RETAIL TRANING SESSIONS SET

Small retailers feeling pressure from large retail chains and discounters may pick up survival tips at upcoming seminars in the area.

"Retail Survival Training For the 1990's" will be presented in June in a joint effort by the Small Business Development Center of Southeast Missouri State University and the Institute of Retailing of the University of Arkansas.

The one-day seminars, June 18 at the Drury Lodge in Cape Girardeau and June 19 at the Days Inn in Sikeston, will provide tools and concepts for small businesses to compete with mass merchandisers.

The fee, $45, covers participation and a 75 page seminar manual. The Bank of Sikeston, AmeriFirst Bank, Sikeston Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Missouri Small Business Development Centers are sponsoring the meetings.

The seminar will provide local retailers with current information and insights into merchandising seminars used by large discounters. It will demonstrate how co-existence is possible, identify vulnerable areas of large discounters, and emphasize practices that give small retailers a competitive edge.

Designed by the University of Arkansas's Institute of Retailing, the seminar will show the strengths and weaknesses of mass merchandisers. It will cover how customer service and target marketing can be used, and new strategies in advertising and promotions.

John Cole will be the presenter. He has headed a men's apparel store 14 years and is an instructor in the University of Arkansas College of Business Administration.

Persons wanting to register for the seminar should call the Small Business Development Center in Cape Girardeau at 290-5965.