The Retail Peek is the logical consequence of my long-running love for retail. Visits to newsstands, five & dimes, and drug stores anchored my fascination as a child. The idea that so many choices were gathered in one place was nothing short of magical. These shops were the places where my grandmothers bought me packs of Chicklets gum, or rainbows of colored pencils and sketchpads, and as a teen, where I spent my babysitting cash on Teen Vogue, sparkly nail polish, giant SweeTarts, and bubble gum.

Retail jobs helped pay my way through college where, it was no coincidence that I earned my bachelor-of-science degree in Merchandise Management. I have worked for locally owned shops; I have been a salesperson and stylist, buyer, inventory specialist, department head, display designer, marketing guru, cashier, gift wrapper, balloon blower-upper, and cleaning crew.

Post-college I landed my dream job and joined the buying team for a large international home accessories and furnishings retailer. A job where creatives and vendors went to great lengths just to get their work and products into the very chic showroom where we made the decisions about what would make it to the shelves and sales floors of our thirty-plus store locations. I came in early and stayed late. Retail was, and is, my obsession.

Along the way I have had the opportunity to write over 300 published business profiles - most-often local retail shops and restaurants - for magazines and newspapers. I am grateful to the retailers who invited me into their shops for a peek, shared their secrets, successes, and missteps, and allowed me to write all about it. The Retail Peek is a new way to continue the peek; this time from a patron’s perspective.

By means of The Retail Peek, I will take you along as I visit local shops and galleries and share weekly peeks, all in about 300 words, from my personal and professional viewpoint. Posts will guide visitors as they make travel plans, remind locals about what makes their town wonderfully uncommon, provide shop owners and staff constructive insights, and hopefully encourage and support the growth of independent retailers and galleries everywhere.

The Retail Peek will help distinguish what makes for great retail, and what makes retail great.

Come along and take a peek!