For Immediate Release

March 13, 2006

Three Michigan businesspeople will discuss what makes an effective retail website during a panel discussion titled "Retail Websites that Work"—part of the Michigan Retailers Association’s 4th Annual Retail Education Conference on March 27 at the Amway Grand Plaza in Grand Rapids.

Panelists will include Jodi Bissonette, vice president of Petoskey-based Gaslight Media, a website development and Internet technology firm; John Kafer, general manager of American Spoon Foods, which produces and sells specialty foods, also of Petoskey; and Peter Bowe, co-owner of Saline Picture Frame Co., a full-service custom frame shop and gift store in Saline.

The panel will discuss such issues as what makes a retail website stand out from the competition, what makes it effective as both a sales channel and a marketing tool for the business, and how best to work with website design firms.

The panel discussion is one of six seminars at MRA’s 4th Annual Retail Education Conference, covering topics such as retaining customers, obtaining co-op advertising dollars, preparing for disaster and working in a family business.

The fee for the one-day conference is $109 for MRA members, $129 for non-members. To register, contact MRA’s Kammy Johns at 800.366.3699 or kjohns@retailers.com. Conference information is available here.

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 more than 5,500 retail business members operate more than 12,000 stores across the state.