Archives: News
Lease of faith; Local man grows business out of necessity
James Wetherbee’s path to success started with a $900 tax refund check, a 1969 Chevy pickup, and a need for income to supplement his job as the dairy manager at a Safeway grocery store.
The year was 1976 when he took the leap of faith that eventually led him to owning the largest gift shop in Wichita Falls – Finishing Touch.
The leap actually was into the driver’s seat of the ’69 “un-air-conditioned” pickup for the long trip to Mexico where he bought a truckload of clay pots and wrought iron baker’s racks and other items to sell on the streets of Wichita Falls, usually at abandoned gas
Downtown Riverside looks for right mix of businesses to spur revival
Where Old Town Pasadena has The Cheesecake Factory, downtown Riverside has Simple Simon’s. Where San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter has Quicksilver and Oakley stores, Riverside has Mrs. Tiggy-Winkles and Citrus Punch Designs.
Independent shops and restaurants lend a city unique personality, but they don’t attract the customers and cachet that national brand names do.
If Riverside really is to enjoy the renaissance it is pursuing via new projects and proposals downtown, it will need both, city officials say.
CeeAnn Thiel, owner of Mrs.
Prosperity Tree announces alliance with Berryware
Prosperity Tree International has announced that they have added Berryware to their selection of playful hand-painted ceramic art and tableware. Over the past 20 years, Prosperity Tree has carved its niche by featuring high-quality ceramics, designed by American artists, and sold in the wholesale gift marketplace at affordable prices. Making the announcement, president Carmi Plaut stated, “Berryware is a great product.
Pacific Market Center Announces Speakers for August Show
Seattle – Pacific Market Center announces a dynamic group of speakers providing buyers with insights, inspiration and information during Seattle Market Week – Summer Gift and Home Accessories Show August 15-21, the Pacific Northwest’s premier week-long buying event. Speakers will conduct complimentary seminars where attendees will learn how to become a brand, how to meet the consumer’s demand for sustainable products, create web presence, improve retail marketing strategies and learn to utilize new technologies that better serve customers.
Pumpernickel Press takes home a LOUIE
For the second straight year Pumpernickel Press took home a LOUIE. This year’s winner was the card “Bird Village” featuring artwork from John Obolewicz. The win came in the category of “Best Christmas, General” and is a proud addition to last years win and the company’s first ever entry in the competition, “Holiday Hound”.
The LOUIE wasn’t the only thing Pumpernickel was celebrating in New York though. Debuting at the show was a brand new line to the company of “Pumpernickel Petites”, which are a smaller card offering compared to their standard large sized cards.
Cynthia Webb Launches New Home Series
Few images evoke as many strong emotions as that of home – it’s where the heart is, after all. And as American poet Robert Frost has told us, it’s the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.
Now California artist Cynthia Webb, known for her signature handcrafted in the U.S.A. pewter, has brought her highly personal style to a new Home series that recreates the charm of houses of another era, when generations lived together under the same roof and friends were always welcome to stop by.
Gift Shop is Offering Something Different
Alicia Dorau knows there are a lot of gift shops in the Fremont area, but she thinks she can fill a certain niche missing from the scene.
When she opened The Unique Boutique June 1 with her mother, Becky Cady, she had a different plan than the common Fremont gift shop. She planned to use the store at 304 E. 22nd St. to sell women’s handbags.
“My mom and I started these purses we make called Glitzy Gals,” Dorau said.
Shop girls: Teen buying habits not so over indulgent
They agonize over price. They’re thoughtful, not impulsive. They arrive at the mall with information and purpose. They actually care about what their parents would think about those micro shorts.
They are teenage girls, and this is how they shop.
It wasn’t what we expected to find when we spent a recent Saturday afternoon shopping at the region’s largest mall, Tysons Corner Center in Virginia, with a horde of teenagers.
This is a generation often considered indulged, equipped with cell phones and credit cards at an early age. Teens’ purchasing power is enormous.
Attacking Counterfeits: Wal-Mart Unit Settles With Fendi Over Fakes
The sidewalk sellers of fake designer goods now aren’t the only ones on high alert.
In a case bound to send a chill through the retail industry, Fendi and Sam’s Club, a division of Wal-Mart, have settled a dispute that claimed the U.S.
Sprint Puts Shoppers In Touch With Slifter; GPS Service Locates Stores Offering Items Selected by Cellphone
Sprint Nextel Corp. today begins offering a mobile-search service from closely held GPShopper LLC that uses global-positioning-system technology, enabling consumers to use cellphones to find products in retail stores.
The service allows shoppers to learn where they can buy, say, a certain iPod model or new Nike sneaker, based on a location signal, and at what price.
Previously, users of the service, called Slifter, needed to punch in a ZIP code (which they still can do) along with product-search terms.
May retail sales could spell relief after weak April
Chicago (MarketWatch) — Most U.S. retailers will be breathing a sigh of relief Thursday when they report May sales results that are expected to be better than they were in April, but a dose of disappointing numbers could create worry about consumer spending.
Bed Bath & Beyond raised that warning flag Tuesday when the home-furnishings retailer took a sharp knife to its sales and earnings expectations for the second quarter and the full year.
It blamed the weak housing environment for its first-ever warning, and the news unsettled investors and cast a pall over the entire industry.
Local Business, 4 U Gift Celebrates 3rd Year Anniversary!
4U Gift, located in the Town Center, is preparing to celebrate it’s 3rd Anniversary on June 8th. The owner of 4U Gift, Nuray began her business about 6 years ago on a small cart in Willowbrook Mall.
With credit from the Small Business Administration she grew her business and moved to the Town Center in Kingwood. She says “I chose the Town Center in Kingwood, because it is the most unique shopping center in this area with its architecture and location.
Dogeared Jewels & Gifts Launches Latest Trend Collection at May Market
Los Angeles, CA – Dogeared, a trendsetting brand that creates handcrafted jewels and gifts in Los Angeles, previewed their latest line at the New York Accessories Circuit & Intermezzo, to great success. Significant summer trends highlight natural beauty, a casual comfortable and California-inspired attitude, layers of handcrafted jewelry, and the inspiration and power of nature.
Dogeared’s new Seeds Collection epitomizes these trends and received great reviews from attendees. These new necklaces are “fun sized” and come in 3″ by 2″ gift boxes.
Green Product Showcase Highlights Significance, Saleability of Environmentally Friendly Products
Atlanta – The world’s largest collection of gift and home furnishings product sets the stage for AmericasMart’s first showing of eco-friendly, sustainable source designs and lines from some of the most conscientious manufacturers on the planet—exclusively in the AmericasMart Green Product Showcase.
Aeromax takes dress up to a whole new level
Lake Barrington, IL – If your future firefighter, junior astronaut or little physician likes to create authentic-looking costume designs from your personal wardrobe or raids your kitchen pantry for props to take on his backyard space mission, then you’ll be delighted (and relieved) to know that Aeromax’s Get Real Gear costumes will make your child perfectly outfitted to look like the real McCoy.
Peking Handicraft Signs New Licensing Agreements
San Francisco, CA – Peking Handicraft, Inc., an international manufacturer and wholesaler recognized for its variety of styles and high quality of home decor, tabletop and giftware items, designed by renowned licensed artists, announces the signing of new licensing agreements with Jim Shore, Amy Brazil and Julia Junkin.
Jim Shore is an award-wining artist with enormous popularity. His renowned artwork combines elements of folk art with vibrant color palettes and applies it to traditional themes, creating intricate and colorful designs that reflect American heritage.
It
Chester — When Stacy Padilla was four years old, she would sell pages from her coloring book to people walking past her house.
“Most kids sell lemonade; I sold pictures,” Padilla said. “My mother was always amazed that people bought my pictures. I know I wasn’t a child prodigy. I think they bought them because I was cute.”
Flash forward 30 years, and Padilla’s childhood pastime has grown up. At the end of the Heritage Trail in Chester, sandwiched between a barber shop and an ice cream parlor, is a store that houses not only one-of-a-kind gifts, but also holds a women’s dream.
104-year-old Retail Alliance welcomes first female boss
Norfolk – Susan Milhoan estimates that she has visited about 200 retailers, from Williamsburg to the Eastern Shore, since mid-February.
Some have told her about parking problems near their stores. Others talk about the challenges of finding good employees. Most suffer from a lack of free time.
All of them have introduced her to the work that lies ahead.
This month, Milhoan takes over a 104-year-old organization that is entering a new era.
Find out what’s in the store
Staying in the flow is the goal at River Place in Frankenmuth.
Last year, a 20,000-square-foot expansion at the attraction bolstered optimism that the complex would retain its appeal.
Officials funneled $1 million into a project to increase retail space and make aesthetic improvements throughout the 57,000-square-foot grounds.
Landscaping with watery mists and more walkways with “snowmelt systems” round out the expansion.
Owners estimate the business attracts 1 million visitors annually and may increase that number this summer as in-state vacationers look for ways to save money on g
Downtown merchants fight flight
Delaware, Ohio — A bicycle-shop owner knows a dip in the road when he sees one. He also knows how to ride it out.
“A year ago, there was essentially 100 percent occupancy downtown, and now there’s 12 vacancies,” said Dan Negley, who operates Breakaway Cycling in the former Delaware livery at 17 W. William St. “But this is probably the third time it’s happened since I opened in ’91.