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Holiday sales in Highland Park shops stay steady or increase as economy weakens
Highland Park, NJ —Despite the doom and gloom surrounding retail businesses nationwide, the borough’s downtown businesses did not see a dip in holiday sales.
Fit to a tea: Genteel beverage is carving out a niche in Madison
Madison, Wisconsin — Tea time is starting in Madison.
Although tea is the world’s most commonly consumed beverage next to water, in Madison, like much of the rest of the United States, tea has been a distant also-ran in any beverage popularity contest.
This city continues to celebrate its long-standing love affair with beer, and in the last decade we’ve also enthusiastically embraced dozens of coffee shops as popular annexes to the office.
Furniture Brands Expands Presence at World Market Center Las Vegas
St. Louis, Missouri — Furniture Brands International (NYSE: FBN) announced today that four of its brands will join the growing roster of World Market Center exhibitors. Thomasville, Drexel Heritage, Henredon, and Maitland Smith will debut at the upcoming 2009 Winter Las Vegas Market, February 9-13 at World Market Center Las Vegas. These leading furniture companies will join Broyhill and Lane, which have shown at World Market Center Las Vegas since the Market’s opening in 2005.
Laura Ashley Inks Licensing Deal for South America
Ft. Mill, S.C. — Laura Ashley, Inc. announced today licensing rights have been granted to Brazilian textile manufacturer,Artelassê Indústria e Comércio Ltda., to produce and distribute a collection of fashion bedding and bath products and table linens in select Latin American countries.
The collection will offer a range of casual, traditional and formal styles in bedding coordinates including comforters, duvet covers, dust ruffles, sheets and decorative cushions as well as a coordinating line of bath textiles and accessories.
Online gift shop will allow me to be my own boss
Exeter, UK — I decided to set up an online business selling organic gift packs because I was aware that a lot of people are looking for more natural products.
I have two young children and I currently work part-time at Lloyds TSB in Dawlish. I have been with the bank for 20 years and we moved down here from the Lake District about five years ago.
My job at the moment is in sales and marketing for the bank, so I saw that as a strength. I have always liked the idea of being my own boss.
“Shop-local” trend helps boost holiday sales for some Greer retailers
Greer, SC — While chain store sales across the nation suffered from a dismal holiday shopping season — the worst since at least 1970, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers — some local retailers in Greer found themselves with sales that were just as good, if not better than last year’s holiday season.
Tarra Godfrey, co-owner of Chelsea’s Lady Apparel, said her inventory is low because she sold so much in the weeks that led up to Christmas.
“People appreciated our customer service and not having to stand in long lines for gift-wrapping,” she said.
Bandals Steps Into the Spotlight with Unveiling of Innovative Beach Bandals Footwear
Atlanta, GA — Bandals International, a new manufacturer and marketer of high quality footwear, based in Commerce Township, Mich., is proud to announce the launch of Bandals® (Bandals.com), patented sandals that are stylish, comfortable and offer interchangeability.
Roger Thomas of Wynn Design and Development to be honored as Design Icon at February Las Vegas Market
Las Vegas — World Market Center Las Vegas will honor Roger Thomas of Wynn Design and Development as a “Design Icon” on Thursday, February 12 during the Winter 2009 Las Vegas Market.
In the exclusive Las Vegas Market Design Icon Lecture Series, design legends share their stories and experiences in order to inspire future designers.
Dogeared Jewels & Gifts Launches New Collections at Winter Trade Shows
Los Angeles, CA — Dogeared, a trendsetting brand that creates handcrafted jewels and gifts in Los Angeles, will preview their latest line at the NY ENK Accessorie Circuit & Intermezzo Show, Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market, LA Market, NY International Gift Fair, and Project Las Vegas. The line includes new styles and collections, all featured in the company’s largest line to date.
Multiple names can boost e-commerce traffic and sales
Building a successful online business entails many factors, not the least of which is ensuring that current and potential customers can find you.
Retailers that possess only one domain name – a website bearing the company name – may be missing out on potential sales from online customers who misspell the company name or use a search engine to seek a retailer by category or geography.
Enesco Signs Licensing Agreement with My Soul’s Window Brand
Itasca, Ill. – Enesco, LLC, a leader in the gift, and home and garden décor industries, announced today that it has signed a licensing agreement with Maggie Lindley, the artist and creative inspiration behind the successful My Soul’s WindowTM brand. Lindley’s uses of vivid colors, contemporary hand-painted images and heart-felt words have been important ingredients in the continued growth of the brand.
U.S. Retailers to Report Grim Results
When retailers report December sales on Thursday, the picture won’t be pretty.
Sales at stores open at least a year — a key barometer of retail health — are expected to show an average decline of 1.1%, according to analysts’ estimates for 35 chains compiled by Thomson Reuters.
Retailers offer many happy returns
Stores and their shoppers are viewing after-holiday returns in a whole new light this year.
Wii, Uggs among few bright spots for retailers
The presents have been unwrapped, the tree taken down. And Santa still hasn’t brought you that Wii. Don’t worry.
Danbury-area retailers find Christmas sales mixed
If you run the kind of business where customers enjoy a therapeutic massage or get excited at the sight of a rawhide chew toy, you may not have fared too badly this Christmas season.
But if your livelihood depended on selling music CDs or minerals and crystals, you are probably singing a different tune.
Customer traffic during Christmas week fell 4.9 percent nationally this year compared to 2007, according to ShopperTrak, a Chicago-based research company that tracks retail sales.
Stores courting gift-cardholders
With retail gift cards losing part of their luster the past holiday season, some Toledo retailers are trying to woo new customers by accepting their competitors’ gift cards.
For the fourth year, Culture Clash, a Toledo store that sells CDs, records, and pop culture merchandise, is accepting gift cards of other retailers on a dollar-for-dollar basis.
Meanwhile, the Appliance Center in Maumee is accepting gift cards, at 50 percent of their value, from Circuit City Inc., which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November and plans to close 155 stores nationwide.
Both retailers said
Return Line: Retailers Brace for Step-Up in Exchanges
Consumers are expected to return more holiday purchases than usual this year, adding to pressure on retailers’ bottom lines after a disappointing season.
Some shoppers tempted by deep discounts to buy things for themselves or others are concluding that they weren’t in love with the purchase or that it didn’t fit, says Richard Jaffee, a retail analyst at Stifel Nicolaus & Co.
At a downtown San Francisco mall, a manager at clothing chain Bebe said on some days during the past week, more merchandise has been returned than sold.
“We’ll have $5,000 in sales and $7,000 in return
Downtown Cincinnati retailers wrapping up better-than-expected holiday
For a year when downtown retailers expected dismal holiday sales, the stockings actually arrived half-full.
They might not have seen the same-size receipts as in 2007, but many downtown merchants and restaurant operators say activity beat their revised outlooks. They credit an increase in downtown activities, smart marketing and new shops and restaurants.
“What happened is many of the residents and many of the people in the city supported the local stores,” said Melissa Waters, a partner at the specialty shop Metronation on Vine Street.
South Tampa boutique echoes eco movement
South Tampa, FL — Jennifer Dutkowsky has spent much of her life in western Massachusetts, where recycling is a reflex and shoppers go out of their way to search for organic, eco-friendly or all-natural products.
“People are very earthy, very crunchy,” she said. “You can’t go up there without experiencing the whole eco-friendly lifestyle.”
She landed in Tampa after graduate school and has found it to be “a little bit behind” in that department.
After nearly two years of working as an analyst for a big company, Dutkowsky, 26, wanted to try working for herself.
Five eco-friendly shops in Tampa Bay
While the Tampa Bay area and Florida, in general, lags behind places like California and Oregon when it comes to availability of recycled products, we’re not completely void of them. Several shops and artists carry items made from recycled goods. Here are a few of them.
If and Only If — This 15-year-old clothing, jewelry and gift store sells a variety of boutiquey recycled items, including thrift-store clothing embellished with beads and embroidery ($20-$80) and flowery ornaments made from aluminum cans ($6). The store also carries Rubbish greeting cards by St.