The limitations of a tiny space, rather than inhibiting designers, often result in some of the most innovative and exciting retail design. While small shops offer the chance for famous designers to experiment and showcase their skills for the retailers who can afford them, other independent retailers will be competing for the same customers and looking for ideas to implement on their own. This book brings together some of the best recent, innovative examples of small store designs from around the world. All the shops measure less than 1,600 square feet (many much less), and are grouped by size, with explanations and tips from their designers. Types of outlet featured include fashion, accessories, opticians, technology, food, and confectionery. The book is divided into three sections: small shops, smaller shops, and tiny shops. Each section begins with an interview with a designer of a small shop, explaining the creative opportunities and difficulties in greater detail. This book will be inspirational for retail designers and small shop owners looking to create their own big statement in a small space.

Setting up a shop, retail unit or market stall is one of the most accessible small business start-up options - it needs no specific training, no compulsory qualifications and no large capital outlay. Give your business a head start by following the advice in this book to make sure your business is built on solid foundations. It will tell you: how to research your business idea to ensure it will be a success; what you need to do to turn your idea into reality; and, how to manage yourself, your stock and your money to power ahead through good times and bad. No other book divulges this sort of insider knowledge of the retail trade. Author Val Clarke has over ten years' experience of starting up shops, running and selling them as well as importing and wholesaling. She has traded in a wide variety of goods, from clothing to furniture. Her latest venture, a mainstream gift and jewellery shop, opened in September 2007. This business is thriving, proving that her methods are successful and that times of economic downturn are also times of opportunity for the shrewd shopkeeper. 'When I opened my first shop I wished there was a book to help me. I learnt by trial and error, from my own mistakes and those of others. With this book you'll speed up the learning process and start to make a profit from day one'!

“I really enjoyed this book. In fact, I could go for a second helping!”—Amy Sedaris “Entrepreneurs will learn a thing or two about translating a dream into thoughtful business growth, and everyone will laugh, cry, and nod along with a woman who has chosen to live an extraordinary life amidst many piles of dishes.” —Danny Meyer, CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group, founder of Shake Shack, author of the New York Times bestseller Setting the Table In this charming graphic memoir, the founder of an iconic housewares shop recounts the ups and downs—and ups again—of starting a family business, starting a family, and staying true to one’s path while trying to make it in the Big City. Whether it’s a set of vintage plates from a 1920s steamship, a mug with a New Yorker cartoon on it, a tin of sprinkles designed by Amy Sedaris, or a juice glass from a Jazz Age hotel, Fishs Eddy products are distinctly recognizable. A New York institution, Fishs Eddy also remains a family business whose owners endured the same challenges as many family businesses—and lived to write about it in this tale filled with humorous characterizations of opinionated relatives, nosy neighbors, quirky employees, and above all the eccentric foibles of the founders themselves. Readers come to know author Julie Gaines and her husband, with whom she founded the store, and because this is a family business, the illustrations are all in the family, too: their son Ben Lenovitz’s drawings bring Fishs Eddy to life with a witty style a la Roz Chast and Ben Katchor. Over the years the store has collaborated with artists and celebrities such as Charley Harper and Todd Oldham, Alan Cumming, and many others to produce original designs that are now found in thousands of stores throughout the country, and Fishs Eddy has garnered a huge amount of media coverage. A great gift for anyone who has ever dreamed of opening a little business—or anyone with any kind of dream—Minding the Store offers wisdom, inspiration, and an exceedingly entertaining story.

New York Times bestselling adult author of The Bear and the Nightingale makes her middle grade debut with a creepy, spellbinding ghost story destined to become a classic. Now in paperback. After suffering a tragic loss, eleven-year-old Ollie who only finds solace in books discovers a chilling ghost story about a girl named Beth, the two brothers who loved her, and a peculiar deal made with "the smiling man"—a sinister specter who grants your most tightly held wish, but only for the ultimate price. Captivated by the tale, Ollie begins to wonder if the smiling man might be real when she stumbles upon the graves of the very people she's been reading about on a school trip to a nearby farm. Then, later, when her school bus breaks down on the ride home, the strange bus driver tells Ollie and her classmates: "Best get moving. At nightfall they'll come for the rest of you." Nightfall is, indeed, fast descending when Ollie's previously broken digital wristwatch begins a startling countdown and delivers a terrifying message: RUN. Only Ollie and two of her classmates heed these warnings. As the trio head out into the woods—bordered by a field of scarecrows that seem to be watching them—the bus driver has just one final piece of advice for Ollie and her friends: "Avoid large places. Keep to small." And with that, a deliciously creepy and hair-raising adventure begins.