Archives: News
Manual Woodworkers & Weavers Inc. Celebrates 75th Anniversary
Hendersonville, NC – Manual Woodworkers & Weavers, Inc. is celebrating 75 years of excellence and success in business this year.
In 1932, Tom and Queenie Oates opened The Manual Woodworkers, a small souvenir and craft business in Gerton, North Carolina. Using electrical power generated by a water wheel from a nearby stream, Tom made wood souvenirs on a wood lathe while Queenie gathered crafts made by local artisans. Today, 75 years later, Manual continues to peak the consumer’s interest by producing quality products that top the charts in the gift and home decor industries.
Escape the cubicle; How to be your own boss
For Jill Robbins, the turning point came in the form of a peach muffin.
The mother of a toddler with severe food allergies, Robbins started her own food business so that her son could eat tasty treats with his friends.
For Walter and Chris Chapin of Concord, the drive to work independently led away from corporate computer land and into a high-end interior design business.
For Manchester mom Becky O’Neil, business success came almost incidentally, as she tagged along to some house parties and showed off her one-of-a-kind handbags.
And for Deborah Osgood, who once managed investment p
Volume Control
Julian Treasure isn’t happy with what he hears. Standing in a coffee bar in London’s Soho district, he’s forced to raise his voice to list the noises bouncing around the cafe: the rumble of an espresso machine, the hum of a refrigerator and the tinny tones of Michael Jackson through shoddy speakers. To Treasure, it sounds like money slipping away. “The soundscape is brutal,” he says.
Annaleece Enhances Website to Include Online Ordering and More!
In a continued effort to provide superior customer service to their retailers and sales representatives, Annaleece recently added online ordering and search capability to their website www.annaleece.com. Other additions include access to customer information, order inquiry, RMA status, credit information, and sales order history.
Searching & Ordering?
The new website features allow authorized users to simply enter their user name and password to access up-to-date information on the entire Annaleece inventory.
Holly’s Fine Flowers splits locations
When a building became open on Upper Sims Way, Holly’s Fine Flowers owner Michele Henery believed it was “perfect for a florist.”
The space became available July 1, and the florist branch of Holly’s Fine Flowers moved from Water Street downtown to the corner of Thomas Street and Upper Sims Way, across from the Habitat for Humanity store and the Craft Cottage.
The move should alleviate what had become the number one problem of a floral shop downtown: parking.
“There were local complaints,” explained Henery about customers not being able to quickly park and dash to the store to order or
World Market Center’s Building C Reaches Skyward
Las Vegas – Excitement is mounting within the home furnishings industry as the third building of World Market Center prepares to take its place on the ever-expanding downtown Las Vegas skyline.
The 2.1 million square-foot building is scheduled for completion in 2008 and will debut with the Summer Las Vegas Market, taking place July 28 through Aug. 1, 2008. Upon completion of Building C, the first three structures of World Market Center will showcase five million square feet of permanent showrooms.
New items in April Cornell Collections from C & F Enterprises
April Cornell’s designs reflect her passion for making an occasion of every day by creating surroundings rich with color and luxurious texture. C&F Enterprises announces its debut of new product expansions to its current April Cornell collections, Sonnet, Athena, Alaysia and Avian. New products include a hooked rug, apron, table topper and guest towel that feature the color palettes and artistic designs of April Cornell.
Trash still treasured at Woodstock Chimes; Founder shares story of company’s original products, built from landfill materials
Woodstock Chimes Founder and CEO Garry Kvistad does not take lightly the familiar saying “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” In the early 1970s, Garry began what would become Woodstock Chimes in – of all places – an Illinois landfill. A recent college graduate at the time, Garry was teaching at Northern Illinois University. As a benefit of the job, he could take several courses each year, so Garry enrolled in one that taught techniques for making instruments.
iCare by High IntenCity for Girls Inc.
Fair Lawn, NJ, – High IntenCity Corp. is especially proud to announce a new line of girl’s jewelry that supports and promotes the company’s favorite charities. The line, iCare by High IntenCity, debuts in support of Girls Incorporated, an extraordinary national non-profit youth organization dedicated to the mission of inspiring all girls to be strong, smart and bold.
The debut collection features contemporary, clean updates to traditional necklace and bracelet silhouettes with trend-inspired twists.
New digs give Artic Poppy Boutique room to bloom
Even in the middle of summer, when you least desire it, the quaint “cup of tea” kind of coziness inside Artic Poppy Boutique & Gallery Showroom will warm you up and sway you to stay.
Artic Poppy, a little house tucked behind Snow City Cafe on the east side of L Street, is a bit out of the way considering local shoppers’ typical stomping grounds.
Sweet idea N.H.-inspired chocolate treats win awards for home business
Rochester — In the relatively short time they’ve been in the chocolate business, Richard and Bette Jo Menzel have come away with two observations.
“They all look at it and say, ‘Am I going to break my tooth?'” Richard said of customers.
And “seventy percent of the people who try it, buy it,” he added.
Many people recall the everlasting goodness of M&Ms when they try the Menzels’ “Granite Gourmet” or “Seacoast Sweetshells.”
The award-winning, candy-coated milk chocolate snacks are a salute to the state’s granite composition and the region’s miles of picturesque coastline.
Town’s charm is easy sell; Taneytown boutique is latest addition to steady influx of new tenants
When Jeff and Cynthia Lewis first saw the dilapidated Taneytown property in photographs three years ago, they believed it needed to be saved.
Inside, the ceiling was crumbling and the entire structure needed upgrading. But Jeff Lewis said he was up for the challenge.
“I bought the building for $170,000, sight unseen, with the intention of fixing it up on a part-time basis,” said Lewis, 51, of Fort Myers, Fla. “The location and the town were perfect.
Local retailers prep for holidays; Small-business owners scour country for the next hot product
It’s finally starting to feel like summer in Whatcom County, but many retailers these days are thinking about mistletoe, hot chocolate and holiday cheer.
The next few weeks will be a retailers’ version of a shopping spree, as many descend on vendor shows to find products they think will be the hot-selling items during the holiday shopping season this winter.
Hold on to customers by treating them as you would treat yourself
Why don’t people care anymore? Why are they so quick to say no? Why do most companies say they care about customer service but do so little to improve it?
The hard part of business is getting the customer, and the easy part is keeping them. I guarantee that if you tell this to senior management at some companies, they would disagree with me.
What is so tough here?
Welcome mat is out for campaign workers; State rejected idea, but Nashua merchants promote discount program
Nashua — There are just a handful of presidential candidate field offices here and months to go before the big day.
Stop by this store, just for a spell
Monroe — An old-fashioned straw broom hangs on the wall at Talisman, a New Age gift and craft shop at 150 Main St., but nobody grabs it to clean house.
It’s a magical broom. “You would use it to sweep away the negativity in a certain area,” said Laura Lenhard, the Shelton resident who opened the shop nine months ago to offer spiritual and mystical artifacts from around the world.
African drums, used to beat out a hypnotic rhythm in a drum circle, are available alongside Mexican “Day of the Dead” skeleton dolls, known as “katrinas.”
The skeletons are not there to scare anyone.
High Tea
Call this the Eloise part of the story. You remember Eloise—the precocious imp who lived in New York’s Plaza Hotel and often ordered room service when she couldn’t sleep.
Like Eloise, Gail Baral was a bit of an insomniac as a child. With no access to room service, she did the next best thing: She summoned her mum and requested a bit of toast and a cup of tea. Together the two night owls would sit in a room lighted by the silver-blue glow of the TV, sipping Lipton’s and watching Johnny Carson until little Gail would nod off in her mother’s lap.
Flash forward 40 years.
Leave the shore behind with tote bags made from recycled sails
When Beth Shissler walked into Hannah Kubiak’s life three years ago, Hannah was cruising along, doing her thing, which happened to be making tote bags out of recycled sails. Since 1999, she has spent her days cutting and sewing canvas and Kevlar, and hand-splicing rope to make a durable, continuous handle, just like her ocean-loving dad had taught her years before.
Beth had taken a little time off from her corporate job to help her mother open a gift shop on Isle Au Haut. When she saw Hannah’s bags, she knew they’d be perfect, so she ordered 15 of them.
“Hannah said, ‘What?
Big-box stores are homing in on teachers; They hope discounts will reward and reel in the out-of-pocket spenders
The back-to-school season often has parents scouring ads for discounts and promotions on school supplies.
But teachers are looking for discounts, too.
Downtown Bristol atmosphere and merchants are attracting diverse new businesses
Bristol, Va. – Scott Howard can’t stop talking about the warm welcome he’s received from people in the Twin City.
The owner of Short Sheet Fabric, Howard recently opened his business in the former J.C. Penney building on State Street. It’s one of several new businesses that recently opened in the city’s downtown.
“I feel more at home here in six weeks than in Crossville [Tenn.], where I’ve lived most of my life,” Howard said.