for a big retail store what could we outsource? ...
.right now we have a cpa,,and independandt contractors for our carpentry projects, and the trash guy and thats about it....
.....but how about in the main instore work? the selling, display and day to day things..?.......any outsourcing plots for me?

You can keep tighter control over your business if you don't outsource particularly when it's small (and I assume it's still small as you are posting here) and still subject to many market forces.

When a business is growing, that is the time when you need maximum control. Outsource what you must, but keep everything under your control DIRECTLY if you can.

but why do you assume its only small businesses post here? . we are pretty mature and stable and sell enough to take care of 2 families and 4 employees..or is that small? i dont expect to grow much over that..but things have really changed over the last few years and i would like to make it run easier........i do try to keep control over everything and it would be nice to farm some of it out....we have a payroll if it made sense i could add to it......
i like to hear the viewpoints here, the views are kind of different and interesting to me...even tho hardly anyone here has a store or retail......a lot of the things are relevant, we all have or want to have customers to serve, make money from , deal with, etc etc......

For a "smallish" establishment such as yours, getting the attention of the big outsourcing firms that could possibly make a difference, such as logistical services (i.e. shipping & receiving, etc.) is not feasible.

One concept would be to take someone you already know, perhaps an existing employee, who is strong in the necessary areas, help set up his/her own business to operate as an outsourced contractor - perhaps handling overnight stocking functions, for example. Then help him/her expand that business by networking with similarly situated companies.

To some extent that is how I got my company rolling full steam ahead when I started it 3 years ago. Also, if you look at the biggest of the big - that's often what they've done. For example, I believe Delphi Automotive was once a division of GM, then GM spun it off to be an outsourced supplier. Now, that's ultimately a bad example, considering Delphi's current state of affairs, but I think it highlights the means to the end, if not the desired end.