Over the last few months I have seen quite a few stores in my 'hood (Y&E) close up shop (Nike, Ten Thousand Villages, Nine West to name a few).

These brands may have closed their stores in this specific location, but surely, they did not close business completely. In fact, their ecommerce sites are still quite robust and they still have stores in prominent areas like the Eaton Centre.

In all of these instances, there was never any warning to local customers of the store closure. No sign on the window, no announcement online. Just here one day, and gone the next.

As a shopper at these stores - would you be disappointed that you were not informed? Here are some quick and easy ways to keep customers, even if you are on your way out.

1. Put a sign on the window "Thank you for your patronage, please visit us at one of our other locations or online at www."
2. If you have a store locator online - let customers know when it is closing.
3. Have a sale.
4. If you have a good database, send out a direct mail or email announcing the closure and perhaps a small discount at one of the other locations.

Toronto's plastic bag tax came into effect June 1st. Since its institution, I have seen a lot more people carrying around their eco-friendly bags while shopping, whether it is for groceries or clothes.

From a marketing perspective, companies that have been giving these bags out for free months prior are now getting the extra marketing boost - Lululemon is the popular one I see a lot. Those that have been selling them for a decent price are also getting the exposure - like PC and Whole Foods.

One odd customer service blip I have seen since this tax came into effect is cashiers unwillingness to put my purchases in my bag. This happened several times at stores in my neighbourhood. In fact, I have tried this with baby in tow, clearly a difficult task for me to do. Most times, I will tell the cashier that I have a bag and would appreciate it if they put my purchases in the bag. However, should I forget to say this in the frenzie of calming my baby, getting my wallet and signing my credit card statement...my purchase typically will sit on the counter beside my bag as the cashier attends to the next customer.

I don't get this? A small customer service flaw that ruins an otherwise good shopping experience.

Three weeks yesterday, Mark and I welcomed into this world, our baby girl - Rory Cameron.

Rory is my #1 priority. So with that may come a longer time to answer emails, less blog posts, less tweets and less networking on facebook (btw, my new url is www.facebook.com/mtampoya)... but, I am still here so feel free to email, DM on twitter or write on my wall if you have an online marketing question...or any question you think I can help you with. I will definitely get back to you!

Also, thanks to all of you for answering my new mommy questions via all the social networking tools above. It is VERY much appreciated and more will be coming soon I am sure.

Stay tuned for my next post...sure to be a mommy blogger one!

I personally don't mind paying a little bit more for a better cup of coffee. I don't mind paying more for a jacket that fits better or a pair of pants made of a better fabric.

And it looks like I am not alone. Young Adults too care about good quality.

So before you spend large amounts of money of branding yourself as cool, funky, in, trendy - make sure that your product delivers what the client wants, particularly when it comes to quality.

Afterall, you can have the most robust, expensive and uber-cool campaign in the market but if your product does not equal the hype - then your strategy will fail.