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Stigma lifted from gift certificates
Rogers – There was a day when the gift card was viewed as a last resort. The only time you gave one as a gift during the holidays was if you were too strapped for time to get out and shop or you honestly couldn’t find the item you were looking for.
That’s obviously changed.
The National Retail Federation, the world’s largest retail trade association, projected that consumers in the United States would spend $26.3 billion on gift cards this holiday season.
Adora Debuts 15 New Dolls in Limited Edition Collection
Edison, NJ – Adora, one of the leading designers and crafters of fine limited edition and collectible dolls, announces the introduction of 15 new dolls to its Limited Edition Collection, including one brand new face sculpt. The dolls in the 2008 Limited Edition Collection are costumed in international garb, representing countries from around the globe. Authentic fabrics and materials were used to craft costumes that illustrate the rich cultural traditions of the countries and continents represented. The dolls are 22″ tall and retail for $140 – $180.00.
Gift Wrap is Going Green; Dallas, TX Based Company Dedicated to Preserving the Earth
Polar Bears and Penguins, founded in 2007, is dedicated to preserving the earth’s resources through innovative and stylish gift wrapping alternatives. In lieu of traditional tissue paper that is easily torn, wrinkled, and thrown away, Polar Bears and Penguins has created a refreshingly hip alternative that can be re-used and passed along an infinite number of times. Each bundle is available in an assortment of colors and is embellished with a variety of decorative accessories to make each piece unique and visually appealing.
Woodard: Harbor gift shop offers an eclectic selection
After a 30-year career in the aircraft insurance brokerage business, a narrow niche of the insurance industry, Carol King decided she’d had enough of that business. It was time for her to launch a business of her own.
King, a Ventura resident, opened Carol’s Cottage by the Sea store in Ventura Harbor Village in May 2006. It’s an 800-square-foot store next to Le Petit Cafe that sells unusual gifts, collectibles and decorative items for homes.
“I was tired of being chained to a desk,” King said.
Post-Christmas bounty: $60 billion
New York — Retailers shouldn’t write off the 2007 holiday shopping season just yet.
U.S. retailers’ holiday sales up
New York – U.S. retailers’ sales rose 3.6 percent in holiday shopping, at the lower end of expectations, helped by a late-season spending surge on some items, according to data released on Tuesday by SpendingPulse.
The figures, from the retail data service of MasterCard Advisors, offer a glimpse at the strength of the 2007 holiday shopping season, which was expected to grow at the slowest rate in five years, as U.S.
Last-minute shoppers brighten retailers’ hopes
Shoppers packed the Concord Mall on Sunday, despite discouraging economic realities such as the price of gasoline nearing $3 a gallon and the national mortgage mess that has housing prices in a freefall.
On this, the last Sunday before Christmas, it was shoulder-to-shopping bag at the retail mecca on U.S.
Independent merchants find ways to stay afloat in tough economic times
New York — At Jeff Cassels’ jewelry store, falling real-estate values and rising gold prices are more than news headlines — they are contributors to an uncertain holiday season. At Joanie McDonald’s clothing store, however, a weakening dollar is good for sales.
This season finds independent retailers across the country dealing with a new set of economic challenges even as they still contend with growing competition from big-box retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Borders Inc.
Men fill the ranks of last-minute shoppers
Robert Anderson is a textbook example of a last-minute shopper.
First off, he’s a guy. Second, he thrives on imminent deadlines. Third, said the Fletcher Hills resident, the holidays always sneak up on him.
“I don’t even know Christmas is here until it’s really here,” he said.
Still, Anderson shrugged off the stress of finding gifts on such a tight schedule as he walked through Westfield University Towne Centre yesterday.
“I have an attention span issue.
Retail entrepreneurs open doors in time to capture holiday spending
Waterloo — The holiday season is celebrated by retailers as the time of year when they go “into the black” and start turning a profit for the year. But the window from mid-November until just after Christmas is also a prime time for startup retailers to set up shop.
After working for thirteen years at the Cedar Bend Humane Society, Carrie Ragsdale wanted a change of pace, so she decided to start a company in Waterloo. Each year she traveled through Indiana near the holiday season and picked up hundreds of dollars worth of hand-dipped candles to give out as presents.
Mercy gift shop to incorporate RFID technology
Rogers – Thanks to the enterprising effort and philanthropic spirit of a group of local college students, Mercy Medical Center will employ some of the latest retail technology at its volunteer-operated gift shop.
Three computer-science students at the University of Arkansas have custom-built a software program enabling Mercy to utilize Radio Frequency Identification in its gift shop, according to a news release from Mercy on Friday. This technology goes beyond current bar-code scanning.
Seasonal outlets go beyond the kiosks
They materialize in vacant storefronts with promises of holiday presents, and just as suddenly they become ghosts of Christmas past.
It’s becoming more common for seasonal businesses to shun the temporary-looking kiosks at the malls and opt instead for actual store space with a more permanent feel.
There’s even a name in the industry for this kind of setup: “temporary in-line stores.”
Not to worry — you can still find your calendar companies and sausage salespeople in the middle of the mall, where you’re used to seeing them.
But other businesses lend themselves more toward flo
Pacific Market Center Hosts Expert-Led Seminars Buzzing With Competitive Business Solutions For the New Year
SEATTLE – Pacific Market Center announces a dynamic group of speakers providing buyers with ideas on everything that is buzzing in the industry during Seattle Market Week – Winter Gift and Home Accessories Show January 30-February 5, 2008, the West Coast’s premier week-long buying event. Speakers will conduct complimentary seminars designed to sharpen buyers’ competitive edge for fueled business growth throughout the year. Featured speakers include:
- Tamra Fleming, founder of Life Architecture – Wednesday, Jan.
New Hook Rug Designs by Homespice Decor
Tucker, Ga. – Homespice Decor, a leading designer and manufacturer of braided, hook and penny rugs and coordinating accessories, celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2008. The firm continues its tradition of providing some of the most unique designs and highest quality rugs by introducing three new additions to its popular hook rug collection: Antique Symmetry, Wild Rose and Walk in the Flowers.
The new designs are created with a traditional hooking technique that hooks narrow strips of wool fabric into a flat base, creating raised loops that form a pile.
One in Five Men Have Not Started Holiday Shopping, According to NRF
No matter what way you choose to look at it, procrastinators abound this holiday season, but the biggest holiday dawdlers this year are men, according to NRF’s 2007 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch. The survey found that nearly one in five men (19.4%) had yet to begin their holiday shopping, more than women (13.7%) or young adults 18-24 (17.6%).
An impressive 25 million consumers (11.7%) have completely finished their holiday shopping, but more than 35 million shoppers (16.5%) admit they haven’t even started.
More holiday shoppers say they’ll spend less
New York (Reuters) – More consumers are planning to spend less this holiday season than a year ago, according to a survey released on Tuesday that adds a fresh note of caution to what is shaping up to be a ho-hum holiday shopping season.
The National Retail Federation survey also showed consumers continue to procrastinate, meaning the final days of the shopping season will be crucial for retailers.
“The last-minute rush will be busier than ever this year,” said NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin in a statement.
The survey, conducted between December 4 and December 11, found that 33.4
Retailers Look to Last-Minute Shopping
New York (AP) — Despite generous discounting and expanded shopping hours earlier in the season, many stores are finding themselves in the same predicament as in recent years: waiting for those last-minute shoppers in the final days before Christmas who seem to be procrastinating even more than a year ago.
Based on early reports from analysts and malls, sales results were generally unimpressive this past weekend, as shoppers were held back by a snow storm that spread a mix of sleet, freezing rain and snow from the Great Lakes states to New England.
Gift Cards: Easy buy becomes personal
If you receive a gift card this holiday season, don’t be surprised if it lights up, sings to you, has a familiar face on it or smells like gingerbread when you scratch it.
Those are some of the new features on gift cards this year offered by retailers including Target, Borders and American Eagle Outfitters.
“They are whimsical and fun,” said Borders spokeswoman Ann Binkley of the gift cards the Ann Arbor-based bookseller is offering.
Retailers Face an Ominous Holiday Sign
Sales of women’s clothing, a traditional pillar of the holiday shopping season, are unusually bleak so far this year, according to a major credit card company, an ominous sign for the retail industry.
From high-end dresses to bargain coats, spending on women’s apparel dropped nearly 6 percent during the first half of the Christmas season, compared with the same period last year, according to MasterCard Advisors, a division of the credit card company.
Analysts blamed a rough economy, which has discouraged women — and mothers, in particular — from splurging on clothing for the
Holiday shoppers flood stores
Grand Chute — As shoppers slide into the final stretch before Christmas, store fliers tout “last-minute gifts.”
For some, however, it isn’t last minute at all. With a full week left, it’s just the beginning of their buying sprees.
“I just started shopping,” said Mow Lee of Green Bay, as she stepped into the Fox River Mall on Saturday afternoon.
“We’re busy most of the time,” said her husband Phia Thao on their late start.