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The Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training.

For weekly tips and resources pointers, check Wally's Three Star Leadership Letter

Find out more about having Wally speak to your company or convention.

Find out more about Wally's coaching services.

Every week, reporters around the country write great business stories that don't make it onto your screen or into your local paper. And every week I scour newspapers around the country to identify five of those great stories to enrich your weekend reading. This week I'm pointing you to stories about the people who love you, combining ideas for a business, combining operations in business, the power of quality samples, and Macy's tries a do-over.

From the Orlando Sentinel: Devoted theme-park goers visit attractions hundreds or thousands of times
"Across Central Florida's theme parks are hundreds of rides, shows and attractions -- and the people who love them. A lot. We're talking hundreds and even thousands of visits or viewings. Five Central Floridians share their tales of unusual attraction to the attractions."

Wally's Comment: Every business has them. They're the people who really, really love you. Catering to them and finding more of them and more ways to serve them put you on the high road to profit.

From the Cincinnati Enquirer: Meal prep need not be a chore
"She started as a stay-at-home mom who wanted to learn how to improve her cooking for the family. She became a huge fan of the Food Network, then started signing up for cooking classes and immersing herself in all things food-related. Today that passion has turned into a business."

Wally's Comment: I love business ideas that seem to combine two concepts. In this story you have the cooking school and meal preparation.

From the Denver Post: Craft brewers to share facilities
"Fort Collins-based New Belgium Brewing and Elysian Brewing Co. of Seattle plan to share each other's brewing facilities, creating a new model in the craft beer industry."

Wally's Comment: I love business ideas that are win-win solutions, especially if they involve working with another business that might be considered competition.

From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Shrimp truck has customers hooked
"Peter Puccio was filling his SUV on Thursday afternoon when he noticed a steady stream of people approaching a large white truck in the Hometown parking lot, opening their wallets and happily walking away with brown paper bags of Gulf shrimp and crabmeat."

Wally's Comment: I love stories about businesses that succeed by providing a quality product and using samples to market. Read this story for the way the "shrimp truck" uses free samples to build a customer base. Note the simple follow-up system.

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Macy's needs tailoring to suit customers
"Zeino's statement reflects a change of tactics for Cincinnati-based Macy's Inc., which through its 2005 purchase of St. Louis-based May Department Stores Co. has built a nationwide chain of stores with the same name, image and brands. However, Macy's is finding that one size doesn't necessarily fit all. Faced with declining same-store sales in a weakening economy, it's trying to better tailor stores to fit the markets they serve."

Wally's Comment: Macy's decided that the way to build an enduring profitable company was to buy a bunch of stores, then eliminate their distinctive identity in favor of a one-size-fits-all bland brand. The idea was to save money on inventory, signage and advertising.

Well, the customers, who loved their iconic local brands (think Marshall Fields), quit coming in droves. Now the company is thinking that maybe their "national department store" wasn't such a hot idea. I don't think they'll get it.

I think they're in love with an accounting definition of business that ignores those pesky attachments to brands your family has trusted for generations. In any case, they at least seem to be changing the merchandise assortment in different stores. Read this and weep.

Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.

Request your free copy of "Meeting the Challenges of the Boomer Brain Drain: An integrated approach."

Wally Bock has helped people learn to be great bosses for more than a quarter century. His latest book, Performance Talk: The One-on-One Part of Leadership, makes learning key leadership principles almost effortless by teaching through a story and providing lists of resources for further growth.

Click here to find out more about Wally's coaching services.

For weekly tips and resources pointers, check our Wally Bock's Three Star Leadership Letter.

Click here to find out more about having Wally speak to your company or convention.