Join the Organization Dedicated to Uniting and Protecting Specialty Retailers

Specialty Retailers and the Board Sports Lifestyle
Surf | Skate | Snow | SUP | Swim | Outdoor | Wake

Advance Your Company Through Connections and Information Exchange

Specialty Retailers and the Board Sports Lifestyle
Surf | Skate | Snow | SUP | Swim | Outdoor | Wake

Lower day to day costs, increase margins, create more remarkable customer experiences

Specialty Retailers and the Board Sports Lifestyle
Surf | Skate | Snow | SUP | Swim | Outdoor | Wake

Stay Current on the Latest Industry News and Consumer Trends

Specialty Retailers and the Board Sports Lifestyle
Surf | Skate | Snow | SUP | Swim | Outdoor | Wake

Welcome to the Board Retailers Association (BRA) website.  Below you will find helpful and relevant articles that we carefully curate for the benefit of our BRA Retail Members several times per week. Be sure to scroll through the most recent articles or use the Search/Lookup feature in the Menu above to find topics and keywords related to recent and not-so-recent articles that may help you lower costs, increase margins, or create more remarkable customer experiences.  We deliberately made this our site landing page to demonstrate our commitment to “Protecting Retailers and a Lifestyle” for over 20 years (since 2003).

Be sure to visit the About Us, Retail Member Benefits and Join pages on this site to learn more about and benefit from our resourceful nonprofit trade association committed to helping board specialty, outdoor specialty, and lifestyle specialty retailers to survive, thrive, and keep “the special in specialty” for free

“Increase profits with these 5 steps!” by Aaron Randall of RICS Software plus extra special savings for BRA DRMs

“Increase profits with these 5 steps!” by Aaron Randall of RICS Software plus extra special savings for BRA DRMs

Covid-19 and its forced retail shutdowns are a memory of the past. However, the lingering effects on our supply chain, consumer behaviors and retail inventories remain front and present as we look at managing business going forward. Recent retail news has been focused...

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“Live Commerce vs. Reels: How to Build Meaningful Customer Relationships Through Live Video Commerce” by Andrew Chen via Total Retail

“Live Commerce vs. Reels: How to Build Meaningful Customer Relationships Through Live Video Commerce” by Andrew Chen via Total Retail

Credit: Getty Images by PixelsEffect While Reels can be a powerful tool to attract new customers, live selling offers retailers a more intimate, longer form setting to engage “I know this is new for all of us,” said Melissa Garcia, a professional on-air stylist, as...

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“Year-end tax planning opportunities for the consumer industry” by Joel Boff and Corey Rosenthal of BRA Supporting Vendor Partner CohnReznick plus acess to relevant and helpful CR / M1 collaborative on-demand webinar

“Year-end tax planning opportunities for the consumer industry” by Joel Boff and Corey Rosenthal of BRA Supporting Vendor Partner CohnReznick plus acess to relevant and helpful CR / M1 collaborative on-demand webinar

After two and a half years of COVID-19 shutdowns, reopenings, and clarifications and additional guidance being released on the 2020 CARES Act, taxpayers and practitioners have a clearer roadmap for the 2022 tax filing season. But, unless many CARES...

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“Bad Customer Service Examples: 50 Things Retail Employees Shouldn’t Do” by Bob Phibbs via The Retail Doctor Blog

“Bad Customer Service Examples: 50 Things Retail Employees Shouldn’t Do” by Bob Phibbs via The Retail Doctor Blog

Excellent customer service is dependent on your sales associates. Likewise, a bad customer service experience depends on your associates delivering poor customer service in your retail store. It doesn't matter if you are one of those brick-and-mortar retailers trying...

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“Why E-Commerce Needs Brick-and-Mortar Retail” by Lukas Martinelli via Total Retail

“Why E-Commerce Needs Brick-and-Mortar Retail” by Lukas Martinelli via Total Retail

As e-commerce has exploded in popularity, the question of how brick-and-mortar retailers would fare in the future has been widely debated. The notion of a “retail apocalypse” reached a crescendo during the pandemic as year-over-year e-commerce grew two to five...

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“Holiday Shopping Habits Unwrapped: What’s Impacting Consumer Spending? As holiday shopping begins to accelerate, here are four trends retailers can expect to carry through the season” by Tom Niedbalski via Total Retail

“Holiday Shopping Habits Unwrapped: What’s Impacting Consumer Spending? As holiday shopping begins to accelerate, here are four trends retailers can expect to carry through the season” by Tom Niedbalski via Total Retail

Credit: iStock.com by Coolpicture The holiday shopping season is upon us and retailers are keen to understand what will drive consumer spending this year. With global supply chain issues and inflation on the rise, consumers are changing their spending...

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“Small retailers again struggling to pay rent” by Daphne Howland via Retail Dive plus BRA intro to someone who can create leverage for you and save you money on your next lease renewal

“Small retailers again struggling to pay rent” by Daphne Howland via Retail Dive plus BRA intro to someone who can create leverage for you and save you money on your next lease renewal

Dive Brief: Rent delinquency among smaller retailers took a turn for the worse in October, with 43% saying they couldn’t cover their October rent in full this month, up 12% from last month, according to a report from small business referral network...

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“Retailers Are Bringing Digital Precision to Their Physical Stores Via Smart Camera Technology” by Andrew Dallman via Total Retail

“Retailers Are Bringing Digital Precision to Their Physical Stores Via Smart Camera Technology” by Andrew Dallman via Total Retail

The internet provides retailers endless amounts of precise, real-time information and insights into the shopper’s journey. What are they searching for? What are they clicking on? At what point do they fall out of the sales pipeline? In a brick-and-mortar store,...

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“BRA LIG Solutions Member Health Insurance Coverage Overview Webinar is now available to view on-demand right here” by Doug Works via BRA YouTube Channel

“BRA LIG Solutions Member Health Insurance Coverage Overview Webinar is now available to view on-demand right here” by Doug Works via BRA YouTube Channel

This informative presentation delivered by Tim McNichols of BRA Supporting Vendor Partner LIG Solutions (on October 4, 2022) lasted less than 40 minutes and discussed the following: WHAT KIND OF COVERAGE IS INCLUDED IN THE BOARD RETAILERS ASSOCIATION HEALTH PROGRAM?...

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“Outdoor Retailers Give Customers Their Expertise for Free. Should They? – Here’s how shops can monetize non-paying customers who just want free information” by David Gladish via Outside Business Journal

“Outdoor Retailers Give Customers Their Expertise for Free. Should They? – Here’s how shops can monetize non-paying customers who just want free information” by David Gladish via Outside Business Journal

Photo: Nikola Stojadinovic/Getty If you’ve ever worked in outdoor retail, you are probably all too familiar with a particular customer. They come in, use up your time and expertise to gain product knowledge and find the proper fit, subtly (or not so subtly) take a...

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“The unique abundance of skate culture, with the first Ambassador of Skateboarding” by Neftalie Williams and Sam Firman via AdventureUncovered.com

“The unique abundance of skate culture, with the first Ambassador of Skateboarding” by Neftalie Williams and Sam Firman via AdventureUncovered.com

WILLIAMS DOING A NOLLIE BACKSIDE TAILSLIDE SHOVE-IT, Image courtesy of Rachele Honcharik Neftalie Williams is a scholar, teacher, writer, founder, bridge builder and the first Ambassador of Skateboarding. But first and foremost, underpinning it all, he’s a...

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“TikTok’s latest ad product rollout aims to make creators’ (and advertisers’) lives easier — for the most part” by Krystal Scanlon via Digiday

“TikTok’s latest ad product rollout aims to make creators’ (and advertisers’) lives easier — for the most part” by Krystal Scanlon via Digiday

Creators are having a hard time right now: canceled deals, stretched payment terms, even revenue shake ups from the platforms. It’s tough times for anyone in the content-making business. But it doesn’t have to be, according to TikTok. Or more to the point, it won’t be...

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“‘Special day’ promotions can give retailers the distinction they need” by Tom Ryan via Retail Wire plus board specialty specific holidays for you to embrace and celebrate

“‘Special day’ promotions can give retailers the distinction they need” by Tom Ryan via Retail Wire plus board specialty specific holidays for you to embrace and celebrate

A new university study finds that consumers are more likely to use discounts celebrating a “special day” — such as pizza/pie promotions or 31.4 percent discounts for Pi Day (March 14) — than for standard holidays or one-day sales events. The research...

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