RETAILOBSERVER.COM OCTOBER 2026
4
Eliana Barriga
eliana@retailobserver.com
Keep your word,
OCTOBER 2026, VOLUME 37, ISSUE 10
CELEBRATING OUR 36
TH
YEAR
AS THE RETAIL OBSERVER
Elle's View As I See It
T
here are countless ways to measure the value of a business: sales,
growth, market share, profitability. But there's another asset that
never appears on a balance sheet: trust.
Trust gives customers something increasingly valuable: confidence.
Confidence that the advice they're receiving is honest, the product is right
for them, the price is fair, and if they need help tomorrow, someone will still
be there to answer the phone.
That confidence changes the way people buy. When customers trust a
business, they spend less time wondering whether they're making the right
decision and more time choosing what works best for them. Trust removes
uncertainty. It makes doing business easier.
Perhaps its greatest power, however, is how willingly people share it.
Think about the weight behind a simple recommendation: "Go see them.
They'll take care of you." Those eight words carry something advertising
alone cannot create. The person making the recommendation is putting
their own credibility behind yours. That's powerful.
For independent retailers, those recommendations can travel through
families and communities for generations. Parents send their children.
Neighbors send neighbors. Contractors send clients. One trusted
relationship quietly opens the door to another.
As the busiest retail season approaches, customers will encounter more
choices, promotions, and messages competing for their attention than ever.
Advertising creates awareness. Great products create interest. Competitive
offers create opportunity. Trust helps customers choose.
And once earned, it does something even more important: it gives them
a reason to choose you again.
In a marketplace filled with options, perhaps that's the real power of trust.
It turns uncertainty into confidence, customers into advocates, and a single
transaction into the beginning of something far more valuable: a relationship.
THE POWER OF
TRUST
PUBLISHER/MANAGING EDITOR
ELIANA BARRIGA
DIRECTOR OF SALES AND MARKETING
MOE LASTFOGEL
ART DIRECTOR
TERRY PRICE
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
TERRY KELM
STEVEN MORRIS
DAVID SMITH
JOHN TSCHOHL
LIBBY WAGNER
DEADLINE FOR DEC. 2026 ISSUE:
NOV. 1, 2026
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