Rick Segel knows downtowns. He spent 25 years of his life building one of the most successful and independent women’s specialty stores in downtown Medford, MA. He has seen 97 stores close their doors due to a misguided urban renewal project. Despite that his business expanded to over 10,000 square feet and doing more than $2,000,000 of business.

Rick has gone on to work with over 200 communities throughout North America and Australia to help them discover ways to uncover their competitive advantages to thrive during these difficult times.

He helps merchants look at their stores like customers do. Rick focuses on what merchants are doing right and expands the positive while constructively corrects the negative. He thinks like a retailer, acts like a retailer and is respected and well-liked by retailers. Rick’s hands on experience in consulting and training not only helps the retailer, but also the downtown manager who needs to win over the retailers’ trust.

Rick Segel & Associates offers a variety of programs and various types of engagements. They include: keynote presentations from 45  to 90 minutes to kick off a conference and set the tone. Rick is also a favorite for an after dinner or luncheon presentation because of his laugh and learn approach.  Upbeat, informative, dynamic, entertaining and I never laughed so much and have never learned so much are the words used to describe Rick’s presentations most often. You can see more testimonials here.

Rick’s most popular downtown engagement consists of a two  hour morning presentation followed by four to five one hour one-on-one consulting sessions with individual merchants. Rick is also available for just one-on-one sessions. It is not uncommon for a downtown to have Rick stay for two or three days for consulting and many times for an additional evening presentation.