Has your product lineup changed in the past few years because of customer demands?

Demand has shifted to smaller pick-me-ups such as soaps, jewelry, scarves, shawls, and purses. Recently, people seem to be shying away from major purchases, but they still want to buy. With smaller items they can pick something up every time they come in. People request two things that we don't carry: the music we play in the store, and the bedding we use to display our beds. At one time, we had a pianist come in once a week. The rest of the week, we played and sold his music. After a while, we wanted to kill both. It was driving us insane. So we no longer sell CDs. With the bedding, it requires so much inventory that whenever I bring it in, it just makes things harder for our staff. I think it's necessary, but I want to pick a few items correctly and have them be an add-on sale that we're comfortable with.

Our store has only been around for a few years, so we don't have a long history to compare with, but it hasn't changed much. We always do well with frames, candles, and jewelry. Our customer base isn't incredibly trendy; they're pretty conservative and traditional. I have to be really careful when I buy trendy things because if they have to put it on display in their homes they won't do it. However, a personal item like a makeup bag they love, and it works well. We did see a little bit of a shift from shabby chic to crystals in home decor. I also see a big increase in garden-style decor for indoors and out. People are getting more into decorating their outdoors. Bath products, too. We used to carry lines that were really expensive, but people weren't buying them, so we went more inexpensive. Now it seems like people are back into spending a lot more money on bath products again.

We have noticed a great response in the past year to the enlargement of our kitchen area. Customers are entertaining in their homes and watching the Food Network, so they want the tools of the trade they've seen there. Our joke is that at Vintage Rose you can get the tools you need to be a great chef, or just look like one! We are fortunate that we don't have any of the large chain kitchenware stores in our area. Sales are strong in cookware, kitchen tools, gourmet sauces, mixes, and oils. We have added two new lines of cookware in addition to All-Clad, and our Wusthof knife sales keep growing. Bridal couples are routinely adding these items to their registries. Also, as part of our focus group results in the past year, we found that many women in our area are wishing for a place to buy a certain major cosmetic line. We are in negotiations right now — wish us luck!