{"id":459609,"date":"2026-10-08T00:42:25","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T00:42:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/459609\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T00:42:25","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T00:42:25","slug":"dallas-market-center-starts-ai-training-program-for-retailers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/459609\/","title":{"rendered":"Dallas Market Center Starts AI Training Program for Retailers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Dallas<\/p>\n

The massive B2B trading hub and wholesale marketplace Dallas Market Center has launched an AI training program for independent retailers. [Photo: Dallas Market Center]<\/p>\n

Dallas Market Center, the 5 million-square-foot B2B trading hub and wholesale marketplace northwest of downtown Dallas, just introduced an AI training program for a sizable chunk of its customer base: independent retailers.<\/p>\n

The market center said its Retail Ready program<\/a> is the first B2B marketplace to create an AI education program for independent retailers. Independent retailers operate nearly 57% of stores in Texas, Capital One Shopping data shows.<\/p>\n

\u2018AI isn\u2019t magic\u2019<\/p>\n

The multimonth program will enable independent retailers to apply AI to everything from everyday tasks to complex business analysis.<\/p>\n

\u201cAI isn\u2019t magic, and it isn\u2019t a threat,\u201d Retail Ready said on its blog. \u201cIt\u2019s a practical tool that can give you back time, spark new ideas and help you do more of what you already do well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The program\u2019s training tools include social media, email, videos, webinars and the center\u2019s website. Activities and training at January\u2019s seven market events will supplement the regular program, the center said.<\/p>\n

Cole Daugherty, senior vice president of marketing communications at Dallas Market Center, said the program is straightforward.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach week, we\u2019ll present one real problem independent retailers face and one practical way AI can help via short demonstrations, real retail examples, and AI prompts to copy and try,\u201d Daugherty said in a statement.<\/p>\n

To participate, retailers should visit the program\u2019s website and watch for related social media posts from Dallas Market Center. Also, attendees at January\u2019s market events can sign up for in-person activities.<\/p>\n

Creating \u2018better\u2019 retailers<\/p>\n

A leadership council made up of industry professionals created and oversees Retail Ready: Daugherty, Alison Dodson and Trudi Bartow.<\/p>\n

\u201cRetail Ready is not designed to turn retailers into AI experts. It\u2019s designed to create better retailers. I hear from my store-owner peers every week asking for help with AI, and this is the best way to support one another,\u201d Dodson, owner of A. Dodson\u2019s apparel, home furnishings and gift shop in Suffolk, Virginia, said in a statement.<\/p>\n

No tech expertise required<\/p>\n

Training will focus on using AI for business matters such as trend research, competitive research, merchandising, promotions, vendor communications and business analysis. Retailers don\u2019t need tech expertise to participate.<\/p>\n

\u201cAI tools have changed: You no longer need to know how to code or understand complicated technology,\u201d Bartow, an AI consultant in New York City, said in a statement. \u201cInstead, you can simply type a question, talk, take a photo or upload a file. That means AI can now help with some very ordinary \u2014 and very time-consuming \u2014 parts of running an independent retail business.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Retail Ready program touts the benefits of AI, but it doesn\u2019t dismiss the value of independent retailers\u2019 know-how.<\/p>\n

\u201cAI cannot replace your eye, your customer knowledge or the relationships that make independent retail special,\u201d the program said on its blog. \u201cIt can help you get through a first draft, organize information and see a problem from another angle. You remain the decision-maker.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Dallas-based Colossal Biosciences spinout, now valued at $3.8 billion, is preparing forecasting pilots in health and biosecurity as it scales the model behind its predictions.<\/p>\n

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The grant, awarded to UT Southwestern biotech spinoff MusiQ Bio, could pave the way for human clinical trials of the startup\u2019s proprietary cancer-fighting platform within five years.<\/p>\n

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The Frisco-built V-BAT maker put its Hivemind software in charge of three National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology Mighty Hornet III unmanned aerial vehicles for a field demonstration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The massive B2B trading hub and wholesale marketplace Dallas Market Center has launched an AI training program for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":459610,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[4267,157216,3436,157217,102,104,3739,103,157218,952,157219,325,157220],"class_list":["post-459609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-ai","tag-alison-dodson","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-cole-daugherty","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-market-center","tag-dallas-news","tag-independent-retailers","tag-retail","tag-retail-ready","tag-small-business","tag-trudi-bartow"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}