You Sleep When You Die

The big reason Party City is a great role model for today’s retailers is that they treat the customer’s money and time just as though it were their own…Party City now has an extremely successful marketing methodology in place, one that’s resonating powerfully with consumers … even when discretionary dollars are tight.

National retailers need to wake up and actually serve their customers. Acting like a small business can make you a big winner.

Take a look at a recent Nissan spot, one that I was particularly proud of. It uses gentle humor to hit two powerful “hot button” issues: the rising gas prices we are all facing these days … and the Nissan line’s impressive record of fuel economy.

Thanks for your questions! Remember, get your questions about advertising, business, the economy and more answered every Wednesday by posting comments to blog posts or on Twitter @JZspeaks via #askjz.

I noticed from your recent post you have an eighth grade girl graduating, congratulations!

While reading Business Week, I saw a story about the Silly Bandz founder and thought of you, seeking your sage retail advice. My granddaughter, a bit younger than your graduate, goes crazy for the “bandz.” My question, and that of most (including Silly Bandz owner) is how does an entrepreneur manage such explosive retail growth effectively and build a sustainable brand?

According to numbers released by the Commerce Department, sales continued to rise at retail stores in April at a rate higher than expected by industry experts. Combined with other recently released data on industrial production, manufacturing and consumer confidence, these figures seem to indicate that we’re well on our way to economic recovery.

However, upon further inspection, recent numbers might not be as encouraging as they originally seemed. Decreases were actually reported in several categories of retail stores, including sporting goods, electronics, hobbies, music stores, home furnishings, grocery and department stores.

So what does all this mean? Are we on the road to economic recovery or not??