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Green Life Market is a growing family-owned health and wellness business with deli products, groceries, beauty products, pet food and more.
“We really strive to be a one-stop-shop for truly healthy living where we don’t compromise on ingredients to make sure that what we’re putting on our shelves, we would use ourselves or feed our children,” said owner Ramez Yassin on the WCBS Small Business Comeback Tour, sponsored by PSE&G.
Green Life Market only carries organic, non-GMO food products.
“Our kitchen makes everything from scratch using products from our store,” said Yassin of its deli and juice bar.
Green Life Market also has its own line of vitamins and supplements sold in each of its three locations across New Jersey, including Butler, Andover and Wayne, which opened its doors in February.
The business started when Yassin’s father took over the lease in Butler with his children in mind.
“Me and my brother were into working out and we thought we knew everything,” he said. “When we opened the store, we stepped in and we realized we weren’t very knowledgeable in the health food industry. We just knew how to workout and eat protein.”
Yassin told WCBS 880 he learned the most from Green Life Market’s vendors who taught them about their products. Now, Yassin and his relatives are the ones educating their employees so they can teach customers about nutrition and leading a healthy lifestyle.
“We can train our staff all we want, but if we don’t educate our customers on why they’re shopping this way, they may come in and out here and there. But, the more we educate them, the more they’re knowledgeable to make the decisions on their own,” said Yassin.
See Green Life Market’s comeback story on the video above.
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — New York City’s crime wave is slowing the economic recovery and hurting local businesses.
Shoplifting is one of many so-called quality-of-life crimes that have been rising during the pandemic. There has been an increase in retail theft complaints since the initial COVID-19 lockdowns, according to the NYPD, with 24,198 petit larceny crimes already this year compared to 17,599 arrests in all of 2021. (Petit larceny is generally theft of property worth under $1,000.)
“This is one of the crimes in which the (state) legislature is going to have to get its act together and understand this is not a minor crime, a quality-of-life type of crime,” said former New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton in a WCBS Small Business Spotlight interview, sponsored by Dime Community Bank.
“In many instances, it leads to stores closing because they can’t afford to stay open. They can’t afford security officers,” he said.
Bratton, who served two stints as the city’s top cop under former mayors Rudy Giuliani, a Republican, from 1994-1996, and Democrat Bill de Blasio from 2014-2016, said many large corporations and retail chains like Duane Reade and CVS are hiring off-duty police officers for security. For small and mid-size businesses that cannot afford the protection, he noted visible cameras have been a good deterrent and helps police track down brazen suspects.
“We’re seeing countless videos of even police officers being assaulted by so-called shoplifters,” he said.
FILE — New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio attends his first news conference with police commissioner William Bratton at One Police Plaza on January 2, 2014 in New York City. New York City, and much of New England is preparing for a major winter snowstorm. Photo credit Spencer Platt/Getty Images
In his most recent term as NYPD commissioner, Bratton implemented the team known as neighborhood coordination officers or NCOs who work as liaisons between the police and the community. He said business owners should contact their local precincts to work hand-in-hand with NCOs to prevent crimes at their doorstep.
“Every precinct now has four or five sectors and each of those sectors are several neighborhood coordinating officers whose role is effectively to be full-time in that sector, in that precinct, networking (with) the business community,” he said. “It is incumbent on business owners to effectively, through their precinct, find out who those officers are.”
Bratton also suggests business owners follow their NCOs on social media for important community alerts, be active on the Citizen app and post videos to bring awareness to crimes in their communities.
“Awareness leads to prevention and prevention leads to increased public safety,” he said.
FILE — NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton attends a press conference after witnessing police being retrained with new guidelines at the Police Academy on December 4, 2014 in the College Point neighborhood of Queens. Photo credit Andrew Burton/Getty Images
Bratton is now executive chairman of risk advisory at Teneo, a firm based on Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. He blames current bail reform laws for allowing what reform advocates have called “victimless crimes” such as graffiti, aggressive begging, drug dealing and public defecation to go unaddressed and unpunished.
“Well, there is a victim and that’s the neighborhood. And shop owners certainly understand how their neighborhood deteriorates,” said Bratton.
The former NYPD commissioner told WCBS 880 business owners should be politically engaged and reach out to their representatives in city and state government.
“They need to hear what business communities in New York are going through and how they’re suffering. They need to hear that message,” he said.
Watch Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso’s conversation with former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton above.
PARAMUS, NJ (WCBS 880) — People are itching to get out.
Campmor, a one-stop destination for adventurous individuals and families, has benefited by the focus on health and wellness during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Paramus retailer is now gearing up for its busy spring season.
“Outdoor activities became very popular, camping became very popular, and one of the things that really really became popular was car top carriers,” said Campmor CEO Daniel Jarashow on the WCBS Small Business Comeback Tour, sponsored by PSE&G.
“We had people drive from all over to get to us to pick up these products and it became a big success for us and really helped us get going again,” he added.
Jarashow believes the pandemic demand for car top carriers has peaked, but he is seeing long-standing sales trends reemerge this spring. Active footwear, tents and camping equipment are top sellers.
He is also encouraged by the outdoor retailer’s strong digital growth. Revenue is now split 50/50 between Campmor’s store on Route 17 in Paramus and its e-commerce channels.
“We actually compete with most of our vendors,” said Jarashow of its growing online store. “Almost what really helps us stand out now is our unique selection in the store where people can touch and feel the product.”
It’s at the core of our client Newmanity’s purpose, which works with companies to improve workplace culture. Ridding businesses of toxicity is now paramount given the great resignation.
Newmanity founder and CEO Ana Reed spoke with Dr. George K. Simon, a world-renowned psychologist who is considered a leading expert on manipulators and disturbed characters. Simon is the author of several critically acclaimed books, including “In Sheep’s Clothing: Understanding and Dealing with Manipulative People,” “Character Disturbance: The Phenomenon of Our Age,” and “Essentials for the Journey.”
In the video above, Dr. Simon discusses character impairment and what makes a good business and political leader. Reed also references his “Ten Commandments” for developing and maintaining good character, which has been used by clinicians around the world.
Content for Newmanity is produced by Carousso Enterprises. Newmanity is a leadership consultancy firm that coaches and trains leaders to cultivate trust and integrity needed to build ethical, high-performing companies.