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Twelve Ways Small Business Owners Can Keep Their Best Employees
Every entrepreneur knows the hectic lifestyle that comes along with starting and running a company. But this work schedule affects employees. They don’t enjoy the long hours or the days and nights they must unexpectedly come into the office to handle emergencies. If too many such days come and go without any acknowledgement from employers, they’ll be handing out their resumes all over town.
Mom-and-pop milieu offers change from valley chain stores
Nestled in the Santa Cruz Mountains along Big Basin Way, Saratoga’s downtown, nicknamed the Village, has traditionally been something of an anachronism.
The collection of sunny mom-and-pop outfits with 1960s-style storefronts, where shoppers can stroll in and have the store’s proprietor help them with their purchases, are a dying breed in Northern California.
Saratoga clings to that quaint, cozy image largely by keeping big-time commercial stores from setting up shop in the Village. Starbucks, which won the city council’s approval in 2005, was a rare exception.
Big change didn’t hurt small-town feel in city
Downtown Grapevine was old before old became fashionable.
Now its historic Main Street stands as an example of how to make retail work as part of a downtown revival — and that’s no small feat. In the past few years, the key corridor of this old trading town has been updated and upgraded significantly without losing its small-town feel.
Walk into the five dozen or so stores, and you’re likely to encounter the owner-operator, tending to customers and shining up the merchandise.
Personal Accessory, Wellness and Green Products Drive Sales at San Francisco International Gift Fair
White Plains, NY – Strong buying was reported by exhibitors in every category at the summer edition of the San Francisco International Gift Fair (SFIGF), featuring more than 1,200 companies at San Francisco’s Moscone Center, July 28-August 1, 2007. Hundreds of new companies invigorated the Fair’s resources with fresh takes and introductions across all divisions. Growth in personal accessories and personal care exhibitors was accompanied by notable product innovation in both categories, while green and sustainable products emerged as the Fair’s leading trend.
Home Textiles Market Week Successful at Multiple Locations in New York City
White Plains, NY – The recent Home Textiles Market Week lured home textiles retailers, as well as gift and home buyers with interest in better home fashions to New York City, from August 9-16, for what was deemed a cohesive, convenient market.
In total, the Home Textiles Market Week offered buyers access to nearly 500 better home textiles suppliers at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and Passenger Ship Terminal Pier 94, 230 Fifth Avenue and 7 West 34th Street.
World Market Center Welcomes Independent Specialty Stores During Juvenile Expo Held in Las Vegas September 7 – 10
Las Vegas – World Market Center, the premier home furnishings showroom and trade complex, is welcoming the thousands of buyers and designers visiting Las Vegas for the juvenile expo being held September 7 – 10. Buildings A and B at World Market Center Las Vegas will feature many permanent tenants who serve the juvenile products industry.
More than 34 showrooms will be participating during the four-day event, providing World Market Center tenants and year-round showrooms with the ideal opportunity to market to these visiting buyers.
Pine Ridge Art Inc. Announces New Product Line
Markham – Pine Ridge Art Inc is pleased to announce their new product line Art Boutique by Pine Ridge Art.
Art Boutique by Pine Ridge Art is a trend-driven line of stationery products that builds upon the success of Pine Ridge Art by utilizing their high quality production capabilities and art licensing experience.
Baby Planet scores three awards for strollers
Chicago, IL – Baby Planet is proud to announce that all three of its new strollers styles, the Solo, Unity and Max, have won awards from Creative Child Magazine. The magazine gave its top prize, Top Choice Award 2007, to the Max Pro in the Travel System Category.
In addition, the Solo Sport and the Unity Sport won the Seal of Excellence in the Stroller Category.
“We are thrilled that our strollers, borne of innovation and hard work, are being received so enthusiastically,” said president Pete Myers.
New Showroom, New Design Categories Headline Nova Fall 2007 High Point Market Introductions
Huntington Park, CA – To better showcase its growing collection of lifestyle offerings, NOVA Lighting will open a newly expanded and relocated showroom during the upcoming October 2007 High Point Furniture Market. Moving to IHFC Commerce Building Space C403, NOVA will unveil the latest additions to its new home accent and wall decor lines, as well as a record number of creative new lighting designs.
The new space will also showcase the latest innovations from Jon Gilmore Designs, Inc. and American Lamp Company, two companies recently acquired by NOVA.
Textillery Goes Green: New Bamboo Collection Headlines High Point Fall 2007 Market Designs
Bloomington, IN – Woven accents leader Textillery Weavers will showcase a new collection of throws crafted from environmentally sustainable bamboo yarns during the October 2007 High Point Furniture Market.
Crocs earn rave reviews for their versatility and comfort; Imitators are sprouting like wildflowers
Crocs are the ugliest shoes on the planet. Even Crocs fans admit it.
Even so, the clunky, funky clogs — and their many imitators — are well on the way to being among the most popular footwear in the world.
Crocs’ bulbous Beach model was launched in November, 2002. Since then, 50 new models in 30 different colors have encased millions of feet in more than 80 countries — and spawned a dozen Croc-alikes.
The original Crocs shoe was the roomy Beach model for men and women.
Easy being green: Outdoorsman launches natural skincare brand
Capitalizing on consumers’ growing zeal for all things “green,” Montclair entrepreneur Justin Klabin, already second-in-command at a father/son fragrance company, has embarked on a new venture that makes all-natural goods for devotees of the outdoors.
The brand for his startup business, Klabin Design, has been dubbed “63-North,” after the latitude of Mt. McKinley, Alaska. At 20,320 feet, it’s North America’s highest peak, but that’s only part of the reason Klabin chose it for the name.
It also sounded catchy.
“I’ve never been to Mt.
Designing jewelry is a one-of-a-kind process for Zachary Bloom
Zachary Bloom is indeed a modern-day Renaissance man — a person gifted with multiple talents who particularly excels in the arts and the sciences.
As a drama therapist working in a Queens-based facility, serving the brain-injured, he employs the healing properties of the theater.
“At a time when I was pursuing my acting career, I realized how difficult it was to make it as an actor,” Bloom told The Times.
Black Swan Fireside, Hearth and Home: Big New Home for Black Swan
Newtown – Tom and Carrie Swan began their Black Swan chimney sweep business out of their home in Sandy Hook 29 years ago.
They soon became very busy and soon opened a small woodstove shop with accessories in Sandy Hook Center.
Why the name Black Swan?
It is not because of the name of the owners. Tom explained that in colonial days settlers usually dropped a white goose down the chimney. The dirtier the bird when it landed (from creosote), the cleaner the chimney – thus, a black swan.
In 1988 the couple moved the business to 182 South Main Street.
ICSC: Same-store sales rise 0.2%
New York – Sales at U.S. retail stores open at least one year rose 0.2 percent over the past week, reversing the previous week’s 0.9-percent decline, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers and UBS Securities LLC report for the seven days ending Aug.
Longtime ‘country store’ remains corner fixture
It’s been 10 years since they bought Ted’s Country Store on North Tucson Boulevard near Glenn Street, but Peter and Sheila Butterbrodt still get customers wondering about Ted.
“Ninety percent of the time, I tell them I’m Ted.
Blog It and They May Come
A few months after launching a blog early last year, Get It In Writing Inc. started seeing traffic to its Web site soar.
Today the small marketing-copywriting firm in Boca Raton, Fla., draws as many as 150,000 unique visitors a month to its site, compared with an average of only 100 before the blog, which features advice and trends on marketing and resides within the company’s Web site.
But Allison Nazarian, the company’s 36-year-old founder and president, says all that traffic didn’t lead to more sales right away.
High costs put gift shop out of business
After 10 years working as an office manager, Stephanie Roe fulfilled her dream of opening her own gift shop. Now, three years later, she’s closing its doors.
Mima and Co., of 19 E. Oakland Ave. in Doylestown, will sell its last birdhouse, kaleidoscope and limited-edition print Aug. 30. High rent and the cost of benefits made her storefront business unprofitable, Roe said, despite negotiation attempts with her landlord.
But that doesn’t mean that Mima’s distinctive gifts are going anywhere.
Lava Candles Turns 20!
From their humble beginnings in 1988, Lava has made a name for themselves with the innovative “glowing candle” line. Lava contines to be the innovator in candle design and quality, staying one step ahead of the trends in fashion, color, shape, design and fragrance.
Lava currently works with such major licenses as Snapple, Betty Crocker and Pillsbury to deliver unique branded candles.