As I was looking for inspiration for an intro for our weekly team report to combat my writer's block (props to Jason because I don't know how he comes up with something new every week), I came across a Forbes article about Ace Hardware celebrating 100 years in business. The article's title caught my attention, so I decided to give it a read.
From Local Roots to Global Reach
The title of the article, "From Local Roots to Global Reach," resonated with what we do at Shop Local. ...
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41 years ago, VIETRI Founder and CEO Susan Gravely went on a fairytale trip to Italy with her sister and mother. They discovered the handpainted dinnerware of the Amalfi Coast, and they fell in love with the whimsical, colorful designs. They decided to fill their suitcases with the cheerful plates, and they returned home to North Carolina with dreams of a potential business.
"We excitedly unpacked the dinnerware we had brought home from the Amalfi Coast and eagerly showed it to our ...
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A new shipment of P.J. Salvage styles for the Summer has arrived at Cheeks!π€ Soft & Shortee Pink, Soft & Shortee Sunshine, Stargazer Pink Cloud, and Floral Fields are pictured. All of these sets and pieces are available at both Cheeks locations. Big news regarding our Shadyside store: we are moving across the street to the 2nd floor of 5411 Walnut St. (formerly E.B. Pepper), above Madeleine George. Cheeks should be settled in by early August.
In the meantime, stop in at either Cheeks ...
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Work With the Nation's Leading Brands and Indie Shops to Support Main Street
Shop Local is a fast-growing e-commerce and gift registry platform providing services to leading independent retailers and premium brands. Based in New York, NY, Shop Local is seeking candidates to support the existing software and build out new services that will change the retail industry.
We are a small dev team who works in a full stack fashion. There are many opportunities to sharpen your skills as well as ...
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I’m going to presume you know Taylor Swift, the pop superstar with widespread public appeal and a vast fan base, who has influenced not only the music industry, but popular culture, politics, and economics. Her recent $5 billion Eras tour had a fiscal impact greater than 50 countries. The Taylor Swift economy has reached every town in America, measured in national retail sales figures, global inflation, and municipal economic bumps where concerts were held. The Swift microeconomy reaches ...
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Please take a look at our Mario Luca Giusti items, as we have just received a sizeable shipment! We have plenty of stock across all categories, including some of your favorite styles like the Lente Tumblers/Highballs, Dolce Vita Stemware, Pancale and St. Tropez Dinnerware, Caterina & Vittoria Salt & Pepper shakers!
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21 ways Gift Reggie is making it difficult for gift givers, registrants, and merchants
April 3, 2024
Our registry service handles 80,000 gift and wedding registries. We often come across other registry software and can see how it's affecting the merchant that is using it.
While eating breakfast and browsing the web via my phone, I recently came across RFD, a merchant in Albany, NY, that uses Gift Reggie (an app that is added to a Shopify Store).
I observed 21 problems while reviewing the merchant's registry service. I initially wrote the issues down on a paper tablecloth...
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Many years ago, as a new assistant at Lord & Taylor, the buyer cautioned me to not get too attached to people or merchandise. His wisdom was not cold-hearted, but a cautionary tale to keep emotional attachments in check. I was there to deliver strong financial results and if something wasn’t selling, I shouldn’t harp on it, but mark it down and move on. And, as far as work relationships were concerned, I should be a good coworker but not get attached to colleagues.
Spring religious occasions occur from April through May. We have faith-inspired gifts ready for First Communion, Confirmation, Christenings, Baptisms and other sentiments. Our heirloom gifts are artisan-made and will be a treasured keepsake of this joyous time.
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Designer Don Estabrooks just may have the most compelling flatware portfolio ever. The longtime Towle Silversmiths designer joined the company in the mid-’60s and has created hundreds of flatware patterns in an almost six-decade (and counting) tenure.
Perhaps his greatest achievement is Wave, which debuted in 2004 to rousing fanfare and has been at the top of the charts ever since. Chris Wile, another longstanding staffer (33 years), is president of Lifetime Brands/Metals (which owns ...
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In the new TheMeaning collection a secret garden is born where, among labyrinths, clearings, fountains and trees, we come across graceful flowers and plants arise, surrounded by birds and delicate insects. A place of delight and contemplation, full of symbolism and elements, which are always open to new interpretations. Through a concept which complements itself in a harmonious way, this dreamlike tour through Vista Alegre porcelain and crystal pieces, enriching TheMeaning’s ...
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The Atlantic shares how Chinese factories have found a new way around U.S. retailers and into our homes: Chinese apps. SHEIN and other Chinese apps are bypassing Amazon to be a new leader in Chinese goods. In addition to Amazon, Target, Walmart, and indie shops now have a new group of digital competitors embedded in customers’ pockets.
Except from The Atlantic article:
MATERIAL WORLD
IS THIS HOW AMAZON ENDS?
An open embrace of cheap foreign products has helped ...
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I recently saw a car with the license plate: WHYWRK. I had a sad feeling for the driver, who perhaps wasn’t as lucky as I to have the best job in the world – getting paid to shop for the most beautiful goods in the world – which I am now retiring from. After 40+ years as a buyer of tabletop and gifts in Buffalo, I have the opportunity to put the dishes away, polish the flatware, and store the stemware. As a small specialty store, we’ve been through our share of ups and ...
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It’s a 40th anniversary for the company founded by Colin Riggs (left) and Ned Voelker’s parents, Abigail and Ed Voelker. Over the last four decades, the entire family has created a curated collection of handmade tableware and giftware for the nation’s independent store retailers.
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Congratulations on a milestone 40th year in business. Are you surprised Abigails has endured? Ned Voelker: We are surprised. It’s a tribute to Ed and Abbie ...
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TikTok and Amazon are battling in the retail space. TikTok wants to be a retailer, and Amazon wants to be more of an influencer platform. These two share the same goal: get users to share a product link, recommend the product, and get a cut of the sale, shares The Wall St. Journal.
This article and these companies speak to the power of affiliate marketing. One of Amazon’s long-standing secret growth weapons has been affiliate commissions, and influencers are a well-known ...
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Amazon and third-party delivery services have setup a “warehouse” outside the Astor Place USPS office. This is not a truck parking for five minutes. This a day-long, everyday occurrence. I’ve seen this same scene on a daily basis all around the city for the last three years.
This hurts local retailers. While the local businesses pay extra taxes to operate a store in southern Manhattan, it costs Amazon much less to park a delivery truck (permanently?), put ...
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Babcock Gifts celebrates its 50th birthday in 2024. The bridal registry and gift shop opened in 1972 as a partnership that included interior design. In 1974, with the exit of one partner, the store focused on antiques, gifts, and bridal registry. Over the next 42 years, there would be growth into two stores before downsizing to one. In 2016, ownership changed and the store moved one block down, where it continues to be a destination for bridal registry and gift-giving. With the constant doom and...
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My colleague Josh shared this poem with us. I like the parable about doing things for others. At Bridge, we support the poem’s view by building a platform that helps growing indie businesses. We build solutions for problems (“chasms”) that existing customers have knowing that future businesses that join us (“the youth”) will benefit from these digital bridges. To our team: Thank you, Bridge Builders.
How partnerships can be used as a marketing tool to elevate a company's brand and reputation by associating with quality partners.
August 7, 2023
I’m at Sweetgreen, a salad-focused restaurant, and I spotted this sticker on the preparation window. Sweetgreen is promoting Sullivan Street Bakery. Why would it dare do that? I believe it’s because it benefits Sweetgreen: people use a brand’s name to quickly deduce information, such as quality and value. People know that Sullivan Street Bakery is good. And, even if they don’t know it, they know that a bakery provided it and that it’s not from some stale loaf....
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