FIVE THINGS YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW TO ENHANCE YOUR LIFE AND BUSINESS
10 WAYS TO RENOVATE YOUR STORE ON A TIGHT BUDGET
10 WAYS TO STAY RELEVANT AND NECESSARY TO YOUR CUSTOMERS
THE HEART AND SOUL OF RETAIL SUCCESS
100 VISUALS UNDER $100
VISUAL MERCHANDISING 101
RETAIL COLOR PSYCHOLOGY
FENG SHUI FOR RETAIL
WINDOW AND STORE DISPLAY
CUSTOM VISUAL MERCHANDISING SEMINAR
RENOVATIONS
THE BASICS OF SUCCESSFUL STORE DESIGN ON A BUDGET
STORE DESIGN WORKSHOP
SHOPPING CENTER PSYCHOLOGY

Five Things You Can Do Right Now to Enhance Your Life and Business
This talk will give you practical and practically free ways to make all aspects of your life more successful. From how your store or office are set-up to the psychology of color, you’ll walk out of this seminar with a minimum of three things you’ll want to do immediately when you get back to your office, store or home – or, most likely all three. In one hour you will change how you think about your communications, your thought patterns, your home/office/retail layout, the colors you live with and what surrounds you in all your environments.

10 Ways to Renovate Your Store on a Tight Budget
It doesn't have to take a lot of money to perk up a tired store. In this seminar you'll learn 10 ways to give your store a mini facelift with low pain and cash. Included will be ideas for focal areas, new sign concepts, ways to update your wrap desk, low cost fixtures, lighting, ceiling and floor ideas.

10 Ways to Stay Relevant and Necessary to Your Customers
Your job isn't just to stay in business - you need to make a difference in the lives of your customers. Retail Therapy is both necessary and difficult for many people right now. In this seminar you'll discover ways to help and educate your customers which gives added value to your store as well as finding ways to help them solve their problems. This will be a sharing event so please think about how you and your store adds value to your customers experiences.
 

THE HEART AND SOUL OF RETAIL SUCCESS
Six Steps to Improve Your Business

Is business slow? Are you slashing budgets, feeling burnt out or wondering why you ever went into retail in the first place? Does it seem that crunching numbers and loosing employees are your only options?

There is a better way to create success - from the inside out. This seminar offers six steps to success. Within these steps are 20 free "inside" techniques to increase your business and happiness. The "outside" solutions are easy to implement and as costly as you choose.

Each step is completely personal and relates to all types of retail – as well as all personalities.

Step One: Positive Thinking.

Step Two: Create an Environment that Honors Your Customer
- Meet their basic needs. 
- Engage their senses. 
- Make it easy for your customer to shop your store. 
- R & R
- Visuals
- Be Nice.

Step Three: Create an Environment that Honors and Supports You and Your Staff.
- Smile.
- Safety
- Give it a break
- Be Fair, Be Clear
- Train to Maintain
- Hire Right
- Instant Karma

Step Four: Community Relations
- Give and you shall receive
- Interns – a Win-Win
- On Stage

Step Five: Reinvent your Passion and Energy
- Financial Audit 
- Emotional Audit
- Visual Audit

Step Six: Thankfulness

This speech is from one to one and one half hours long. 

100 VISUALS UNDER $100
This talk highlights one hundred display, visual merchandising and store design ideas that will add pizazz to any type of store.
The talk can be customized for a specific retailer or type of retail.

This talk is 45 minutes to 1 hour long.

VISUAL MERCHANDISING 101
This is a basic course in VM that appeals to a general group of smaller sized retailers. It gives creative, inexpensive and practical ideas that can be put into effect immediately. This seminar is slide based, fast and funny.  It can be customized to the needs of the client, corporation or group.

A. Introduction

1. What is visual merchandising?
   
2. How good VM encompasses all the senses
   
3. How sales are increased through added sensory stimulation

1. A review of the major colors and how they influence how we think, feel and buy.
   
2. Color Spotting - how to use color in a display to lead the eye from place to place.

1. How angles lead the eye around a display and a store
   
2. How to use angles in a store
   
3. Angled aisles
   
4. Balance of light and darks, formal and asymmetrical balance
   
5. The power of geometry to allow large amounts of merchandise to be displayed in small areas.

1. Explanation signs
   
2. Oversigning
   
3. Simple overhead signs
   
4. Old signs
   
5. On the floor signs

1. Adding color
   
2. Wall treatments
   
3. Floor ideas
   
4. Interesting Lighting ideas

1. What kind to buy
   
2. How not to make an expensive mistake
   
3. Forms you can make yourself easily and inexpensively

1. The future of small retail
   
2. What you can do to insure you have a future
   
3. 10 steps you can put into place right now!

This seminar can range from 45 minutes to 2 hours. 
Requirements: slide projector with a remote slide changer, screen, cordless mike.

1. Brief explanation on color and the different vibrations colors generate
   
2. How to become braver when using color in a store

• Red
  
• Orange
  
• Yellow
  
• Green
  
• Pink
  
• Light blue
  
• Medium blue
  
• Indigo
  
• Lavender
  
• Purple
  
• Brown
  
• Black
  
• White
  
• Black & White

1. Creating a composition using color to lead the eye from place to place
   
2. Balancing color
   
3. Balancing lights and darks

FENG SHUI FOR RETAIL
This is an interesting, fun talk that will have everyone taking notes and asking questions.

Feng Shui is the ancient Chinese art of placement used to create the proper balance of energy in a space for optimum prosperity, happiness and health.

The placement and balance of energy and elements in a retail space can determine the future success of a store as well as the health of the people who shop and work there.

This study dates back over 6000 years and has grown in popularity all over the world because it works! It has also grown in its’ complexity. This talk will stress modern interpretations of Feng Shui for Retail and show how it can be used simply and immediately to enhance a stores’ environment and the lives of the people in the audience.

A. Introduction

1. What is Feng Shui, 
   
2. A brief history of Feng Shui
   
3. How and why it is being used in the USA today.

1. The four concepts that need to be addressed by every store owner:
   • History
   • Energy flow
   • Placement
   • Space Clearing
    
2. Creating better energy in the space
   
3. Aisle and fixture placement to generate better flow

• Finding your basic element and working with others to add balance
  
• Water element
  
• Air/Wind element
  
• Earth element
  
• Fire element
  
• Metal element
  
• Wood element

1. What is it?
   
2. How does it work for your store
   
3. How does it work for your home (everyone always wants to know this!)
   
4. Remedies for enhancing or repairing sections in your store

WINDOW AND STORE DISPLAY
Images of windows and in-store displays from all over the world are presented in slide form. Each image shows an affordable, do-able display that the audience can make happen in their own stores.
This seminar is designed to inspire people to take a chance and create fun windows and interior displays for their stores.
Ideas will be given for holiday display and questions will be encouraged.

• This is a simple format
  
• There is no formal outline.
  
• There will be up to four trays of slides (approx.  300 images.)
  
• Each idea will be presented and explained
  
• Some will be funny, others will be sad. 
  
• The sad ones are often the funniest!
  
• Questions will drive the length of this presentation.
  
• It can be geared to any length of time desired.

CUSTOM VISUAL MERCHANDISING SEMINAR
Each seminar is geared to the customer. Linda Cahan has created custom visual merchandising seminars for:

• American Express Travel Related Services
  
• Singer Sewing Machine Company, International Division
  
• Stihl, Chainsaw Division
  
• Hartmann Luggage
  
• Miehle Vacuums
  
• Franco
  
• Aramark
  
• Fantastic Sams
  
• Automotive Parts Dealers
  
• National Booksellers Association
  
• Professional Apparel Association
  
• American Rental Association
  
• Christian Booksellers Association
  
• National Stationary Show
  
• NARDA (electronics and appliance dealers)
  
• United Rentals
  
• Western Exhibitors – 14 different speeches for gift shows

• Please contact Linda Cahan regarding specific fees for Seminars.
  
• Seminar fees are to be paid within one week of the seminar date.
  
• Travel, food, lodging and extra film processing expenses will be billed separately to the client and are payable upon receipt.

RENOVATIONS
WHY, HOW & WHAT’S NEW IN THE MARKET

This begins with a discussion of why people renovate – and the benefits of renovating.  The second part of the talk consists of slides showing new fixturing in the market combined with displays and accessory items such as sign holders. The subject matter requires time for Q & A.  This talk has been very well received at two West Coast gift shows and at a national association conference within the last three months.

1. The Emotional and Psychological Reasons to Renovate
   
2. The Physical Reasons to Renovate
   
3. Facts and Figures to support Renovations
   
4. Slide Presentation showing fixture and display manufacturers and distributors

The handouts for this talk include a synopsis of the Renovations study and a full vendor list that gives store owners new resources that are good, honest, reliable and original.

This is usually a 1.5 hour talk (can be reduced to 1 hour.)

Requirements: slide projector, remote slide changer, screen, and cordless mike A dry erase board and markers – or a large pad of paper and markers will aid in the Q & A..

THE BASICS OF SUCCESSFUL STORE DESIGN ON A BUDGET!
This is Store Design 101 – for any retailer that wants to either open a new store or to renovate their existing store.

1. Image – developing a successful and profitable store image
   
   
2. Merchandise Plan – buy the correct merchandise for your store image
   
   
3. Budget – develop a workable budget plan in order to meet your store design goals.
   
   
4. Location, location, location – looking at your site considerations for new/existing stores
   
   
5. Floor and aisle plans – getting customers to move through your entire store – not just the main aisles.
   
   
6. Fixturing – discover new sources for both low-cost and custom fabulous fixtures
   
   
7. Lighting – new lighting ideas, resources and concepts
   
   
8. Surface Materials – what works, what doesn’t and what’s new
   
   
9. Color – using color psychology in your store to increase sales and ambience.
   
   
10. Facades and Signage – Find out some of the most economic ways to create professional facades and signage.

STORE DESIGN WORKSHOP
This is an interactive workshop for both small and large store owners. It is a combination of a 45 minute store design slide lecture with approximately 2 hours for groups to get together at round tables to design a store. 

This is a powerful, fun, challenging and exciting workshop. I’ve given this workshop for several different organizations and retail groups including:

• The National Retail Federation
  
• The International Retail Design Conference
  
• American Rental Association
  
• The Curtain Exchange

In some cases it’s difficult to get the attendees to leave the room because they’re having fun and they are so excited by their teams store design.

A.  Introduction to Store Design Workshop

B.  Store Design 101 – 

1. Image
2. Merchandise
3. Budget
4. Location/architecture
5. Floor and Aisle Plans
6. Fixturing
7. Lighting
8. Surface Materials
9. Color

C. Getting started as a group design team

1. Sit with people you don’t know
2. Square footage will be suggested
3. A budget range will be suggested
4. Leaders will be “elected” or emerge from the group
5. Two presenters will be chosen

SHOPPING CENTER PSYCHOLOGY
Mall developers often create spaces that work well for construction costs but do little to create enjoyable shopping experiences.
This seminar, developed for Fenalco in Bogota, Colombia, looks at how shopping centers can enhance the overall experience for their customers. As elements are added to the centers, customer visits and sales increase. These suggestions are a win-win-win for the mall developers, their tenants and their customers.

A. Introduction

1. What’s working in malls today – and what isn’t.
2. How customers are reacting to malls
3. The principles of humanizing malls according to energy flow

1. Toilets
2. Phones
3. Internet
4. Seating
5. Lighting
6. Grade Changes

C. Adding natural elements to add profits

1. Skylights
2. Carpeting
3. Trees
4. Wood
5. Fresh Air
6. Water

1. Seating
2. Food Courts
3. TV
4. Interactive Media
5. Fun stuff for kids