an incentive for coming to your business. Maybe have a drawing for a $50 gas card or a $ 5 voucher towards gas with each purchase to all the customers on your list. There is always an opportunity to turn a negative into a positive for you and your business.