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Keeneland Gift Shop Gears up for its Busy Season as Spring Meet Nears
Keeneland, KY – The Keeneland Shop is a slice of retail heaven for horse lovers.
First-time shoppers are sometimes unprepared for the array of beautiful clothes and high-end home accessories when they walk into the oak-paneled store near the paddock at Keeneland Race Course, which opens Friday for its Spring Meet.
This is not a tourist shop stocked with pencils and refrigerator magnets — although plenty of tourists visit, store manager Amber Arnold said.
OneCoast Announces Key Management Promotions
OneCoast, the leader in nationwide sales and marketing for gift, baby, fashion, and collegiate vendors, announced today two key management promotions. The recent promotions reflect the company’s growth plans as well as their efforts to hire from within.
Edie Lufkin who previously managed the Northeast Region while also performing the responsibilities of Vice President of Strategic Relationships, has been promoted into the Vice President of Strategic Relationships position full time.
Well-Defined Goals Help Ensure Social Media Success
When Comcast was looking to decrease the number of customer service calls it was getting, it turned to Facebook to better engage with its customers.
When Giant Glass wanted to reach out to university students to expand its automotive glass market, it chose Twitter to help connect with them.
What works best about these strategies, according to local social media researcher Dr. Nora Ganim Barnes, is not the site chosen but the fact that both companies began by identifying their goals first and only then selected the best social media tool to use.
Facebook Fans Nurturing Growth in Plymouth
Plymouth, IN – A spring flowering of small businesses in downtown Plymouth is leveraging Facebook in a mutual “Liking” arrangement that multiplies exposure and accelerates traffic.
“It’s amazing the kind of stuff we have downtown right now,” said Betty Glaub-Gibbs, office manager for the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce that has been in the area for decades.
“Nature’s Grace” Evokes Nostalgia for Simpler Times
The new “Nature’s Grace” line from inspirational giftware wholesaler Abbey Press offers customers the chance to reconnect with the serenity of simpler times.
Adorned with birds, butterflies and botanical designs, the eight pieces by inspirational artist Amie Jones are rendered in muted aqua, orange and copper tones.
Beach-Themed Flip Flop Island Opens in Visalia
Visalia, CA – Bright colors, grass skirt-adorned walls and the products themselves — flip-flops galore, beach bags, wraps and more — at Flip Flop Island in Visalia are reminiscent of the shops on every street near a nice beach.
At least, that’s what one homesick Floridian told Flip Flop Island owner GG McGuire when she walked into the beach-themed shop.
“This is not something you’ll find anywhere else in Visalia,” McGuire said. “Everybody who comes in here loves the colors because it’s so bright and sunny.”
‘Cash Mob’ Targets Loveland Businesses
Loveland, CO – Downtown Loveland business owner Tracey Gonzalez stood outside the door of Splurge grinning and laughing last Saturday afternoon as a dozen customers entered her store.
Gonzalez had just experienced the second Loveland Cash Mob that encourages community members to shop locally.
Cash mobs — based on a concept borrowed from flash mobs where performers assemble in a public place and suddenly burst into song or dance — are spreading across the nation and the world since the first ones in Buffalo and Cleveland last fall.
Phase Three of NYIGF Strategic Reorganization Begins at Summer 2012 Market
The third phase of a major, multi-year strategic reorganization of the New York International Gift Fair® (NYIGF®) will begin at the summer 2012 market, with repositioning of three product divisions – Baby & Child, Handmade® Global Design and New York’s Newest – to new locations within the Jacob K.
Style Shines In Atlanta
The April Atlanta Apparel Market brings style and substance with an array of lines, product launches, educational events and runway excitement. From a Keynote Event presented by television fashion star Jeannie Mai to the return of an upscale fashion show juried and produced by Goodrowe Hobby, Atlanta is the place for Fall 2012 fashion from April 12-16, 2012.
Buyers know Atlanta as the place to write orders and to see lines that will work for a range of customers.
Jillbeads Jewelry Continues Significant “Growth Spurt” in 2012
After 12 years of designing contemporary fashion jewelry for a limited number of boutiques, galleries and specialty gift shops, Jill Pfefer, a Denver Colorado jewelry designer, began a nationwide expansion of her unique Jillbeads line of fashion jewelry in early 2011 which has continued to date.
Contributing to this dramatic increase in retail outlets and sales has been a fantastic group of wholesale representatives along with a significant expansion of the line which now includes necklaces, pendants, earrings, bracelets, rings and belts.
Cancer Survivor Says She is Giving Back Through New Boutique
Newark, OH – Randy and April Daum arrived at Licking Memorial Health Systems on March 29 for April’s first chemotherapy session since being diagnosed with breast cancer.
They wore shirts saying, “Together we will fight, together we will win.”
Randy Daum said clothing with slogans helps him and his wife cope with the stress of the situation and provides them an outlet to express awareness.
Just Opened: Millville Shop Sells Jewelry, Odds, Ends
Millville, NJ – My Things offers fragrances for men and women. I have all the top-of-the-line products such as Chanel, Calvin Klein, Gucci and Versace.
I also sell jewelry for men and women.
I have stainless steel jewelry and sterling silver jewelry. I have rings, earrings, bracelets, necklaces and some nice sterling silver sets for about $30.
What I try to do is bring people a line of jewelry that is affordable. I do a lot of my shopping up in New York. It’s something different, what you find here.
Cold Spring Local Notable: Leonora Burton
Cold Spring, NY – Leonora Burton says her business isn’t about making sales, it’s about making people smile. “If I can make one of my costumers laugh or smile I’m happy, and if I can make two of them laugh that’s even better,” she says.
Burton is the outgoing and sincerely friendly owner of The Country Goose and Highland Baskets in Cold Spring. The Country Goose is a restaurant and kitchen supply store and Highland Baskets sells popular custom-made gift baskets that are shipped all over the country.
Pioneer of Certified Organic Foaming Hand Soap Announces New Blend to Help Kill Germs Without Wrecking Your Hands
Vermont Soap has expanded its collection of the nation’s first certified organic foaming hand soaps with the launch of Tea Tree Mint Foaming Hand Soap. The new, certified organic foaming hand soap combines the legendary power of Tea Tree Oil with the fresh scent of American grown Peppermint Oil to deliver a healthier alternative to the petrochemical-based germ fighting products prevalent in the marketplace. It is safe and non-toxic for all living things, except germs.
Social Media Experts Praise Gooseberry Patch’s Recipe for Success on Pinterest
Pinterest is the new darling of the social media scene, and thousands of longtime fans of Gooseberry Patch, an independent cookbook publishing company located in Ohio’s heartland, are responding to the company’s expanded presence on the site with overwhelming enthusiasm.
Jessica Watson and Tracy Morrison, co-founders of Pin Savvy Social, a social media consulting team that specializes in pairing products and consumers through Pinterest, praise Gooseberry Patch’s efforts. “Gooseberry Patch does an amazing job of maintaining their pin boards.
MHS Licensing To Debut Two New Properties at the 2012 Surtex and Licensing Trade Shows
MHS Licensing will be introducing artists Amylee Weeks and Stephanie Ryan at the upcoming Surtex Show (booth #435 & 437) and Licensing International Expo (booth #4925). “We’ve had an exciting 2012 so far and are thrilled to be in a position to offer these new properties to the marketplace,” says Marty Segelbaum, MHS Licensing president.
If Life Throws You Lemons… Why Not Make A Lemonade Stand?
This Tabletop, check out 7 W New York when their lobby transforms bright pinks, greens, and yellows into an inspired “Pop-Up Shop” Lemonade Stand. With the help of Christina Norsig, CEO/Founder of PopUpInsider and author of PopUp Retail… How You Can Master this Global Marketing Phenomenon, and Bess Wyrick, owner of Celadon & Celery, buyers will be able to get a first glance at how to incorporate product(s) as a pop-up retail in a display window, a display in store, or additional temporary space to their store locations.
Eco-Fashion in Atlanta
It matters how fashion looks. Shouldn’t it also matter how fashion is made? At the Atlanta Apparel Market, it does. Multiple lines intended to showcase how sustainable, forward-thinking designs can be fashionable and marketable will be available at Market, April 12-16, 2012, for those buyers looking to source certified organic and free-trade merchandise.
After more than 15 years as a pioneer, Indigenous brings its organic styles to Atlanta Apparel in the Molly Hurley & Associates showroom.
Chandler Gift Shop Owner Finds Satisfaction in Eclectic Mix
Chandler, AZ – Many roads led Patty Leon to where she is today: owner of her own store, Chandler’s Green Table Gifts.
First, it was her personal goal to either start her own business or travel to Europe by the time she was 30.
“I decided to do the responsible thing and open my store,” she admits.