Dancer in the Aisles
With her veteran's-eye view, editor-in-chief Caroline Kennedy comments on the highlights and sidelights of our gift industry and the everyday world around us.
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 (1)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 (7)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 (2)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)The New Target Demographic
Look out manufacturers, retailers and marketers, there’s a new demographic group out there that you may want to target, especially if you produce/sell/market children’s products. Not too long ago, I read an article that informed me that I and some of my friends are a part of a new, and somewhat influential demographic group, when it comes to purchasing power. It is known by the acronym of P.A.N.K.... Read More
Comments (3)Golden Treasures, part 2
In my previous blog post I wrote about my personal long-time treasured friends and how meaningful such relationships are. That post provided a bit a window into a very personal side of me, but in thinking of about it over the past few days, I realized that the broader concept has a certain relevance to our businesses. Those type of relationship that we develop with those special "golden" friends... Read More
Comments (1)Golden Treasures
Last night was a very special evening. I had dinner with three friends, one of whom I wasn’t expecting to see, but who arrived at the table as a total surprise! Nancy, Michele, Ina and I have been friends for more that 35 years. Ina now lives in Seattle and the surprise of Ina joining us (she came straight from the airport) was so meaningful. It reinforced the true value of friends and friendship.... Read More
Comments (0)Why "Dancer"?
Recently,. I’ve had more than one person who has been reading this blog inquire when they meet me, "Why is it called ‘Dancer in the Aisles’? With our busy schedules and already full plates of "things to do," they obviously have not had the time to scroll back through the archive of postings — and I don’t blame them. I wouldn’t either. And although I have written more personal postings from time to... Read More
Comments (1)Sharing Columns About One of Our Own
It’s not often that small retailers in our industry get business columns written about them in national news publication once, let alone three times and maybe more to come, but one of our own recently has — Debbie Dusenberry of the Curious Sofa, Kansas City, KS. Debbie has been a contributor to our "We Asked" feature and one of Gifts & Decorative Accessories’ 25 Gifted Retailers of 2008. She has a... Read More
Comments (0)Buy Local Campaigns Get National Focus
An article in the Wall Street Journal just put the spotlight on the plight of local small independent businesses and what they are doing to boost sales and counter declining foot traffic through “Buy Local” campaigns. The article prominently features the 3/50 Project, which got its grassroots start through the gift and stationery industry, and also notes the efforts of American Independent Busines... Read More
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