Like many people, when I first heard the concept behind Twitter, my first thoughts were, “Who cares what anyone is doing every moment of every day?” I certainly didn’t want to know what my friends had for breakfast, or which airport they were in or what outfit their cat was wearing. I have a hard enough time keeping up with my tasks at hand, much less sharing with the world what I am doing every moment. But, I joined Twitter because, you know, it’s the hot thing. And us retailers …

I have been a member of ASTRA (American Specialty Toy Retailing Association) for six years now. There are many benefits of membership, as any convert will tell you. The one benefit that has saved my reputation time and time again is ASTRATRAXX. ASTRATRAXX is a program through ASTRA that enables toy stores to buy and sell products from each other, usually at cost plus shipping to fill those nagging customer requests. The manufacturer may be out of what you need, or you aren’t ready to place a full order, or …