The World’s Most Comprehensive Educational Conference For Independent Retailers, 17 Years & Counting…
July 29 & 30 – Grand Rapids, MI
Join hundreds of your fellow store owners and managers for a two-day, world-class event filled with inspiring, exciting, and valuable ideas created specifically for independent retailers – the Retail Success Summit 2024!
What is the Indie Influence? It’s the power your business has in your local community and in your industry. It’s the way you serve your customers and the way you develop your team. It’s your leadership and your vision. It’s what makes you so special!
The Indie Influence creates outsized impact. You may have a “small business” but the benefit you create in the world is HUGE. Your store makes a positive difference in so many different lives.
If you are ready to expand your influence, intensify your impact, and increase your success, register for the Retail Success Summit and get ready to…
“It’s an absolute game changer. I can see a huge shift in my business journey (for the better!) after attending my first Summit. I even met my retail-bestie at the Summit and we talk and support each other several times a week. I couldn’t imagine life without her, and it was all because of the summit!”
Laura Oladokon, Sweet Boutique St. Albert, Alberta, Canada
Take time away from your business to get re-energized, refreshed, and refocused. You’ll hear from some of the best minds in the retail industry, including Bob & Susan, and special guest experts. You’ll leave with a clear action plan.
Meet and network with amazing retail store owners from all over the place, from all kinds of industries. So many people have met their retail BFF at the Summit! These relationships have changed lives and improved businesses.
Get great information to improve EVERY area of your business – from finance to social media, staff training to store ops – and more! You’ll get both high-level concepts and proven tactical techniques to help you succeed.
The Summit is designed to help your sales and profits grow, but you will also grow personally. Whether it’s adding a brilliant new idea to your retail toolkit or busting apart an old belief that’s holding you back. Leave with your heart and mind stretched!
Who Attends The Retail Success Summit?
The Retail Success Summit is renowned as the industry’s most trusted and comprehensive educational event, encompassing all topics essential for running your retail store. And this year, we’re celebrating our 17th anniversary!
- Join a diverse community of retailers, from single stores to multi-store chains, where every size is celebrated—whether you’re a team of one or 100!
- Connect with a spectrum of businesses, from brand-new startups to seasoned, multi-generational retailers who have stood the test of time.
- Immerse yourself in a melting pot of industries, from boutiques to bike shops, antiques to automotive, and beyond—there’s something for everyone.
- With over 40 industries represented, you’re guaranteed to find like-minded retail professionals in your niche, ready to network and collaborate.
“So happy to be here! Even after 30 years in retail I’m learning things I never knew!”
“I had my bi-monthly ‘all staff meeting’ yesterday. I came home from the Summit with so much information and a long Action List. Now I can check off all items from my list, and I feel like I’m on top of my business again! Thanks Susan, Bob, WhizBang! team, and all the great presenters!”
“I attended my first Retail Success Summit in 2019, traveling all the way from the UK (England) – it’s the best investment I could have ever made in my business! Not only did I pick up lots of great advice and ideas that have paid back my expenses many times over, I have also made some great, great friends!”
Mark Turnbull, Turnbull’s Northumbrian Food, Alnwick, UK
At The Retail Success Summit You’ll Get…
- Ideas & Inspirations… that will push you to become better, bigger, bolder, and have a greater INDIE influence,
- Skills… so you can confidently, competently, and profitably run your business, lead your team, and connect with your customers,
- Strategies… that will inspire you to grow your indie influence,
- Insights… into both the exciting new opportunities and potential dangers that lie ahead,
- Tools… to strengthen your retail fundamentals, grow your business, lower stress, and free up your time,
- Stronger Relationships… within the wider Independent Retail community and your own industry,
- Refreshed Energy… to lean into the future and take massive action to build the business of your dreams,
- Confidence… in your knowledge, decision-making powers, direction, and insight.
A Clear, Achievable Plan
It doesn’t matter if you’re a brand-new retailer or have owned your store for 25 years, the more knowledge you have about what to do and how to do it, the better your results are likely to be.
BUT, knowledge alone isn’t enough…
While we hope you’re engaged, informed, and educated by every single moment of the Retail Success Summit, education without ACTION is merely entertainment. And we are not in the entertainment business.
We want to make a huge positive impact, so what we really want is for you to go back home, act on the ideas presented, transform your business, and get more satisfaction from your life.
That’s why there’s one very special feature built into the Retail Success Summit we know will make an amazing difference in your business.
Unlike most seminars where you come home with a bunch of notes that you stuff in a drawer somewhere, you’re going to leave the Summit with a personalized one-page action plan you can put to work immediately to grow your business.
It’s an exact blueprint of where you want to go and how you’re going to get there… a step-by-step plan for your path to success.
Inspiring Speakers
At the Retail Success Summit you’ll learn from the most knowledgeable speakers around – speakers who aren’t just ‘masters of theory,’ but ones who have hands-on experience and can highlight both the opportunities and the pitfalls that you will face.
Indie Retail Experts, Bob & Susan Negen
Of course, you’ll get LOTS of mainstage with your conference hosts, Bob and Susan Negen. Their presentations are filled with inspiring, practical content that has the power to transform your retail business.
Bob and Susan have “been there, done that,” with a combined 40 years of on-the-floor retail experience. What they teach isn’t academic mumbo jumbo or high-brow theory, but proven, money-making ideas that WORK for indie retailers. If you haven’t yet heard Bob and Susan speak or met them in person, be prepared for an amazing treat.
Keynote Speaker, Arel Moodie
Arel Moodie is known as a “Human Development Investigator” who is a host of the Disney+ Show “Family Reboot,” who has spoken in 48 states and 5 countries to over 750,000 people. He has extensively studied human dynamics and relationships and has been invited to speak at the White House twice, TEDx stage three times and has been quoted in media outlets like The New York Times, USA Today, Forbes, Black Enterprise, Huffington Post, and contributor to TV shows like The Doctors. Click here to learn more…
Joining Us On The Main Stage…
Nick McHenry
Our Digital Marketing Magician, Nick’s favorite trick is helping brick-and-mortar retailers leverage digital marketing tools and connect with customers through shoppable video, photo, and text. All that, of course, leads to higher better customer relationships and higher sales conversions. Nick began his journey on the retail floors and then spent 10 years working in wholesale for luxury brands such as Giorgio Armani and Philipp Plein.
As the Founder and CEO of OneShop, Nick is usually busy leading his team, but when he’s not you could find him playing the drums or posting retail memes on TikTok.
Ashely Alderson
Our Boutique Boss, Ashley’s background in business, marketing, and economic development fueled the desire to simply make life easier for small businesses by providing them training, exclusive savings, events, and wholesale shopping, in one simple place. And all in the name of COMMUNITY over COMPETITION since 2013. She founded The Boutique Hub to provide resources, live events, signature courses, wholesale shopping, daily networking, and a consumer-facing marketplace for boutiques.
Ashley is a wife, busy momma of 3, jewelry junkie, barrel racer, cancer survivor, basketball fan, speaker of sarcasm, and heart for those with a dream.
Breakout Speakers
Scott Cunningham
Our Online Selling Ninja, Scott slashes through complexity to make the online world a less confusing place. As an award-winning e-commerce sales expert, entrepreneur, instructor, and speaker he has helped thousands of brands master their sales positioning with his offer harmonics framework — orchestrating the perfect offer at each stage of the buyer journey.
The co-founder of Merchant Mastery, Scott hails from Canada and has developed truly useful tools for retailers ready to take their digital marketing up a notch.
Kaila Piepkow
Our Diva of Design, Kaila has created what she’s coined “drool-worthy design” for over 200 small businesses and entrepreneurs including retailers, hospitality, restaurants, creative entrepreneurs, business coaches, and more! What really lights her fire is developing a one-of-a-kind brand story with compelling and thoughtful visuals from top to bottom. Before starting her own agency, Dox Designs, in 2017 and selling it in 2023, she worked for two award-winning design agencies.
Now, Kaila applies her passion, talent, and expertise in new ways, including teaching art, speaking engagements, and offering strategy sessions for business owners.
Dane Cohen
Our Inventory Oracle, Dane knows that planning and predicting our customers buying patterns is a critical part of retail success. He brings more than a decade of experience in the fashion industry to the Summit. Independent retail is in his blood as the former leader of the family-owned chain of specialty department stores, Lester’s, and he has now joined the team at Management One, our favorite inventory planning partners.
Dane lives in Manhattan and when not working you can usually find him focusing on fitness, cooking, jamming to new music on Spotify, or shopping… of course.
Crystal Vilkaitis
Our Social Media Maestro, Crystal leads thousands of retailers to increase traffic, sales, and profits using social media. While her social media knowledge is wide and comprehensive, her concentration on what works specifically for indie retailers remains laser-focused. She’s a Retail Success Summit favorite and always delivers accurate, actionable ideas that work.
Crystal founded Crystal Media in 2012, but when she is not on her socials, you could find her out walking her two Frenchies with her fiancé or relaxing with a glass of cabernet.
Christyne Gray
Our Financial Futurist, Christyne Gray has been working with high-performing retail entrepreneurs since 1997 and she’s not your typical accountant! Her experience comes from working in the business of her clients… boots on the ground! Christyne knows how the retail functions; how the numbers translate to the operational efficiencies and effectiveness… or lack thereof; and understands your operations, technology, workflows, systems and processes, team, pain points, and passions.
As the CEO of She Profits Now, Christyne has a mission to help retailers manage their money, stop the financial chaos, and build a profit-forever company.
Josh Orr
Our eCommerce Champion, Josh Orr, the founder of Capital Commerce and host of the Retail Initiative Podcast, is one of the leading voices in eCommerce today. He specializes in helping brick-and-mortar retailers gain traction in their online sales. With his team, he’s helped hundreds of retailers create thriving and profitable eCommerce businesses.
Apart from his company’s eCommerce services, you may have seen him on stages at markets and retail events around the US or have taken part in his digital classes or in-person events related to eCommerce marketing. He lives in Houston, Texas with his wife and three amazing children.
Panel Discussions
AI Innovations Panel: How AI Is Changing The Way Retail Works
Bob & Susan Negen, Crystal Vilkaitis, Sara Burks, Gilbert Russell, Scott Cunningham, & Brady Hansen
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’ve seen the explosion of AI (Artificial Intelligence) in nearly every facet of business. During this panel, you’ll learn about what’s new in AI and how retailers can use it to propel their business in the future.
Inventory Insights Panel: Best Practices For Driving Sales, Managing Cash, & Increasing
Profits
Bob & Susan Negen, Dane Cohen, Melodie van der Baan, and Dan Holman
This panel discussion covers strategies to optimize stock levels, enhance cash flow, and maximize profits. Gain valuable insights and practical tips to improve your inventory practices and drive your business success.
Ideas & Inspiration For Every Retailer
You’ll get amazing insights from these blockbuster programs on the main stage and in your breakout sessions. Get ready to ignite your mind and grow your business!
Day 1, July 29
- Higher Sales & Happier Customers: Creating A Service Culture That Sells – Selling done the right way is the best customer service tool at your command. This presentation offers a practical system for building a confident, skilled team that turns customers into dollars. Learn strategies, tips, and tricks to boost sales while providing exceptional service.
- Limitless Loyalty: Strategies To Build Profitable Relationships That Last – Discover effective strategies to cultivate enduring customer loyalty and drive profitability. In this main stage collab, Bob and Susan Negen will join forces with Nick McHenry from OneShop Retail to provide actionable insights and techniques to strengthen customer relationships and sustain long-term business growth.
- Heading in the Right Direction: A Financial GPS (Growth Profit Scale) 7 Milestone System – Discover the 7 essential steps to financial freedom in your business journey in this enlightening session. Learn about cultivating the right mindset, strategic planning, reviewing your financial history, precise future planning, and mastering revenue mapping.
- More Than a Store: How to Increase Online Sales by Doing What You Do Best – Leave inspired and equipped with a strategy to boost online sales. Learn to translate the in-store shopping experience to eCommerce and gain a roadmap for gaining real online traction.
- Real Retailers Panel: Real Ideas & Real Influence – An attendee favorite! In this panel session, you’ll get to learn directly from some of the best indie retailers on the planet. They’ll take you behind the scenes and share exactly what’s working NOW to make their businesses grow faster and run better.
- How To Develop A WhizBang! Staff – Creating a team of superstar employees is crucial for retail success. Your staff interacts with customers daily, directly impacting your sales. Developing an amazing team isn’t rocket science, but it requires intentional effort.
- The AI Advantage: Ignite Your Retail Brand’s Digital & Social Success – Discover the game-changing potential of AI for independent retailers! This session provides practical strategies to save time, generate content ideas, support marketing, and optimize websites. There’s no technical knowledge required and you’ll learn how to stand out on social media and boost your online presence.
- Your Black Friday Playbook: eCommerce Strategies To Accommodate The Shifting Digital Landscape – Why wait for Black Friday to turn a profit? Last year, Shopify merchants made $9.3 billion during Black Friday-Cyber Monday. This year, ignite sales early with the “Quarterly Compounding Promo Phenomenon,” a blueprint for holiday sales success starting in Q3. Whether online or in-store, this session will transform your holiday sales approach.
- AI Innovations Panel: How AI Is Changing The Way Retail Works – Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’ve seen the explosion of AI (Artificial Intelligence) in nearly every facet of business. During this panel, you’ll learn about what’s new in AI and how retailers can use it to propel their business in the future.
Day 2, July 30
- Coffee With Bob: Getting The Most Out Of Your Retail Mastery System – Learn how to use the Retail Mastery System to solve all of the issues that come up in a normal retail store and grow your business! If you don’t know which tools you need to make the most profit from your business, this program is for you.
- Retail’s Winning Blueprint: 7 Key Drivers of Success – This main stage collab presentation featuring Bob and Susan Negen and Ashely Alderson from Boutique Hub delves into the essential strategies and practices that propel top-performing retailers. Together these retail experts have worked with hundreds of thousands of retailers and are excited to share their key drivers of success.
- 20 Ideas For Promotions & Special Events – Discover innovative ways to boost your store’s indie influence. This presentation offers a variety of creative and effective promotions and events to engage customers, drive traffic, and increase sales. Get inspired with actionable ideas that can be tailored to fit your unique business and make your store the go-to destination.
- Inventory Insights Panel: Best Practices For Driving Sales, Managing Cash, & Increasing Profits – This panel discussion covers strategies to optimize stock levels, enhance cash flow, and maximize profits. Gain valuable insights and practical tips to improve your inventory practices and drive your business success.
- Build Your Bottom Line With Innovative Inventory Management Strategies – Discover proactive strategies for boosting your bottom line through effective inventory management. Focus on leveraging your own data and performance to drive your business forward, rather than external factors. Learn from innovative retailers who are defying trends to achieve efficiency and sustainable growth
- The Ultimate Visual Branding Crash Course – Discover how to differentiate your brand amidst competitors by honing in on your target audience and building your niche; learn to create a strategic visual brand that effectively communicates your brand tone using color palettes, fonts, patterns, icons, and more; and gain insights into how a cohesive visual brand can enhance customer conversion.
- Unlock The Power Of Your People: The “Core Four” Stages Of Adult Development Theory – After this presentation, you will understand the four most important stages of maturity that adults pass through; exactly why unnecessary conflict between people happens; why strategies that work in one stage will fall flat in another; and exactly how to drive results with this research.
- The Retail Olympics: 30 Ideas In 30 Minutes – It’s Bob vs. Susan in this perennial crowd favorite. They’re battling it out once again to see whose retail tips will be voted the fan favorites. The real winner: YOU. These 30 amazing tips are sure to make your life easier and your bank account bigger.
- Create A Compelling Vision: “The North Star” Of Your Retail Journey – Your vision is your guiding light. It pulls you forward, toward the business and life that you truly want. It’s not a strategic plan. It doesn’t tell you how you are going to get there – it’s how you’ll know you’ve arrived.
- Plan & Prioritize Your Next Steps – Possibly the most critical session in the entire Retail Success Summit, in this session, you’ll determine your next steps along the road that leads to the business – and life – of your dreams.
What Past Attendees Have to Say About the
Retail Success Summit…
The Summit Experience
Are you wondering just exactly what happens during your days at the Retail Success Summit? Here’s a run-down of just some of the fun stuff you’ll experience…
- Pre-Event Party – Join us Sunday, July 28th from 5pm – 7pm EST for early registration. Grab your name tag and goodie bag without the “morning-of” hustle and bustle. PLUS, you can sip a cocktail, do some networking, and find a retail friend to sit with the next morning!
- Custom Goodie Bag – Filled with fun and indispensable swag, every attendee will get the things necessary to make your Summit easy and effective. And the bag itself is pretty useful… even after the event is over!
- 2 Days of World-Class Retail Education – From 8:30 in the morning to 5 at night, you’ll be immersed in best-in-class training for independent retailers. Sure, we’ll give you some breaks so your brain doesn’t melt, but come ready to be inspired!
- Amazing Breakouts – You’ll have the opportunity to choose amazing breakout presentations by one of our expert speakers. Note: there are more breakouts than a single person can attend… it’s a great reason to bring one of your teammates with you.
- Easy, Effortless Networking – We cannot begin to tell you how much value, energy, inspiration, motivation, and excitement you’ll experience networking face-to-face with other INDIE store owners. Meet new retail friends (maybe even a BFF!), build connections, gather new ideas, and have FUN.
- Lunch On Your Own… Or With Friends – We give you plenty of time for lunch, either alone to work on digesting what you’ve already learned, or with a new retail friend to share ideas and insights from the morning. You’ll get a whole list of delicious, diverse food options within easy walking distance.
- “Block Party On Main Street” – Immediately following the end of the first day you’re invited to a special neighborhood block party. Spend time talking with Bob and Susan, the expert speakers, and most importantly, connecting with the other INDIE retailers in the room.
- Enlightening Sponsor Conversations – Each one of the Summit Sponsors has incredible money-making, cost-cutting, business-enhancing products and services to tell you about. Trust me, we would NOT invite them if their stuff wasn’t absolutely top notch and a great fit for independent retailers. We vet every single one.
- Action Planning – During each session and throughout the day you’ll be building an actual PLAN that you can take back to your store and put into ACTION. Notes and ideas are great – a workable PLAN is far better. This has been one of the most powerful parts of the Summit for the last 17 years.
- BONUS: Recordings Of All Available Presentations – All attendees will get recordings of available sessions at no additional cost.
“We saved over $30,000 a year just on one part of our business after attending the Summit. It motivates you, makes you stop and think, and opens your eyes to so many things you can make better in your business.“
Nancy Guinn, Dog Krazy – Richmond, VA
Invest In Yourself & SAVE
Your Retail Success Summit ticket includes 2 full days of business-building, money-making, retail-specific information, nationally-recognized guest speakers, amazing networking opportunities, and your take-home action plan.
Honestly, you’d have to sleep through the entire event not to pick up enough great ideas to pay the registration fee 100x, 200x, or even 500x over. A $50,000 ROI on this event should be a slam-dunk for any retailer who has half a brain (you do) and is willing to use the ideas you’ll learn (you will).
OR call 800-842-1660 to register by phone. The WhizBang! Team would love to talk to you if you have any questions.
Get Your Tickets Today
Time Is Running Out...Two days of world class education for independent retailers.
Bring additional guests for only $297!
Your 100% Better-Than-Money-Back Guarantee!
If at the end of the first day of the Retail Success Summit, you do not feel you are getting ideas, strategies, tools, and techniques that (put into action) would generate at least $100,000 in revenue for your store, simply turn your notebook in to our team, have a phone call with Bob, and you’ll get a 100% refund of your registration fees… PLUS $1,000. Why? Because, quite simply, the value is there. No other event gives a guarantee like this, but then again, no other event is quite like the Retail Success Summit!
Register above OR call 800.842.1660 to register by phone. The WhizBang! Team would love to talk to you if you have any questions.
Are you ready to join the thousands of past Summit Alumni and…
Right now, you’re facing a moment of truth. Now is the time to decide.
- Are you going to choose to be a BRILLIANT retailer who is an inspiration and source of pride and joy to your community – or are you going to let this opportunity slip away?
- Are you going to choose to embrace the opportunities the new reality is handing you or are you going to play small and secretly hope that things go back to the way they were?
The truth is… ‘HOPE’ is not a good business strategy.
Retail Success Summit is for action-takers and innovators in retail… people who want to take control of their independent retail business, and multiply their storefronts, profitability, and customer-base, without exhausting their energy, personal life, and support structures.
It’s for those who are ready to invest in themselves, learn new skills, and prepare for the opportunities that are coming next. Get ready to increase your INDIE INFLUENCE!
“I want to thank Susan and Bob for an absolutely amazing event filled with invaluable information as well as inspiration! I am now motivated to take my customer service, social media marketing, and staff training to a new level!”
“I have been in the music retail business all my life and our business is ranked in the top 1% of our industry, so we are pretty good at what we do. After my first time attending the Retail Success Summit, I came home with pages and pages of things to improve my business. For the very affordable price that they charge for this, I could not recommend it highly enough! So do your business a favor and come to the next Retail Success Summit.“
“Thanks for an amazing time. In the first leg of my trip, I wrote out my Vision Statement and planned out my attack for my top 3 action items. I’m pumped. Can’t wait to get back and share with my team!“
“I attended the Summit and I hated to see each day end. It was incredible! I am now using the Retail Mastery System and Retail Sales Academy for my business. Thanks to Bob and Susan, their partners, and the entire team for an amazing experience!“
“Thank you for the great time and all the knowledge. My family business is stronger because of you!“
“I’ve learned so many things that I did not know existed in the retail/business world… investing in yourself to learn will push you so far in life and success.“
Join Us on July 29 & 30 in Grand Rapids, Michigan!
The Retail Success Summit will be held at the DeVos Place Convention Center in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan on July 29 & 30, 2024.
Grand Rapids features big city attractions and sophistication with the intimacy and charm of a small town and was named as one of the best places in the US to live by both the Men’s Journal and the Wall Street Journal Market Watch.
The Retail Success Summit’s home, DeVos Place Convention Center, is located in downtown Grand Rapids (only 15 minutes from Gerald R. Ford International Airport and easily accessible from all major interstates) and nestled beside the Grand River for a picturesque riverfront setting. Plus, it’s large enough to hold the 500+ retailers expected to gather for the Summit.
Check-in and name tag pick-up will begin at 8:00 am on Monday, 7/29 and the event starts promptly at 8:30 am. But, we’d like to invite those of you who arrive early to join us for a Welcome Reception on Sunday, 7/28 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm Eastern Time. The Summit will close at 5:00 pm on Tuesday, July 30.
Travel To The Retail Success Summit
Fly into the Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR). There’s no need to rent a car, the airport is a short, 25-minute cab ride to the Retail Success Summit’s location at the DeVos Place in downtown Grand Rapids.
Or if you’re traveling from nearby, click here for driving directions.The DeVos Place is connected via covered walkway to the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel and the JW Marriott, and is within easy walking distance of great restaurants, shops, and museums.
Closest Recommended Hotel: Amway Grand Plaza
Amway Grand Plaza (Connected by sky bridge to DeVos Place).
WhizBang! Retail Training is pleased to offer discounted room nights of $184 per night for our Retail Success Summit attendees.
Click Here to reserve your room online or call 800.253.3590, and mention the WhizBang! Retail Success Summit. The block room discount is limited so please make your reservations right away.
187 Monroe Ave. NW
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
800.253.3590 | sales@amwaygrand.com
Newest Recommended Hotel: JW Marriott
JW Marriott (Connected by sky bridge to DeVos Place).
WhizBang! Retail Training is pleased to offer discounted room nights of $214 per night for our Retail Success Summit attendees.
Click Here to reserve your room online or call 888.844.5947, and mention the WhizBang! Retail Success Summit. The block room discount is limited so please make your reservations right away.
235 Louis St NW
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
888.844.5947
While You’re In Grand Rapids…
Grand Rapids is rated as the #3 city in America for fun and recreation. Why not take a few extra days to enjoy our gorgeous West Michigan attractions including…
- Beer City USA
- Pristine Beaches and Hiking Trails
- Award Winning Art Galleries and Museums
- Vibrant Downtown
Learn More at the Grand Rapids Visitors Bureau.
Meet Our Sponsors
