SEMINARS

Linda Cahan is an international speaker who has presented over 500 seminars in 25 countries. She states - "My job is to educate, inspire and encourage every person who attends my seminars to go back to their stores, work or home offices and make creative, intelligent changes to help their businesses grow and thrive.

Seminars

"Every seminar is always customized for my audience."

"I make sure to have photos and information that they can relate to so they can implement the ideas when they get back to their stores."

What do you want attendees to experience in your seminars?

SEMINARS FOR 2024

NEW - just presented at the International Retail Design Conference

WORKSHOP | Your Gut Knows:

The Powerful Gut-Brain Connection and How to Hear It

We all have that inner voice telling us “oh no” or “oh yeah,” but listening to our intuition is often obscured by our fears, stress and expectations. In this interactive workshop, explore the importance of listening, understanding and interpreting those gut feelings – and how to get in touch with them. Discover how to remove creative roadblocks and understand how to really hear what your intuition is trying to tell you – and learn about what happens when you don’t!

REFRESH & REPEAT: TEN SECRETS TO KEEPING YOUR STORE NEW AND EXCITING

Blow the dust out of your store and give it fresh appeal – affordably. Learn 10 secret (and easy!) ways to create a new feeling in your existing space and keep customers coming back to see what’s new. Then, learn how to keep refreshing on an ongoing basis to make your store feel new all the time. It’s a “refresher course” you can’t miss.

YOU'RE WELCOME HERE!

Inclusiveness is more than a retail trend, it's a basic kindness to the people in your community. Learn some simple ways to let all people know they are welcome and can feel safe in your store.

POWER TO THE POLISH: Empower Employees to Keep Your Stores Shining & Selling

Shelves stocked. Floors clear. Windows sparkling. Keeping your stores as polished every day as your grand opening is a challenge. How do you get employees to care as much as you do? Give them the tools and training they need to take a more active role keeping your stores looking their best. This course will give you the tools to train staff, empower them to take ownership of your store’s appearance and a how-to to develop your own visual standards guide; ideal for communicating the what and why behind your store’s design and build-outs.

NEW TRENDS IN RETAIL DESIGN & SMART TIPS FOR FRESH VISUAL MERCHANDISING

Get that "WOW" factor in your store! Want to learn what's new and cool that can work for you? All that plus easy visual merchandising tips to create more sales, engage your customers as well as how to make your focal areas fabulous selling spots in this info-packed session.

TAKE YOUR SALES FROM 8 TO 80: UNDERSTANDING, APPRECIATING AND SELLING TO ALL GENERATIONS

Boomers aren’t “just old people” any more than Gen Zs are “just kids.” Understanding how and why each generation thinks, shops and buys gives you the key to making decisions about how you approach each person as well as your store design: from decor to lighting, signs and layout.

TURNING CUSTOMER CRAZINESS INTO SALES (1 hour)

Understanding the psychology of what people respond to will help you give customers what they want. What gets people to buy from you instead of your neighbor or the big box down the street? How and why people buy starts with the experience they feel when they see your store. Learn how to increase the positive experiences for your customers using the knowledge of how they shop, how they’d prefer to shop and what simple, affordable and small things you can do right now to increase your sales and your customers positive perceptions of your store.

LET’S GET VISUAL! (1.5-2 hours)

Behind every show-stopping store, there are secrets. Explore everything about visual merchandising from the basic building blocks to the "icing", including:

• The science and fascination of Retail Color Psychology. Sound like a genius to your customers, friends and family and also get a better sense of what colors to use in your store and in your life – and why.

• Using Sensory Merchandising will create amazing memories of your store for customers. People want experiences more than "stuff" and using emotional and sensory techniques will help create those experiences.

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." - Maya Angelou

• Basic Design Techniques of lighting, signage and interior and window display create the icing on your cake. These are what set you apart from your competitors.

See what people are doing and get some ideas of what could work for your business.

GOING HEAD 2 HEAD WITH THE INTERNET: Ways to Win the War

Rethink and open your mind to how you do business. Doing what “always used to work” can make you overlook what works now! This session will give you an action list to disrupt your old business model by adding some fresh ideas that will allow you to grab sales back from online retailers. Consider offering what’s worked best for your store to this session to share with your peers. Many heads are better than one!

TAKE THE SIXTY-DISPLAY DASH: SIXTY DISPLAYS UNDER $100 (1 hour)

Learn how to create customer-stopping displays from Linda Cahan, the expert and author of 100 Displays Under $100, the ultimate how-to book on creating powerful displays on a shoestring. In one hour, you’ll pick up invaluable knowledge on creating a gem of a display, no matter what kind of store you run.

THE HIGH FIVE OF SUCCESS: Five Things You Can Do Right Now to Improve Your Life & Business (1 hour)

This talk will give you practical and practically-free ways to make all aspects of your life more successful. From how your store and 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. If you want to shake up your world in a positive, fascinating and fun way, start here and go back to your store refreshed and ready for the best life has to offer.

STORE DESIGN ON A SHOESTRING: Design or Renovate - great store design tips from start to finish (1-2 hours)

1. Getting started

2. What's your image? Learn easy ways to create a fresh and individualized store image. 3. Trends in new store design: Pick and choose what ideas will work for your new store image.

4. What's the budget? Set your budget to get the job done right. 5. Create a floor plan that flows: some simple floor plan ideas that make sense. 6. Light it right the first time: avoid expensive mistakes. 7. To-Do List: Obtain a chronological “to-do” list designed for a new store or renovations.

This seminar can be stretched into a half-day workshop.

Hands-On Design Workshop (2.5 hours + 1 hr.seminar)

In this workshop you will be part of a team (your attendees) that designs the “ultimate” store. You will have an opportunity to throw out ideas you’ve been considering for your store as well as learn from your peers. This is fun, fast-paced and stimulating. You will come away from this with many great ideas for your own store plus new contacts and friends you’ve made through networking. Format: one half day or from 9-4pm

I’ve given this workshop for the NRF, IRDC, ARA, FarWest, Dance Retailers and many other retail organizations. It has always been a big hit with attendees because while they learn about store design, they also get to interact, share ideas and connect with their peers.

FENG SWEET SALES: Easy Feng Shui for Retailers (By the author of “Feng Shui for Retailers”) (1 hour)

Feng Shui is more than style; it’s a way of working with space and materials to achieve the best flow of energy in your store, club, office and home. The practice is over 7,000 years old and works with every type of retail space. This seminar focuses on how Feng Shui can be applied in a very contemporary manner to create a prosperous, successful, appealing and healthy environment. Based on the book “Feng Shui for Retailers” by Linda Cahan, the topic will be simplified so that its complicated concepts can be understood and applied easily and quickly in all your spaces. This is a fascinating topic that relates equally well to all the living and working environments in your life. You’ll leave this seminar feeling inspired to make positive changes in your store, your home and office.

CUSTOMERS DO WANT ACCESSORIES WITH THAT: LITTLE STUFF = BIG PROFITS (1 hour)

This is for specific hard-lines retail categories such as auto parts, pools and spas, electronics, rentals, hardware, etc.

Accessories are small add-on sales that pay off big enough to send your kids to college. While selling the “Big Stuff” is vital, each add-on accessory sale accumulates into significant profits. Pick up vibrant ideas on how to display, merchandise and romance the accessories.

THERE’S AN ACCESSORY FOR THAT: SELLING POP, SPARKLE & GLAM (1 hour)

Little things sell big. Learn how to make your accessories pop – by themselves and as full outfits. Display jewelry, bags, hats, scarves and other accessories well, and watch them pay off! When you leave, you’ll have a list of ready-to-use ideas to take back to your store.

JUST THE FAQs: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT DESIGN, DISPLAY, MERCHANDISING AND PRESENTATION

Answers to the Most Common Queries about Store Design, Renovation and Display

Store Design:

• How do I make my store look different from my competitors without spending a fortune?

• What is the single most important thing I can do to make my store look better?

• My lights don’t seem to do much good. Could they be too high up?

Renovations:

• How do I renovate my store and still stay in business during the renovation?

• How can I renovate the store without spending much money?

Display:

• I want to create an appealing store – how do I achieve a coordinated look?

• I have windows that look into the store. How important is display? Isn’t it better to just look in and see the showroom?

• How often should I change my window displays?

• I want to do some in-store displays but they keep getting wrecked by customers and their unruly kids.

TESTIMONIALS

“Linda is everything you want in a speaker: inspiring, magnetic and bursting with useful ideas for retailers. She literally connects with the audience, stepping down from the stage and interacting/encouraging two-way conversation. Perhaps most importantly, she does a good deal of homework ahead of time and tailors her ideas and examples to the specific market/audience at hand. She is a valuable resource.”

Renee Covino, Contributing Editor, Stagnito Communications/CSNews

“From the first time I met Linda, I was overcome by her warmth, friendliness, and most importantly, her expertise in visual merchandising and store design. Linda gave a passionate and informative presentation to our retail advisory board, demonstrating how small changes to the in-store environment can have major effects on customer perceptions and, in turn, buying decisions. Linda is not only a true subject matter expert, but she is also an engaging speaker who leaves her audience with actionable insight. I highly recommend Linda for speaking engagements on visual merchandising, store layout, and/or retail branding. Your audience will thank you!”

Melissa Santos, Relationship One, Digital Marketing Strategist. Formerly with Rose Display

“I attended Linda's session at the Seattle Gift Show and found it to be fun and informative. Lots of take away ideas that retailers can immediately implement in their own shops. Great value indeed!”

Natalie Tan, Retail Design Consultant, Speaker, Trainer

“Linda is a very experienced speaker and her conferences are very structured and organized and the content in each of her presentations is valuable, clear and the most important for the audience very practical and easy to implement.”

Pedro Brolo, Latin America Producer of VM trade conferences, Consultant, Designer

“Linda hits the ground running. She's full of great and practical ideas which she shares quickly. She's always on-point. Lots of folks in the visual merchandising space can tell you what THEY like. Linda can tell you what your OWN CUSTOMERS WILL LIKE - and why. That's invaluable, especially if you're working with her on multiple units. Two thumbs up!!” Mike Wittenstein, International conference speaker and corporate consultant

“As a small business owner, I had the pleasure of seeing Linda speak at trade shows on numerous occasions. Her depth and breadth of knowledge on visual merchandising, store design, color theory and the customer experience is remarkable. She brings warmth, humor and intelligence to her presentations to keep the audience engaged. Participants leave her seminars inspired and confident to be bold in their design choices. Linda offers up-to-date, useful tips that can be implemented immediately on a tight budget. I highly recommend Linda as a speaker, designer, consultant, teacher and trainer.” Pam Pesetti, Museum Store Manager at Crocker Art Museum

“Linda offers companies great results with her work. I have worked with her for over twelve years and can highly recommend her for any business. Linda has deep knowledge of her topics and can easily adapt them for any industry. Her integrity is unparalled and creativity is much appreciated. Our audience consistently requested that she be on our educational forum.” Stacey Heiss, Formerly of Western Exhibitors

“My dealer group was seeking a visual merchandising speaker to present on how visual merchandising affects the customer experience. I learned about Linda Cahan and her services through her professional and informative online videos. Upon contacting her and expressing our industry specific needs, she did her research and customized our presentation to make it relevant and relatable. Cahan shares an in depth knowledge of color and emotions which is immensely beneficial in making immediate simple fixes to influence consumer behavior and enrich the selling experience. Our managers were motivated and eager to implement Cahan's best practices and to create their own ways to refresh their dealerships.”

Amber Martin, Martin Automotive Group

“I have had the pleasure of working with Linda Cahan many times in my capacity as Director of the Buyer Education Program for the National Stationery Show. Why do I always have Linda on my program schedule? She is a true expert in the field of visual merchandising, store design, and "green" retailing. She is an engaging, entertaining speaker who always delivers useful, creative, and easy to understand merchandising ideas. She is an unusually articulate and captivating writer! Linda's books on Feng Shui for Retailers and 100 Displays for Under $100 should be in every retailer's library. I hire Linda Cahan because she is quite simply the best at what she does. Our audiences love her. She always delivers, with professionalism, warmth, humor and skill. If you are looking for a top-notch speaker and a real authority on visual merchandising and store design/display, look no further than Linda Cahan!

Debra Gold, Gold & Company, B2B Marketing/Branding/Trade Show Strategist

“As a newbie to the retail store business, I was trying to design my store on a budget and didn’t know how I was going to do it without the know-how and the capital to hire an expert. On a whim, I took a seminar at the January 2015 NY Now Gift Show on How to Design Your Retail Store on a Dime given by retail design veteran Linda Cahan.

I took copious notes during the two hour seminar that was chock full of not only information but also examples of other retail shops – which ranged from corporate chains to small mom- and-pop shops throughout the US. Linda was also gracious enough to provide a very comprehensive handout with all the information from the seminar.

With my handout and notes in hand I was able to go home and put together a retail store design like a pro. From lighting to layout to merchandising, I was able to put together a professional, modern, workable and attractive store design. Every day customers compliment me on the layout of my store and comment on how fresh, clean and inviting it is.

Without you my shop would not look the way it does today. Your knowledge, direction and philosophy of retail design helped this rookie put together a retail space that not only works for customers but gives my store a unique visual point of view. Thank you Linda Cahan!”

Andrea Farnum, Mermaid Bay Mercantile Co., Gulfport, FL

SOME SEMINAR CLIENTS SINCE 1985:

• NRF (National Retail Federation) 5x

• International Retail Design Conference 3x

• Global Shop 4x

• NADI (National Association of Display Industries) 2x

• INATS (International New Age Retail Show) 6x

• ICSC (International Council of Shopping Centers) 2x

• American Express TRS International Conference

• ARA (American Rental Association) 3x

• Aramark 2x

• United Rentals

• Singer International Conference: Zurich, Singapore, Paris, Miami

• IBPSIA Conference (Bowling retailers- armed services)

• BPAA Show (Bowling retailers)

• SEMA (Automotive aftermarket parts)

• Keystone Automotive (aftermarket parts)

• ARBE (Bakery show)

• AAA of Oregon and Idaho 5x

• NATO Conference

• Atlantic City Pool and Spa Show 2x

• The Aqua Show 5x

• IGC Show (Garden Center Show) 7x

• ANLA (Nursery retailers)

• OAN (Oregon Nursery Show)

• FarWest Show (nurseries) 3x

• The Super Floral Show

• ASTRA (Toy Show) 3x

• National Stationary Show 3x

• Designer Greetings/CardSmart

• The Housewares Show (Chicago) 4x

• SPECS Show

• The Halloween and Party Expo 4x

• CBA (Christian Booksellers Association) 2x

• CMA (Catholic Marketing Association)

• Total Pet Expo 4x

• Global Pet Expo 2x

• NAMSB

• SJTA (Atlanta Jewelry Show)

• CRAMMM Conference

• The Surfaces Show 4

• Yarn Market News Conference

• The TNNA show (needlework/yarn)

• HIA (Hobby and Crafts Show)

• CHA (Crafts and Hobby Show) 3x

• National Booksellers Association

• RVDA Show (Recreational Vehicles Dealers Association) 10x

• Stag Parkway (RV parts and accessories)

• PAA (Professional Apparel Association) 5x

• NUDA (National Uniform Dealers Association)

• NTCA Conference (Rural communications companies)

• NY Prét à Porter

• The New York Textiles Show

• The SBDC (Small Business Development/Portland, OR) many times

• The Curtain Exchange 2x

• Miehle Vacuums

• Hartmann Luggage

• Stihl Corporation

• Fantastic Sams

• Rose Displays Conference, Salem, MA

• Kellogg (garden center products – webinars)

• Chambers of Commerce: West Linn, OR, Lake Oswego, OR, Hood River, OR and Ashland, OR

• Main Street Programs: Springfield, NJ, Clackamas County, OR, Buffalo, WY, Brainerd, MN, Cottage Grove, OR, Oregon Main Street Annual meetings in The Dalles and Port Orford, OR

Gift Shows in: New York, Toronto, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Miami, Philadelphia, Boston, Columbus, Denver, Dallas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, Chicago, Edmunton and Mexico City

Hospital Gift Shop Shows in: Oregon, Colorado, Minnesota, Florida, New Jersey and Ohio

International:

• POP Asia, New Delhi, India

• Soysal, Istanbul, Turkey

• Pantaloon, Mumbai, India

• International Association of Department Stores, London, England

• Interstore Consult, Zurich, Switzerland

• Fenalco, Colombia

• HiperPaiz, Guatemala

• College Bookstores, Canada

• Rancho La Puerta, Tecate, Mexico

• Mexico City Gift Show

• ZAZ!, Guatemala

• Trinidad Retail

• Grupo Roble mall merchant seminars and consultations in: Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama, Honduras, and Nicaragua

• Singer: Paris, Zurich and Singapore

• Independent retailers in: Venezuela, Costa Rica, Curaco & the Dominican Republic,

Colleges & Universities

• Syracuse University & Cazenovia College