Hello, please see attached news release, also pasted in as text below.

Ini Tomeu, Public Information Officer
City of Cambridge
795 Massachusetts Ave.

Cambridge, MA 02139
617-349-4339/ itomeu@cambridgema.gov

For Immediate Release:

Best Retail Practices Program Tuesday, March 3
City Hall Annex, Community Room, 344 Broadway, Cambridge.

Cambridge, MA – Feb. 25, 2015 -- The City of Cambridge Community Development Department (CDD) will be offering a free Best Retail Practices Program to assist retailers, restaurateurs and storefront business owners in Cambridge Tuesday, Mar. 3, from 8:30-10 a.m., at the City Hall Annex, Community Room, 344 Broadway.

Best Retail Practices brings professional advice to independent retailers in the areas of store and restaurant design, layout and visual merchandising, customer service, and both traditional and social media marketing through workshops and one-on-one consultations.

The Economic Development Division of CDD will provide a workshop covering such topics as best practices in interior design, marketing and management. Following the workshop, qualified owners of shops, restaurants and store front service businesses in Cambridge may apply to be one of the businesses that will receive a free one-on-one, in-store consultation session with leading experts in architecture/interior design, restaurant management, or marketing. These businesses will then receive a written report with specific ideas and recommendations for improving their businesses now and for the future.

Qualifying businesses will also have the opportunity to apply for up to $2,000 in federal grants to implement recommended improvements. Criteria for the consultations and eligibility to receive the grant money will be explained at the workshop.

For more information on the workshop, consultations and grants, and to register for the workshop, please contact Pardis Saffari at: 617-349-4654 or psaffari@cambridgema.gov.

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