Dancer in the Aisles
Editor-in-chief Caroline Kennedy has been with Gifts & Decorative Accessories magazine for more than 23 years. Her long association with the gift industry gives her a broad perspective on its trends and the ever-changing landscape of gift retailing. She brings her veteran’s-eye view to the highlights and sidelights of our everyday world. When asked why she has stayed on the job for so long, her answer is, “It’s like going shopping every day!”
More Aisle Dancers
It seems that I am not the only one who "dances in the aisles." It seems that employees at Global Views have a "little dance party break" on Fridays, according to the company’s Facebook page. It seems like a great way to end the week, build team spirit and relieve stress and tension all at the same time. What things do you do where you work to create employee bonding, stress relief and just plain... Read More
Comments (2)Finding Inspiration
Once again, my friend Nancy has chided me about this blog. "Yes!" she complained to me more than once recently, "I have read your blog lately (that’s the tagline on my email signature), but you haven’t posted anything new for me to read." And she is right. I have been remiss. It has been said that writing is 1 percent inspiration and the rest is perspiration. That can be said for much of what we... Read More
Comments (0)What's New Isn't Necessarily What's New
At market, generally the first question a buyer asks is, "What’s new?" And in this industry, that is the one thing on which we are primarily focused — that and the hot trends. We tend to forget about or overlook what is or has been successful, things that are the tried and true. The tried and true just doesn’t get our antenna tingling with excitement, until maybe we rediscover it and look at it in... Read More
Comments (1)What Kind of Loyal Customers Do You Have?
Do you have such loyal customers as Willow Glen, CA, retailer Natalie Thompson discovered that she has? Who is Natalie Thompson and why do I ask, you wonder … Her story, which ran in the San Jose Mercury News was brought to my attention. As with many independent retailers, 2009 was difficult year for Thompson’s gift store Fleurish. Her 8-year-old business was struggling in a difficult economy, s... Read More
Comments (3)Get Ready for Tax Time Early
I know, I know. We haven’t even rung in the New Year yet and I’m reminding you about filing taxes? Well, we all get very busy this time of year and we all need a nudge to help us get organized and plan ahead. I ran across a press release today that brought this subject up and I thought that I would share. Af ter all, sharing is caring, as my friend Nancy says. The points in the release are direct... Read More
Comments (0)Carol Schroeder's Savvy Store Solutions
Ask for the Money “Self service means no service,” as I wrote in last week’s blog. We all know what kind of service we hope to offer our customers through our friendly, sales personnel well-versed in the benefits of every product we sell. Certainly Ron Popeil, who you may know as the king of television marketing, is friendly and well-versed in the benefits of the products he is selling — many of... Read More
Comments (0)Carol Schroeder to Blog for G&DA
Veteran retailer Carol Schroeder shares her blog with Gifts & Decorative Accessories. Our "Savvy Store Solutions" contributor will share her experience and perspective on the everyday ups and downs of being a gift and decorative accessories retailer. Carol Schroeder is author of Specialty Shop Retailing: Everything You Need to Know to Run Your Own Store published by John Wiley & Sons. She is also... Read More
Comments (0)A Retail Pet Peeve
As a shopper, I am curious about something that annoys me during the checkout process. When and why did it become common practice when giving back change for a purchase to place the coins on top of the bills? I always end up dropping the coins because they spill off of the bills. My wallet has a very small section for change that is not easy to manage when I am holding it and juggling my purse and... Read More
Comments (2)Happy National Cat Day
In honor of National Cat Day, I share with you a picture of my very handsome boy, Jeremiah. National Cat Day! Who knew, but then again, why should I be surprised? There seems to be a national day for just about everything. And cats, along with dogs (as I am sure that every dog has its day!), should be honored in some why for all that they do for us — shed hair, catch mice, purr, scratch the furni... Read More
Comments (0)Craft Tour of Marche, Italy – part 2
I have just spent the first three days of this week (Monday–Wednesday) visiting craft workshops in the Marche region of Italy and being immersed in its culture, cuisine, history and artistry. The best of intentions often are waylaid by reality. I had planned to blog each day about the day’s experience. However, the schedule just did not permit me to do so with out impacting on my ability to get... Read More
Comments (0)Craft Tour of Marche, Italy — Day 1
My flight was late leaving the New York area, which made our arrival in Rome late, cutting down from 20-plus hours to a brief 45 minutes the time that I had to clear passport control and security, and then find my gate for my connecting flight to Ancona. I made it to the domestic gate with little time to spare, but ready to jump aboard the plane, only to be shown to a shuttle bus that took me and... Read More
Comments (1)Building Word-of-Mouth Sales
In my usual morning round of reviewing email, press releases, pr wires and the like, I came across an item by another blogger, Andy Sernovitz, that is of value to retailers. Andy presents five tips to help retailers build sales through word-of-mouth, customer-to-customer communication. The tips are simple and mostly low-cost, no-cost. The key is to get customers talking and spreading the word abou... Read More
Comments (0)
