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Benning shop stocks more than gifts
Nestled between Wold Avenue and Dixie Road on Fort Benning sits a quaint gift shop.
From the outside, A Bit of Benning could easily be mistaken for just another sterile government building. Inside, however, visitors are greeted with warm smiles and a unique shopping atmosphere.
The Fort Benning Community Spouses’ Club opened the gift shop five years ago. All proceeds from A Bit of Benning go directly to the group’s board of directors who decide how and when to distribute the funds.
Counter culture
It’s 10 a.m. on Thursday, and just about every seat is full at the General Mercantile’s counter bar.
This is the second wave of regular customers at this unusual business on Last Chance Gulch — it’s part coffee house, part gift shop, part meeting place and completely unique.
Everyone seems to know everyone else’s name, and no one is in much of a hurry to move on.
Shell sales by seashore suit owner
Imperial Beach — For 25 years, Bibbey’s Seashell Shop has not only been a place where tourists can pick up a puka shell necklace or a kitschy beach scene made from assorted shells. It’s a place for serious collectors, too.
The blue-hued Bibbey’s, across from the Imperial Beach pier, is one of those old-fashioned shell stores where workers behind the counter know what they’re talking about.
“Lucky for me, I grew up around shells and we were my dad’s workers,” said Michael Bibbey, referring to his brother Marion Bibbey.
Nimblest retailers will trump hard times
Marianne Hassan has one rule when it comes to surviving the recession: when the going gets tough, the tough deliver personally.
Despite declining sales since November, the owner of Ottawa’s high-end lingerie boutique, BraChic, hasn’t taken the bad news lying down.
Determined not just to maintain but increase her clientele, Hassan says she’s had to become creative in running her business.
As many other small retailers in Canada, she’s reduced staff hours. But more important, she’s taken customer service to a new level.
Location suits her just fine
Bridgette Seaborne-Parker has been told that she faces an uphill battle by opening her Beautiful Occasions gift and flower shop on Wharf Hill in the Smithfield historic district.
Yes, the shop is downhill — literally — from the primary thoroughfare of Smithfield’s shopping district on Main Street. And the small extension is sometimes an afterthought for shoppers.
Seaborne, however, sees potential.
At first glance, the interior of the store reflects a vintage ambience with its antique and Early American dark-wood furnishings.
Acting Out’s musical petticoat plays two songs
Acting Out is excited to introduce their first two song skirt. This adorable petticoat style skirt plays the Hokey Pokey and Can Can. These two timeless dance songs are fun for the entire family. The high energy Can Can music will get any little girl to kick up her heels. While the interactive Hokey Pokey music provides hours of entertainment while also helping children learn their body parts and right/left.
Made with layer upon layer of hot pink, super soft tulle and satin. Polka dotted tulle fabric adds a little whimsy to this already adorable skirt.
Las Vegas Market Spotlights Sustaining & Gaining in ‘09
Las Vegas—Eco-friendly home furnishings exhibits and complementary educational programs planned for the Winter Las Vegas Market (February 9 – 13) illustrate how simple—and stylish—reducing our carbon footprints can be.
The glass-enclosed Living Green Pavilion showroom, a popular attraction at Las Vegas Market, has moved to prime real estate on the World Market Center Las Vegas campus, Building B, Suite B-220, which will resemble a sustainable Shangri-La.
Family flower shop hopes business blooms
Plainfield, NJ —The clientele at Ms. Shanya Flowers & Gifts is as varied as this city itself, with people of all races, ages and backgrounds stopping in from time to time in order to pick up something for loved ones. The employees, on the other hand, are all cut from the same mold.
Owner Mary Burgess has her personnel needs filled out exclusively with the help of four children, 17 grandchildren, a half-dozen great-grandchildren and a handful of other relatives living in the immediate area, with a vast rotation of workers all hailing from the same gene pool.
Save Our Shops campaign launched in Harborough
Market Harborough needs your help.
For the first time in many years the spectre of closed and boarded up shops has appeared in the town.
As the credit crunch bites across Britain, the plight of high street giants Marks & Spencer and Woolworths has sent an air of anxiety sweeping through our homes and businesses.
Until recently we have complacently thought of Market Harborough as a quietly prosperous town, somehow immune from the worst ravages of recession elsewhere.
But now our enviable mix of independent little shops, long-established family firms and top brand nati
Holiday Sales Decline 2.8 Percent in 2008, According to NRF
New York City, NY – A deep recession, severe winter weather and five fewer shopping days combined to create the most challenging sales environment in years for the nation’s retailers.
Trade Show for Retail Entrepreneurs Sees Exceptional Growth Despite Tough Times
Hanover, MA—A Las Vegas trade show for retail entrepreneurs who operate carts and kiosks in malls, airports, resorts and other high-traffic retail venues is experiencing significant growth despite a tough retail market.
Sally Miller, director of the Specialty Retail Entrepreneur Expo & Conference, or SPREE, scheduled for April 21-23, 2009 at The Venetian in Las Vegas, reports that both exhibitor and attendee registrations are “way ahead of last year, which tells you a lot about the strength of the $12 billion cart and kiosk industry.”
“Our attendee registrations are up more
The Industry’s Most Magnificent Carpets Honored in One Spectacular Evening
Atlanta, GA—The world’s newest, most spectacular carpets were honored at the Area Rug industry’s most celebrated event Saturday, January 10, in the 2009 America’s Magnificent Carpets® Awards sponsored exclusively by Architectural Digest.
The Awards—the signature event of the Atlanta International Area Rug Market® featuring The National Oriental Rug Show—brought more than 1,000 area rug industry buyers and manufactures together to celebrate the triumph of design achievement, with more than 80 rugs competing for the industry’s highest honors.
The 2009 Awards—staged at th
Hawaii shop finds customer loyalty is in the cards
Malia Johnson is practical when she talks about the little purple-and-white cards that customers redeemed during the holidays for discounts on jewelry, candles, crystals and other gifts at Sedona, her gift store in Ward Centre.
While the impact of giving $10 off for each card may have prevented Sedona from exceeding 2007’s holiday sales, “at least they’re being used and it brings people back,” she said.
Johnson began Sedona’s customer loyalty program in 1998 in response to big-box retailers such as Wal-Mart and Pier One Imports moving into the metro Honolulu market.
Microsoft announces new Windows for point-of-sale
Microsoft has released the latest version of its Windows platform tailored for retail and point-of-sale (POS) environments.
Announced today at the National Retail Federation annual convention in the US, Windows Embedded POSReady 2009 is aimed at connecting sales terminals seamlessly with back-end servers and other infrastructure.
Based on Windows XP with Service Pack 3, the new software can be customised for specific hardware requirements and is easy to deploy and install remotely, according to Microsoft.
7 W New York® Hosts “Ceramica Magnifica!”
NY, NY – “Ceramica Magnifica! Celebration of a Heritage,” highlights the importance and diversity of Italian ceramic design in an exhibition of sculptures and decorative objects coming to 7 W, New York’s largest marketplace for tabletop, gift and home decor. After an extremely successful launch at the Westchester Italian Cultural Center (WICC) in October as part of the regional All Fired Up initiative, the exhibit will travel to the Big Apple and open on January 25th, just in time for the New York Gift & Home Textiles Market Week.
Pacific Market Center Remains the West Coast’s Leading Wholesale Market
Seattle, WA – Pacific Market Center, the leading permanent wholesale market on the west coast, is attracting manufacturers from around the globe to have their product lines sold and prominently displayed in its vibrant showrooms.
Pacific Market Center will be introducing 26 new or expanded showrooms to its five floors of design-driven space for the Show. The showrooms are filled with more than 100 new lines of the latest products in every category, many reflecting today’s hottest trends from “green” and sustainable to gourmet food and cooking at home.
Planet Dog Announces Winners of Annual Adoption Champion Awards Program
Portland, Maine – Planet Dog is proud to announce the winners of their annual Adoption Champion Awards. As part of their ongoing campaign to encourage adoption and reduce the number of pets euthanized each year, Planet Dog created the awards program to support, encourage and reward Planet Dog retailers who “romp the extra mile” when it comes to social responsibility, philanthropy and advocacy for pet adoption.
Each fall, Planet Dog’s ACA Committee, a cross-functional team of staff members, selects winners from the pool of those nominated by the company’s Sales Account Executives.
Couple defy recession by opening new age gift shop
In South Wales, as across the rest of the UK, countless jobs have already been lost to the credit crunch. But there is life after redundancy.
Going green easy with help from Lakewood gift store
Lakewood, OH — “Going green” was one of the most overused catchphrases of 2008. It even topped the list for banishment in the annual Lake Superior State University overused words survey.
But that’s not to say it’s a bad idea. In fact, it’s great — as long you don’t brag about it ad nauseum.
Now a new Lakewood shop is making going green, er, being environmentally responsible, a little easier.
Opened last summer by former banking executive Mary Evans, Green Smart Gifts sells eco-friendly fashions, toys, bath and body products and home decor.
Grand Cru Wines & Gifts opens in southwest Fort Worth
Fort Worth, TX — Grand Cru Wines & Gifts, a new independent wine and gift shop in southwest Fort Worth, opened December 27, 2008. The full-service specialty wine boutique offers a broad selection of wines from around the world, a wine bar, and a wide variety of gift and other related merchandise. Prices start at $8 per bottle, with an average price of $25.
The almost 3,000 square-foot wine shop is a dream come true for co-owners Karen and Kayne Chu, who both have long-time careers at Fort Worth-based Alcon Laboratories.