About Cris

After marrying into a 4th generation retail family that celebrated 143 years of business and running the award-winning Parsons Gifts store alongside her husband Gary for 26 years, Cris Willis is now using her experience and knowledge to bring retail best practices to independent retailers. Those years provided Cris with a unique understanding regarding the complexities of running a family business, including opening, closing, remodeling, and rebranding stores and even more difficult decisions such as splitting the business within the family.

As the main buyer for her multimillion-dollar store, Cris has intimate knowledge of Open to Buy and Inventory Management. She has developed a strong knowledge of managing, training, and motivating multiple associates in all aspects of customer service. As the head of marketing she managed an annual budget of over $200,000.

Throughout the years running Parsons Cris built and maintained a well-trained, engaged and loyal staff, with many staying on her team for 15 – 30+ years. Her stores retention rate was 80% compared to industry average of 40%. Parsons had a loyal customer program with a database of over 40,000 current customers, 6,000 Facebook followers, and an average email open rate of 25%. Her 18,000 square foot store maintained a 50%+ margin in the gift, boutique and holiday business, with an average dollar sale of $50, selling 3+ items per transaction, with an inventory turn rate of 3 times a year.

As the President of the Southwest Buying Group (a retail gift store association of over 500 stores), Cris gained a complete understanding of the challenges facing independent retailers. She has been an advisor to several vendors and a retail industry analyst. In addition to these achievements, Cris has also received numerous awards for her global and community outreach both personally and through her business.

Throughout the years Cris has recognized that numerous retail entrepreneurs are business lonely and need community. They inherit a business or open their own store with a passion for what they sell, only to realize they need help mastering essential retail business skills. Cris Willis offers private coaching, monthly Mastermind groups, and several other resources geared to help independent retail business owners get clarity and control of their business.

If you need Clarity and Control of your business email Cris at cwillis@retailclarity.com today!

Services

Monthly Mastermind Groups

Individual Business Coaching

Business Educational Speaking

Inventory Planning

See Cris In Action…

Paycheck Protection Loan Calculator Tool

Check out this amazing spreadsheet tool designed by our WhizBang! Certified Coach, Cris Willis and her analytics-wizard husband, Gary. This tool will help you estimate 1) how big a loan you will be eligible for, 2) what your potential loan forgiveness could be, and 3) a simple cash flow to figure out much you actually need. Click below to download the spreadsheet tool and watch the interview we did with Cris and Gary to get step by step instructions for how to use it. It’s GREAT STUFF!

Watch the video below for step-by-step instructions:

Need help figuring out the PPP Loan? Contact Cris and Gary by emailing cwillis@retailclarity.com.