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Shop focuses on sport, ignores controversy: Surf gear’s up
Tuckerton — Cheater 5’s Skate & Surf Hut sells everything from skateboards to surfboards, sport accessories to clothing for men, women, children and babies.
“We decided to open a shop in Tuckerton because we saw so many people skateboarding and surfing in this area that we thought the culture was here, as well as in Seaside Heights and Long Beach Island,” said Regina Brown, who co-owns the shop with her husband, Dennis Brown. “We looked for a place for five years. When we walked in here, the vibe was here and we knew this was the place.
Elk Creek Vineyard and Kentucky Proud Products to be Showcased in New Downtown Location
Lexington, KY – Elk Creek Vineyards, Kentucky’s largest winery, will launch The Kentucky Proud Market in the Lexington Center it was announced today by Elk Creek Vineyards proprietor Curtis Sigretto and Bill Owen, Lexington Center President and CEO.
The new showroom, formerly occupied by Orvis – The Outdoor Store, will be an Elk Creek Vineyard venture with the endorsement of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture.
Gift Fair Offers Something For Everyone
The International Gift Fair is back in town, offering up ideas for every taste and style. NY1’s Jill Scott filed the following report.
Lamps, frames and decor galore — the New York International Gift Fair is the largest trade show in New York with 3,000 vendors from all different home and gift categories.
Best New Product Award Winners Announced at Ex-Tracts
NY, NY — Winners of the EX·TRACTS® Best New Product Awards were announced today at the New York International Gift Fair® (NYIGF®), with Voluspa receiving the “Best of Show” awards for its James Boyce Collection by Voluspa. EX·TRACTS runs through Thursday, January 29, at New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.
Awards also were presented in five product-specific categories (Bath & Body, Beauty Accessory, Cosmetic & Fragrance, Natural/Organic and Packaging), with winners and finalists selected by a panel of trade editors.
Midwest Announces Winners of 2008 “Show Us Your Sparkle” Independent Retail Display Contest
Cannon Falls, MN – Midwest, leading designer of the Seasons of Cannon Falls brand of holiday and seasonal home accents and premium Colonial Candle brand of candles, announces the winners of the company’s second annual “Show Us Your Sparkle” in-store display contest for independent retailers. Midwest sponsored the contest to bring attention and recognition to independent retailers who have shown creativity and excellence in retail display and merchandising, one of the key elements to driving traffic and sales.
Economic woes? Not in the world of fancy foods
Not deterred by the forecast of continued economic woes, more than 16,000 buyers jammed San Francisco’s Moscone Center last week to try new food products and investigate trends promoted by optimistic producers from three dozen nations around the world.
The three-day event attracted all segments of the specialty food trade, including neighborhood gourmet stores, natural and organic retailers, gift shops and major names in retailing like Whole Foods Markets, Williams-Sonoma, Amazon.com, Trader Joe’s, Target and Kroger.
NRF: Retail sales to drop 0.5 percent in 2009
Washington–Retail industry sales, excluding automobiles, gas stations and restaurants, are expected to decrease 0.5 percent compared with 2008, as consumers continue to shift their spending priorities, according to the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) 2008 economic forecast, released on Tuesday.
“Most of the consumer behavior we saw in 2008 will continue well into this year,” NRF Chief Economist Rosalind Wells said in a media release issued this morning.
Mardi Gras store opens for season, sells gifts the rest of the year
Joe Elliott has no excuse not to be the best dressed at Southeast Texas’ annual Mardi Gras events.
Elliott is the co-owner of Elliott’s Mardi Gras Outlet – which is known simply as Elliott’s for most of the year – and his store is stocked with colorful beads, hats, T-shirts and jewelry that all will be gone come Mardi Gras weekend.
Mardi Gras this year is Feb. 19 to 22.
Just before football season ends every year, Elliot said he starts getting orders for the items.
The wealthy turn stealthy as economy weakens
Beverly Hills, CA — Throwing your money around is so pre-recession.
As the economy weakens, the wealthy and the businesses that cater to them say it’s more common — even chic — to scale back extravagant spending and play down affluence. Retailing experts call it luxury shame, or stealth wealth.
From Rodeo Drive to Fifth Avenue, that means one thing: Hide the labels.
Some shoppers are asking cashiers at high-end stores to put their purchases in plain white paper bags.
Bloggers ID “Sure Things” for 2009
NY, NY — Bloggers from noted design and trend-watching sites brought their savvy for spotting talent to the Accent on Design® division of the New York International Gift Fair® (NYIGF®), calling out innovative products and emerging trends as part of the first-ever “Bloggers’ Choice Awards.”
A panel of design afficionados from emerging and alternative media channels identified the following companies, products and trends as “ones to watch” this season:
Hollister Hovey of HollisterHovey.blogspot.com: My choice for best design is the Strida MOOF bike by Areawear.
Mary Ann’s Chocolates craves drop-ins
East Grand Rapids, MI — Music teacher Mary Hillyard did a full-body double-take when she saw the newest Gaslight Village business was an old favorite: Mary Ann’s Chocolates.
She and three other East Grand Rapids teachers trooped in on impulse.
“I’ve got to stop and get something for my wife,” said music teacher Bill Bier.
Don Kallil, a managing partner, is familiar with that reaction now.
Accent on Design Awards Recognize Design Excellence
New York, NY — Five companies were recognized for superlative creativity and ingenuity in product design at the juried Accent on Design® division of the New York International Gift Fair® (NYIGF®). Accent on Design runs through Thursday, January 29, at New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.
Accent on Design awards were presented to:
Best New Product Design:
Independent gift retailers holding their own
Independent gift retailers in Scotland are defying the downturn and outperforming other high street traders, according to a survey.
Figures published last week by the Scottish Retail Consortium showed that non-food sales in December in Scotland suffered their worst fall since 1999, but a survey by the organisers of the country’s Trade Fair paints a brighter picture.
Some retailers have enjoyed a rise in sales after a poor autumn.
Seeing Red—Merchants happy to see the festive hue
Some local businesses are seeing red this time of year, but it has nothing to do with the state of the economy. They are just getting in the spirit for the Valentine’s Day.
How much is that skull in the window?
Once was, the best shows over the holiday season and into the new year weren’t in the theatres but in store windows.
Giddy throngs of shoppers were mesmerized by tin-plated mechanical elves capering in automated holiday spirit. Electric trains snaked through decked-out window displays festooned with gifts. No Disney was needed with these clockwork dioramas around. Their gizmo fakery was as transparent and enjoyable as Tiny Tim’s best wishes.
Miserly retail practices years ago put the kibosh on most window-dressing dazzle. A cowed economy won’t coax it back soon.
Steady sales at stores keep tails wagging
The nation may be in an economic slump, but many of the pet product vendors attending the recent Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market said the pet market is holding its own.
“My December sales were the same as 2007, and my total 2008 sales were up over 2007,” said Abby Adams, who owns a pet store in Birmingham and also wholesales pet products such as collars, toys, clothing and treats.
Dion Longtin, who was selling Premier Pet Products, said his sales at the January wholesale show for retailers in Atlanta were up from his last AmericasMart show in July.
Antioch business workshops try to keep small employers afloat
Parwin Fazli is determined to keep her company afloat even as every week seems to bring word of another business caving to the weak economy.
“We have to make it,” said Fazli, co-owner of the Antioch limousine service All Vital Transportation.
K. PEER Designs to Introduce Magazine Clutch Purse at New York International Gift Fair
St. Louis, MO – In today’s world, women are looking for a way to have an attainable style that is all their own, following the trend that recently, icons such as Michelle Obama have set forth. In response, K.
Houma natives launching barbecue-sauce
Houma, LA — For years, his friends told Kenneth Fakier to do something with the sauces and seasonings that drew rave reviews from his family, friends and guests, even other locals in the food business.
At last, Fakier and his wife, Libby, who now live near Atlanta, are starting a company, Bayou Barq, to take the seasonings to a much wider audience.
And they’re using the Houma area as the springboard.
“We wanted to launch it in our backyard, our hometown,” said Libby Fakier, 41, in a telephone interview this week.
Main St. bucks the recession
Madison, WI – Can it be that Main Street, Madison, bucked the national recession that saw steep declines in retail sales for December’s holiday shopping season?
With a little help from its friends in the community, that seems to be the case.
Collaboration was the key to success in December’s “If You Love Madison, Shop Madison” campaign, according to Main Street Executive Director James Burnet.
Merchants, borough government, residents and schools all played their part in the campaign to attract shoppers downtown, which ran from “Black Friday,” the day after Th