Welcoming the bright new entrepreneur

Toy Nation needs to attract the best and the brightest if it is too grow and prosper.  That is why it was so great to read Sharon Diminco (CEO of Learning Express) state in a October 23, 2009 Daily News Tribune article that the Learning Express “…franchising model has been a magnet for bright entrepreneurs who were either forced out or decided to leave jobs at big companies. The store owners enjoy working for themselves for a change, and they become passionate ambassadors for the products.”

This comment was particularly pleasing to me as it came on top of a comment by ASTRA president, Kathleen McHugh, at the recent Building Our Future conference that the specialty industry is seeing an influx of young entrepreneurs who are open to new ways of doing business. 

Don’t get me wrong, there are tried and true ways of doing business. There is, however, going to be a need for retailers who understand how a rising generation of consumers, raised on the Internet and nursed on cell phones, are going to shop. Welcome aboard.  We’re glad to have you.