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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.
New Product Announcement from Prosperity Tree
Bring Another Seat to the Table!
When you’re ready to work, you need a seat at the table. And your gadgets need a seat, too. Now there’s iSeats for the table or desk – a completely new concept in accessories for your electronic gadgets. iSeat is just right for cell phones, PDAs, iPods, MP3 players, digital cameras – even remotes. Put your gadgets in their iSeat, and you’ll never misplace them again.
The new iSeats from Prosperity Tree are not just stylish and hip, they’re habit-forming, too!
Peek-A-Boo Bag makes a game of idle time for little ones
Draper, UT – Imagine you’re at the airport and they’ve delayed your flight for three hours. No big deal. You go to the gift shop and pick up a few choice magazines. Now imagine your flight’s been delayed but your 3-year old toddler is with you. What’s the kiddo going to do while you leaf through the latest copy of “Oprah?” Run around? Screech, “Mommy, mommy, mommy” for three hours? Or sit still and be quietly mesmerized by their Peek-A-Boo Bag, the newest, most innovative toddler toy to find its way into the market in years?
Luxury Consumers Spent More Buying Luxuries in the Second Quarter, but Consumer Confidence Wavered
Stevens, PA — Affluent consumers went on a spending spree for luxuries in the second quarter 2007. The typical luxury consumer spent $15,283 buying luxury goods and services during the second quarter, 9 percent more than the average expenditure of $14,024 in the first quarter. This according to the results of Unity Marketing’s Luxury Tracking survey of 1,000 affluent consumers conducted at the close of the second quarter 2007 (average income $155,500 and average age 44.3 years).
Couple’s shoe is made specially for toddler set
When Kim and Brian Gross picked up their 1-year-old daughter Riley from day care, she was often barefoot — even in the winter.
Because the child’s shoes were hard-soled, the day care workers took them off to let the youngster toddle more easily. It was only a matter of time before the socks came off, too.
Frustrated in their search to find shoes flexible enough for their young child to wear through the day, the Cockeysville couple decided to design their own.
Boston Gift Show Experiences Surge in First-Time Exhibitors
White Plains, NY – The Boston Gift Show will deliver fresh resources to retailers this September, as more than 60 companies make their debut at the September 15-18, 2007, edition taking place at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.
Wilton Armetale Goes to the Dogs at the NY International Gift Show
Mount Joy, PA – Celebrate the dog days of summer with Wilton Armetale’s pet-themed picture frames, featured products of the Wilton Home Collection on display at the New York International Gift Show, Javits booth number 3545 and the Wilton Showroom, 7 W. 34 th Street, suite 931.
Wagging tails and playful pounces will win best of show in one of the five pet-themed frames to be introduced at the Show.
The complete Wilton Home Collection, which debuted during the January Gift Show, features gifts and decorative accessories including plaques, candles and serving pieces among other items.
Mud Pie Debuts New Additions to Its Popular EiEiO Collection
July 2007 – Mud Pie’s Popular EiEiO collection received even more accolades, when Bachelorette star, Trista Sutter received the three-piece Cow Clothing Set as a baby gift.
Adora Offers Sneak Peak of 2008 Doll Line
Edison, NJ – Award-winning doll manufacturer, Adora, Inc., will be traveling across the country in July and August to obtain consumer feedback on its 2008 product line. The public is invited to see a sneak peak of the product line up before the rest of the world at select locations in Cummings, Ga.; Kingsport, Tenn.; Cary, N.C.; Fairfax, Va.; Lancaster, Penn.; and at Adora’s Corporate Headquarters in Edison, N.J.
Because of the highly competitive nature of the doll industry, advance previews of doll designs are a rare practice. However, Adora, Inc.
Prattville’s Polka Dot Zebra thrives
Sonya Tatum said she and Brandy Wohlers were looking for a catchy and creative name for their business when they started compiling a list of possibilities. They succeeded when they came up with Polka Dot Zebra.
Tatum said the specialty card and gift store in Pratts Mill Shopping Center in Prattville is gaining momentum in sales, and she credits nearby business owners for some of the increase.
“Neighbors have sent customers, and we have reciprocated,” Tatum said. “Our location has been good.”
The retail center is located on Alabama 14 just west of Interstate 65 in east Prattville.
Unique New Lenox store shares one-of-a-kind gifts
When it comes to gift stores, Petals & Twigs used to be the best kept secret in New Lenox.
“Now the secret is out. Everyone’s heard of it,” manager Jan Nemeth said.
Nemeth credited the increased awareness to marketing and advertising during the past year.
“We don’t rely simply on word-of-mouth anymore,” she said.
The craft boutique began as a fundraising initiative of Trinity Services Inc.
Online Popularity Contest Next in Barbie-Bratz Brawl
Barbie and her rivals, the Bratz, have taken their long-running fight for playground supremacy off to an important new venue: MySpace-like social-networking sites.
Mattel Inc.’s Barbie has been under attack for six years from MGA Entertainment Inc.’s Bratz line, which dazzled fashion-savvy youngsters with splashy multi-ethnic dolls sporting oversized features and undersized clothes — and made Barbie suddenly look dated. But now Mattel has struck back in cyberspace — and this time, it’s MGA that’s playing catch-up.
On Aug.
Gift shop delves into the Victorian; Hand of Man finds niche in Christmas decorations
Oswego — The Hand of Man gift shop on Owego’s historic Front Street found itself in a real pickle last year.
Widely known for its enormous, year-round selection of colorful and unique Christmas ornaments, the shop ran out of its best-selling item: a German-made green glass pickle ornament.
“We didn’t realize how many people wanted those pickles,” said shop owner Patricia Hansen, 71, of the Town of Tioga. “We had never run out of pickles — ever, but we did last year. It was a real crisis.
Rapunzel’s Fairy-tale Transformation; Owner converts gift businessto boutique to answer growing demand for infant, tween apparel
Island retailer Randi Evans noticed that customers at her Royal Poinciana Way gift shop, Rapunzel’s of Palm Beach, were always asking for and purchasing the limited array of baby clothes and children’s toys and books she stocked there.
Evans also noted that 8- to 14-year-olds — “tweens” in market-research jargon — were coming to her Rapunzel’s Closet shop a few doors down and then going to the denim-heavy branch of the boutique on South County Road.
Rapunzel’s Closet carries adult sizes, which teens generally can wear, but younger girls require sizes geared to their age grou
Federal Minimum Wage Rising This Week
Washington – Fast-food waitress Fawn Townsend of Raleigh, N.C., knows exactly what she is going to do if her salary goes up with Tuesday’s increase in the federal minimum wage: start saving for a car so she can find a second job to make ends meet.
“My goal personally is to get a vehicle so I can independently go back and forth to work and maybe pick up extra work so I can have that extra income, because minimum wage is not cutting it,” said Townsend, who is 24 and single.
“Being a single person, you can’t pay all your bills with one minimum wage job.”
Many lawmakers, along with advoca
Businesses use the Web for retailing
There are few retail businesses that haven’t felt the pervasive pull-and-tug of the Internet, and nobody knows that better than Chris Butts, general manager of Charmar Flower & Gift Shop.
There was a time when traditional retailing consisted of unlocking the front door of a business and waiting for customers to walk in to make purchases.