Jon Schallert
The essence of a Destination Business is that it can exist anywhere. It’s not location dependent, it can defy its demographics, and it has the ability to pull customers from hours away.But honestly, when I found a Destination Business in Mildred, Kansas (population 28), and met the owners, Regena and Loren Lance, even I was…
Last Thursday I spent the day in Marshall, Michigan, speaking to nearly one hundred business owners from all over the State. Some owners drove in from over 4 hours away to spend the day learning how to turn their businesses into Destinations, capable of pulling in customers from far outside their marketplaces and keeping the…
Here’s my first blog post of 2019 that will help you start off right. I had a revelation during the holidays. It came while I was browsing in some bookstores (shop local, right?), in their business book sections. It had never occurred to me before, but I realized there are a ton of business books…
Note from Jon Schallert: If you received my email newsletter, there is an obvious grammatical error in the 3rd paragraph. Read down to the bottom of this blog and you’ll learn why it’s there. Most of you know that our company is located in Colorado, but did you know our company has its offices in…
In late April and early May, I’ll be taking my longest-ever speaking road tour – four towns, four days, and 1,200 miles to talk to business owners and community leaders in the small cities and towns spread across Wyoming. The state has plenty of nationally-known tourist destinations, such as Yellowstone, Devil’s Tower, and Jackson Hole,…
Not a week goes by without someone saying to me: “Retail’s tough.” I hear it from developers, bankers, downtown directors, and business leaders. They say with a “That’s just the way it is” sigh. Want to know how independent retailers today thrive? Here’s how: At the invitation of Suzanne and Jim Sereff, owners of the…
In the last 2 months, there have been multiple articles written about the “Retail Apocalypse”, the term journalists use to describe the many retail stores and malls that are closing. One article in Bloomberg magazine by Matt Townsend and others was titled: “America’s ‘Retail Apocalyse’ Is Really Just Beginning”. The article detailed the debt that…
Grand County Economic Development will pay for 18 Grand County business owners to participate in Jon Schallert’s Community Reinvention Program which begins with a 2½-day Destination BootCamp in Longmont on October 25-27. The organization is accepting applications for the grants until September 15. Last year, 18 county business owners took advantage of a similar opportunity…
For those of you who just had a 3-day, July 4th weekend, you might have experienced what I did this past weekend, an overwhelming number of choices on where to spend my 3 days off. All of these were on my “Possible Go-To” list: There were several 4th of July parades in our area. There were firework…
To all independent business owners! Here’s something to think about: I once received a call from the sales vice-president of a well-known national franchise who wanted me to speak at their annual convention. He’d heard about me from one of his independent franchisees, and he knew that I helped businesses grow their sales, customer traffic, and…