Inbox
-- Gifts & Decorative Accessories, 4/1/2006
DOG FOLLOWINGTo the editor,
I loved the February issue, and the feature about pets and their accessories. I bring both my dogs — Jasper and Lacey (pictured here) — to my home decor store. They have their own “following!”
—Joseph Santoro, Santoro & Co., Bridgeton, NJ
“TARGET”ING SMALL BUSINESS TRENDSTo the editor,
I couldn't help but feel angry when I read in Gifts & Dec Direct From Market that Target “Trend Analysts” were walking the show in Atlanta, especially since Target sells as much as 80 percent private label goods. When I designed private brands for a major department store, we never went to wholesale domestic trade shows. Upscale department stores support the design industry with hundreds of thousands of dollars. It's disturbing to hear that now discounters like Target are looking at small businesses for trends. They let other people spend the money and effort on trends, color and materials to keep their own margins down.
Also, in one of the market reports you noted that some companies are knocking themselves off. Sounds like a suicide plan to me.
—Nancy Gronemyer, Paper Petals LLC, Fenton, MO
