Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space

"A community’s physical form, rather than its land uses, is its most intrinsic and enduring characteristic." [Katz, EPA] This blog focuses on place and placemaking and all that makes it work--historic preservation, urban design, transportation, asset-based community development, arts & cultural development, commercial district revitalization, tourism & destination development, and quality of life advocacy--along with doses of civic engagement and good governance watchdogging.

Monday, July 25, 2005

Niche businesses survive with the aid of e-commerce

statesman.com.jpgDo you need a pair of shoes in a men's size 16? Mo and Lisa Morris may have just the thing. The couple have a shoe store in Austin (Texas) that opened last year. But their Web site, which they launched in 1998, accounts for 75 percent of their company's sales. For the Morrises, filling a niche has helped their business survive. Photo: Brian K. Diggs/Austin AMERICAN-STATESMAN.

In "Surf's Up On Web Shopping: As Amazon Ages, Smaller Retailers Get on Board," the Washington Post reports on small businesses with Internet presences. (Registration required to access the article.)

Success for independent businesses is based on a unique (or edited) selection of goods, with quality service and a decent, not necessarily the lowest, price. Internet sales can provide an added revenue stream. This is particularly true in the used book area, as most bookstores these days are linked to www.abebooks.com or www.amazon.com, and sell books through those venues as well.

But no market remains uncontested for long...

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home