Archives: News
Chocolate is Only The Beginning
Milford, PA – Ask Pat Halligan-Kissel if she’s always loved chocolate, and she’ll say: “Doesn’t everybody?”
Dumb questions aside, Halligan-Kissel is doing what she was always meant to do: make all kinds of specialty chocolates for her shop, Grammy’s Chocolate and Fudge Parlor, in Augusta, N.J. — and very soon for a second shop soon she’s opening in Milford.
“My grandmother had a chocolate shop in Hoboken before the Depression,” Halligan-Kissel recalled.
Nation’s First Mud Pie Store to Open at Grand Traverse Resort and Spa
In an exclusive partnership with Mud Pie, Grand Traverse Resort and Spa, near Traverse City, Mich., will open the first retail store in the United States dedicated exclusively to the Mud Pie brand.
The store will feature a selection of famous Mud Pie apparel, accessories, and gifts for babies, children, and women.
Smithsonian Renwick Gallery Store adds MIXT Studio to Their Collection of Carefully Curated Gifts
MIXT Studio’s eco-friendly paper and gift goods will be joining the beautiful collection of handmade items from local and national artists at the Renwick Gallery Store. The Renwick Gallery opened in 1972 as the home of the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s craft and decorative art program. The Gallery highlights the best craft objects and decorative arts from the 19th century to the present.
Store buyers selected MIXT Studio’s bestselling, and recently patented, Reusable Wine Bag with a Traveling Tag.
SCOUT’s Jersey Girl Collection to Benefit Sandy Relief Efforts Along Jersey Shore
SCOUT by Bungalow, a leading supplier of fashion and lifestyle bags, bins, insulated totes and travel accessories for consumers across the country is both proud and humbled to announce that proceeds from 2013 sales of a Jersey Girl tote or accessory case will go back to New Jersey’s efforts to rebuild shore areas devastated by superstorm Sandy.
Consumers can help SCOUT’s fundraising efforts by visiting a SCOUT retailer (www.bungalowco.com/t-retailer-locations.aspx) or going to www.bungalowco.com and purchasing the following Jersey Girl products: in bags, the Gameday, the Daytripp
Greeting Card Association Applauds USPS’s Decision To Continue 6-Day Mail Delivery Service
The Greeting Card Association (GCA) is pleased with the decision by the USPS Board of Governors, announced yesterday, to postpone implementation of their modified 5-day delivery proposal. We agree with the Board’s conclusion that the language in the Continuing Resolution passed last month restricts the Postal Service’s ability to move to a modified delivery schedule.
More important, however, we believe that eliminating Saturday service would be short-sighted and self-defeating.
Artisans’ Collective Sets up Shop at Tecumseh Mall
Windsor, ON – A trio of artistic business partners have launched a new store at Tecumseh Mall which features handmade work by local artists and crafters.
Located adjacent to the mall’s food court, Ivy Handmade Industries was opened a week ago by Harmony Peach, Dee-Dee Shkreli and Lori Moore, all designers and artists who also operate their own businesses.
The store features glass, wood, textiles, jewelry, hair accessories, women’s fashions, children’s items, art cards and two-dimensional art, all made by local artists.
New Children’s Boutique Opens in Stony Brook
Stony Brook, NY – The idea was born from her art, inspired by her photography studio itself.
Local photographer Christina Bohn’s home base for her photography is the greenhouse at The Studio on Route 25A in Stony Brook, a versatile space filled with natural light and all the artistic artifacts and details a photographer could want. Now, she has branched out and opened a children’s clothing boutique at The Studio, Eloise + Oliver.
“Not only is this greenhouse great for shooting, it has a great retail spot,” Bohn said.
2013 GHTA Conference Early Registration Deadline: May 31
The Gift and Home Trade Association, the industry’s leading non-profit trade association, announces that early registration for its 11th annual conference is now available, ending May 31.
“The annual GHTA conference continues to provide a great forum for industry members to network, share ideas and experiences, contribute expertise, and learn,” shared John Keiser, president of the Gift and Home Trade Association and CEO of OneCoast.
Imagine That! Reps Hires Gift Industry Veteran Bob Eells as West Coast V.P of Sales
Imagine That! Reps (imaginethatreps.com) announced today that Bob Eells has joined the organization to further develop their territory expansion into the West Coast. Bob will be overseeing sales management and operations in the West Coast, Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain regions for Imagine That! Reps. Bob comes with a wealth of experience in the Industry, having spent the last 21 years at Ganz.
Imagine That! Reps President Debbie Jo Spencer said of Mr.
Two’s Company Launches New Websites for All Four Brands
Two’s Company has launched four newly redesigned websites, one for each division including Two’s Company Signature, Cupcakes & Cartwheels, Tozai Home and 2 Chic. All four websites were designed and developed by Whereoware.
“Two’s Company is about style, service and differentiating ourselves. Our website now reflects these efforts”, said Tom Gottlieb, President of Two’s Company.
Couple Will Integrate Photos and Graphics Firm in New Gift Gallery
Sturtevant, WI – Scott Olsen enjoys photography and his wife, Linda, has a graphics firm. They will feature their combined efforts in their new venture, Lighthouse Gallery & Gifts.
The couple is preparing the former Grapes 2 Glass space, 10351 Washington Ave., for their new shop which will also house Olsen Graphics. They expect to open May 1, pending village approval. (Grapes 2 Glass moved into larger quarters in the shopping center.)
“They’re totally intertwined,” Linda said of Olsen Graphics, which she’s had for almost 25 years, and the new gift gallery.
Blue Moon Gift Shop Celebrates 35 Years of Fun
Garberville, CA – Did you ever wake up in the morning thinking that what you really need is a rubber chicken – not just any rubber chicken, but America’s #1 Rubber Chicken? Or that a glow-in-the-dark mustache is the ticket to enhanced sex appeal?
‘Cash Mob’ Hits Downtown Marietta Stores
Marietta, WV – Roxanne Marshall shops downtown Marietta regularly, but hadn’t made it to Twisted Sisters Boutique in the 100 block of Front Street before.
That changed on Monday, when Marshall, 67, of Marietta, joined a mob.
It was ReStore Marietta’s first “Cash Mob” of 2013, picking up on a program started last year in which people gather at a predetermined location to go shopping en masse. The catch is they don’t know where they’re going until they get to the meeting place.
Small Business Secrets: Get Creative
Hermosa Beach, CA – At Lelands Just For Fun, a costume/gift and magic shop in Hermosa Beach, surviving the bad economy sometimes wasn’t at all fun.
“About six years ago, I had one of my best Christmases ever,” Leland Van Andler said as he led a tour around his novelty shop, one crowded with shelves of colorful wigs and racks of costumes, from Renaissance gowns to 1920s flapper dresses. “The next Christmas was my worst.”
Lelands was in another part of the city back then, about six blocks from the beach.
Shoppers Urged to Buy Locally
Williamsburg, VA – If you’re interested in the dollars you spend staying in your community, Chesapeake Bank and the Greater Williamsburg Chamber & Tourism Alliance have the event for you.
On April 27, they’ll co-sponsor another “The Buck Stops Here,” day of local shopping because the one in November was successful and popular.
According to the sponsors, local merchants were delighted with the November event.
U.K. To Get Its Own Version of Small Business Saturday
Small business owners in the U.K. will be getting Small Business Saturday in their country this year. British businesses and shoppers will see their own version of the highly-popular event that has resulted in over $5 billion in sales for small businesses in the United States last year alone.
Small Business Saturday U.K. will be held on December 7, 2013.
Shadow Business Secretary Chukka Umunna has been a champion of the event in the United Kingdom. Small business retailers there, like many in the U.S., have fallen on tougher times. According to a report from the U.K.
Greeting Card Association Hires New Management Agency
The Greeting Card Association (GCA) has hired Bostrom Corporationas its new association management firm.