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Study Finds That Problems Related to Salespeople are the Most Detrimental to Retailers
Philadelphia — A new study released today finds that Americans clearly deem front-line sales staff the single biggest detriment to their shopping experience, resulting in more lost business and negative word of mouth than any other shopping problem.
Antique store gets new digs
Hedgesville — With its new, historic location, North Mountain Arts has gained a roomful of antique wares ripe for purchasing.
Patina Antiques, the side business of Wendy Wigtil, now shares space with one of Hedgesville’s unique gift shops as part of a growing business community that local merchants hope will turn the small town into a destination on W.Va. 9.
At 201 N. Mary St., a home built sometime in the mid-1800s, owner Kristin Nelson and her husband and friends have worked to ready the space for the business, which moved from across the street.
Wisconsin’s independent retailers work hard to survive
WATERTOWN – The zipper was just 2 years old when Eli Fischer and a partner opened a clothing store on the west bank of the Rock River.
Now, after 112 years in this city’s downtown, Fischer’s Department Store is closing.
The store, believed to be the last family-owned department store in Wisconsin, is where confirmation students bought their first suits, high school students picked up gym uniforms and grooms rented tuxedos.
Over the last five years, it also has been a hub of creativity in an effort to fight off the end of a retail era.
Retailers look beyond Bellingham; As retail expands in the county, merchants offer a word to the wise: Give it time and have the
Karla and Santos Garza are learning how tough the retail industry can be.
The Garzas own Rocks & Things Gift Shop and Mail Drop in two buildings on Portal Way in Ferndale. They’ve operated the gift store for about six months and the mail services business for about two months. Sales at the gift store were strong during the holiday season but have slowed down in the first few months of this year.
“This is our first time owning a business, and we’re adjusting to what is happening,” said Karla Garza. “One of the biggest challenges is getting people to know we’re here.
Retail zones envisioned downtown
When RedPeak Properties began renovating the downtown high-rise now known as 1600 Glenarm Place, attracting the right ground-floor retailers was a critical part of the planning.
“We were trying to provide support for our residents and the lifestyle we were trying to create here, ‘the building never sleeps’ type of thing,” said Michael Zoellner, the group’s president.
Shopping for Mom
A nationwide spending trend during the first quarter that spilled over into April is expected to continue this month as consumers visit stores and restaurants for Mother’s Day.
Shoppers are expected to dole out almost $16 billion for the May 13 holiday, a national retail trade organization said.
The latest BIGresearch survey for the National Retail Federation found that 85 percent of consumers plan to celebrate Mother’s Day, with the average shopper spending $139, compared with last year’s $122.
Enesco Announces Launch of Newly Redesigned and Improved Consumer Shopping Website
Itasca, Ill. – Enesco, LLC, a leader in the giftware, and home and garden decor industries, today announced the launch of the Company’s enhanced and improved consumer shopping web site at enesco.com. The new web site features clearer navigation, enhanced functionality and an improved consumer shopping experience.
With eye-catching product images, the new web site introduces the online shopper to gift-giving ideas for every occasion and recipient, as well as by brand and price point.
Seminars, Events and Promotions Extend Opportunities at August 2007 NYIGF
White Plains, NY – A full slate of educational programming, after-hours networking events and exciting promotions will be offered to New York International Gift Fair (NYIGF) participants, Saturday, August 11, through Thursday, August 16, 2007, at New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, Passenger Ship Terminal Piers 88 and 94 and Metropolitan Pavilion.
Plain Jane’s Ceramic Line is Newest Branch for Oak Patch Gifts
Eugene, OR- Oak Patch Gifts announced today the expansion of its family of gift brands with the acquisition of Plain Jane, Inc. Designed by popular Louisiana based artist Jane Chapman, the line features hand painted plates, mugs, bowls and serving items and is a division of Plain Jane, Inc., established in 1987. Well known for her collection of inspirational sayings painted on slate, Jane brought her creative whimsy to ceramic table top gift items beginning in 2002.
Bead store in industrial park is hidden treasure
The industrial park atmosphere outside gives no clue to what you’ll find inside Confetti, The Bead Place.
This Surprise bead shop is tucked so far away, in fact, that the first time I tried to find the place without a map, I gave up.
Expert shares retail techniques
“This is your best opportunity for profit.”
Nationally known retail merchandising expert Rick Segel talked with Buck’s Shoes owner Kirk Brown as he leaned over the store’s jewelry counter that encloses its cash register toward the middle of the store.
Segel talked with some downtown Fremont merchants Wednesday afternoon before holding a seminar Wednesday night on techniques to help retail stores stand out from others.
Bazura Biz Expands Popular Collection of Eco-fashion Accessories With Launch of Banner Bags
Toronto, Ontario – Bazura Biz, a company that sells fashion accessories made from recycled materials, is proud to announce the launch of Banner Bags, a new collection of stylish and eco-friendly bags and accessories. Made from recycled advertising banners from billboards in Vietnam, the spectacular banners used in the new Banner Bag collection are already creating a buzz as the eco-fashion and green lifestyle movement continues to gain momentum.
Women like the colors, variation of design (no two bags are alike) and the texture of the material of the new Banner Bags.
Dragonfly makes you smile
Amid the hustle and bustle of shoppers walking up and down busy State Street in Newtown, just beneath the sidewalk down a small flight of stairs sits a little store that you might or might not have noticed.
In fact, according to its owner, Pamela Bauder, some people love the location because they feel like it’s their own secret place.
“I like to put that in our advertising,” Bauder said of her small shop, Dragonfly, located in the basement of the Godwin building. “Once you find us, you’ll love us.
Vineyard Decorators lures Islanders to shop at home
Vineyard Decorators recently unveiled a newly expanded design center and wide-ranging array of home furnishings, suitable for cottage or trophy house, aimed at keeping Islanders shopping locally.
Although Vineyard Decorators has been in business for 33 years, with the increasing lure of off-Island competition, owners John and Birgitta Parker said they recognized the importance of periodically analyzing their market and products in order to be responsive to their customers’ needs.
Tea shop becomes a weekly stop for sippers and diners in Aroostook County
In his novel “The Chosen,” Chaim Potok writes: “Come, let us have some tea and continue to talk about happy things.” Heidi Samuel lives by these words. And in central Aroostook County, so do a growing number of sippers and diners who have made a stop at Heidi’s Tea Shop in Presque Isle part of their weekly ritual.
Some come for carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, washed down with a strong cup of lavender-scented Earl Grey. Others drink in the cozy elegance of the dining room, with its white Damask tablecloths, tea-themed wallpaper and myriad teapots in all shapes and sizes.
Sara’s back, in full swing with own shop
One year ago, fresh from 16 years in Los Angeles, Sara Rohlfsen, 41, returned to her native Iowa with the idea of opening a flower shop.
She moved it into a building on the busy corner of Eighth Street and Grand Avenue in West Des Moines and named it Sara’s Garden House.
The shop has morphed into an eclectic place that sells fresh flowers and potted and bedding plants, antiques and gifts.
The Farmer’s Wife: a place of country charm
Omro – A lady from Iowa wondered if she’d heard correctly while shopping Friday at The Farmer’s Wife, the tiny gift shop on the Roger and Donna Laabs farm near Omro.
She’d laid down $41.90 to pay for her purchases and Donna Laabs took the two twenties and waved the rest away. The visitor appeared a little stunned.
“I always do that. It gives you seed money to come back,” Laabs said.
To say that The Farmer’s Wife, one of numerous home businesses that dot the countryside in the Omro area, is laid back is an understatement.
Buffalo Games Announces Unprecedented Product Line Expansion
Buffalo, NY – Buffalo Games, the makers of multiple award-winning party games and jigsaw puzzles, have launched 3 card games, 9 new jigsaw puzzle series and an innovative puzzle preservation tool for 2007.The card games surpass traditional boundaries of play with specially shaped cards, voting wheels, dice, markers and more.
Angelic Solutions Soars to Heights Beyond Expectations
Centerville, Massachusetts – In business for less than a year, Marie Forland, artist and creator of Angelic Solutions, a Cape Cod-based art card and collectibles company, is enjoying a year of amazing growth and recognition.
The company, based out of her home in Centerville, Massachusetts, came onto the national scene last summer when she introduced the line at both the Los Angeles and Boston Gift Shows. According to Forland, nothing has been the same since.
“My angels have taken me to places I’ve never expected,” delights Forland from her studio.
Treasures await: Enterprising couple take over Marco store
Friends chortled and called them crazy when Dave and Rose Prasek quit their high-powered jobs in Chicago, sold their house and moved lock, stock and barrel to Marco Island.
But the enterprising couple had a one-up on their well-meaning friends. They had their plans all mapped out.
“We sure didn’t go into it blindly,” said Dave Prasek about the couple’s purchase in November last year of Island Treasures, a business that had for the previous 17 years built up a solid track record at its Shops of Marco location.
“We’d looked at the numbers.