Retail Truths

Retail Truths: The Unconventional Wisdom of Retailing is a collection of more than 400 street-smart lessons on retailing that Chip Averwater has gathered from his own experience in business, as well as from his mentors andretailer friends.

Chip Averwater is chairman of Amro Music Stores in Memphis, TN, one of the largest musical instrument retailers in the U.S. He is a third-generation retailer and has spent nearly four decades building hisown stores and working with other retailers on theirs. Chip has an MBA, has written for national retailing magazines, and has been a featured speaker on retailing at meetings and conventions in the U.S., Europe, Australia, andAsia. He served for 14 years as a board member and officer of NAMM, and served as its chairman from 2007-2009. Chip currently serves on the boards of several retailers and charities, is often called on as a retail advisor, andenjoys talking with fellow retailers about common problems and solutions.

“Retail Truths should become a dog-eared companion to anyone who hopes to succeed in retail. It's packed with honest, straight-upassessments of successful retailing – from selling to profits, from hiring and training to operating multiple stores. This is a book you'll be reading and adapting to your business for years.”

– MusicInc Magazine

“Based on long personal experience, Averwater concludes that a good salesperson can easily be five times as productive as a laggard, and says high-priced salespeople 'are an expense we want.' In alengthy segment devoted to personnel, he offers a blueprint for hiring and retaining those top performers – from how to screen out undesirables in the hiring process ('Less than one in 20 job applicants is a suitablecandidate') to maintaining high morale ('A manager's words resonate for a while then fade. Incentives speak with every paycheck.')”

– Music Trades