Its clear to me, that Covid-19 is going to be here for some time - until an effective and safe vaccine is made - and it will change the way merchants do business and how people shop. I personally don't think this will be "over" anytime soon. Many businesses are going to fail. Those that don't innovate and are simply going to try to ride it out in order to get back to normal are in for a rude shock, they will be the first to fail.

I have always adapted The Keeping Room since 1986. I have moved with market trends, resisted going into upscale fancy retail space to control costs, and don't have any employees other than part-timers for local deliveries. I created this forum during the height of the Recession as a way to maintain communication channels when no one was buying.

Now it's 2020 and this disruption of business is huge. and not going away. What do YOU as a consumer want to see from retailers such as myself in order to help you with your purchase? I'd like to hear your ideas.

One that that won't happen is to have items on-line with pricing and Amazon-type shopping. The old-school thinking of the name brand producers still can't grasp that's what a lot of people want, they still believe in the model that people need to go into the showroom to make a buy, and they don't want an on-line dealer undercutting pricing. That's out-dated and no longer viable, however it's like trying to turn an aircraft carrier to get them to change that. Many retailers in the furniture business hold onto that idea as well, we will see if that still works for them in the next year or two. Nor are you going to see 3D rendering on websites showing a sofa or chair in all the colors and fabrics available - that's too expensive to implement.

Things I am thinking of doing or are in the process of implementing.

* A return to financing. 12 months, 0% interest. I am working with TD Bank right now to set up that program. This lets financially stressed households extend the buy time for a purchase. I should have this set up shortly.

* Thinking of setting up Skype or Facetime for a way for customers to communicate and call in. Is that of any interest?

* Would a Zoom Webinar be of any use? Say once a day at a preset time? I've never used Zoom but I think I could figure it out.

Other ideas?

Duane