Retailers Education Conference set for March 27

For Immediate Release

February 14, 2006

LANSING – Michigan Retailers Association’s 4th Annual Retail Education Conference will be held on March 27 at the Amway Grand Plaza in Grand Rapids. The conference will offer six seminars designed to give retailers and other small business owners practical skills to save money and increase profits. Also featured at this year’s conference will be two of Michigan’s most popular and dynamic business speakers: Dr. Phil Johnson (a.k.a. "The Firestarter") and marketing expert and author Tony Rubleski of Mind Capture Group.

Seminar topics and speakers include:

• Rekindling Your Passion for Life, Love and Work
Dr. Phil Johnson ("The Firestarter"), Grand Rapids

• 27 Ways to Keep Customers Coming Back Again and Again
Tony Rubleski, Mind Capture Group, Spring Lake.

• Dealing with the Dynamics of a Family Business
Michael Crosson, M Crosson Associates, Clinton Township

• Retail Websites that Work
Jodie Bissonette, Gaslight Media, Traverse City; retailer panelists

• Stretch Your Marketing Budget with Co-Op Ad Dollars
William Kendy, Lansing

• Seven Tips to Protect Your Store in the Event of a Disaster
Anne Rice, Acordia, Inc., Southfield

Cost: $109 for MRA members, $129 for non-members (fee includes seminars and luncheon)

To register: Contact MRA’s Kammy Johns at 800.366.3699 or kjohns@retailers.com.

The Michigan Retailers Association is the unified voice of retailing in Michigan and the nation’s largest state trade association of general merchandise retailers. MRA’s nearly 6,000 retail business members operate more than 13,000 stores across the state.