TO DISCUS `RETAIL SURVIVAL' IN THE '90S

`A Look at Today's Retail Environment' and `Marketing Strategies For the Independent Retailer' are among topics to be discussed during a retail training seminar, to be held at Drury Lodge in Cape Girardeau Tuesday.

"This seminar, entitled `Retail Survival Training for the 1990s,' is designed for retailers who feel pressure from large retail corporations and discounters," said Linda Cochran, economic developer at Southeast Missouri State University.

The conference, sponsored by Bank of Sikeston, AmeriFirst Bank, Sikeston Area Chamber of Commerce, Missorui Small Busines Development Center of Southeast Missouri State University and the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, will be presented here Tuesday, and at the Sikeston Inn Wednesday.

The day-long workshop was designed by the Institute of retailing at Arkansas State University-Jonesboro.

"It will show that local retailers can establish a competitive advantage by capitalizing on various small business strenghs and the weaknesses of mass merchandisers," said Cochran. "Program speakers will exhibit specific examples by which local retailers can compete effectively in the presence of price leader massmerchandisers."

The program will get under way 9 a.m. Morning session include `A Look at Today's Retail Environment and `Marketing Strategies for the Independent Retailer.' Afternoon session will include `Practical Application of Marketing Concepts and Tools' and `Gaining the Competitive Edge.'

John W. Cole, an instruction of marketing in the College of Business Administration at the Universityi of Arkansas-Fayetteville, will be program presenter.

Cole's primary fields are retail merchandising and retail merketing strategy. He has served as president of Cole & Company, Inc., a full line of men's apparel store since 1977.

"My presentation will focus on how a small retailer can compete with a big retailer in the coming decade," said cole. "I will offer suggestions o helping small stores run their business better."

Cole is a member of the Menswear Retailers of America; Alpha Kappa Psi Business Fraternity; rotary Club; American Heart Association and other organizations.

The presentations will last six hours, and will be oriented in the community in which it is given, said Cole. "The seminars will evaluate thenational ecomnomlky, the evolution ofmarket competition, and the strengths weakness of large and small retailers.

"I'm a business person, and I teach marketing, too," said Cole. "Those two give me a good prospective on what's happenign out there. I'm a small retailer mylself. the things we discuss in the seminar I do every day. I think I will have a good relationship with the people attending.

Cole says that large mass merchandisers started their surge in the 1980s, and are growing strong.

"They've only gotten their engines started," said cole. "These people are going like crazy and they really shake ukp a market unelss the small, local retailers area ready for them."

Cost of the program is $45, which includes refreshment breaks, and a 75-page manual. Participants will be responsible for their own lunch. Additional information is available by calling the Small Business DEvelopment cetner in cape Girardeau at (314)-290-5965.