Leadership, Interesting Data and Fun Stuff

Welcome to this week's Retail Resources, which features a curated list of the best content and resources I've found over the past week. This week, I offer information and resources about leadership, data related to COVID-19, and some fun stuff, too. As always, if there's anything you would like me to share in a future post, let me know by dropping me a line at mcampanelli@napco.com.

Leadership

• Last week, Total Retail and its sister brand, Women in Retail Leadership Circle, hosted the June installment of its Women in Retail and Total Retail Virtual Exchange. During these interactive events, attendees can hear from expert speakers and retail leaders and also have the ability to ask them questions in real time. This month's event featured Kara Goldin, founder and CEO, Hint; Leslie Blodgett, former CEO and creator, bareMinerals; Bahja Johnson, director, Banana Republic global merchandising, Gap Inc.; Roz Johnson, senior managing director, operations, Build-A-Bear Workshop; Chuck Surack, founder and CEO, Sweetwater; and Aliza Licht, founder and president, LEAVE YOUR MARK LLC. Click here to register for the replay. 
• In this Inc. podcast, Edible Arrangements founder and CEO Tariq Farid discusses why it's so important to find a mentor who really challenges you. He explains how he was very fortunate to have Fred DeLuca, founder of Subway, as a mentor while he was growing Edible Arrangements. A key reason was because DeLuca constantly challenged Farid's ideas, pushing back and sending him back to the drawing board. Eventually, Farid got the message: Learn to believe in your ideas. Once he abandoned his quest for validation and started trying to convince DeLuca why his ideas would work, Farid says, he figured out how to solve problems.

Interesting Data

• Check out this Coronavirus Tracker website, brought to you from the folks at data analytics firm Outlier. It's designed for retailers and businesses looking to understand the impact of the pandemic on states and global regions. Outlier analyzes Johns Hopkins University data and reports daily on expected jumps in COVID cases (due to positive tests) so organizations can access a daily snapshot of hotspot changes and adjust business practices to pivot operations, safeguard employees, and manage inventory where it’s needed most. You can also sign up for the Coronavirus Tracker e-letter here.
• Best Accounting Software has created a useful guide that features various types of support, including a list of more than 400 loans available in states and cities across the U.S., available to small businesses and small retailers during the COVID-19 crisis. It also features interesting charts and graphics, including one that focuses on which U.S. states offer the most aid for small businesses amid the pandemic. Important to note: While the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Small Business Administration have websites featuring lists of similar resources, those sites generally focus on what's available at the federal level. This resource digs into what's available federally and at the state level as well.

Fun Stuff

• Check out this Spotify playlist, which features 50 years of Songs of the Summer. We "Gotta Feeling" that this playlist will be your "Party Rock Anthem" this summer.
• Download these images of magazine-worthy living rooms to plop yourself into when on Zoom chats. You can choose from a range of flat backdrops with beautiful wallpaper or take it a step further and opt for a full room backdrop. Your co-workers will never know you're in your studio apartment.