I chuckled when I was asked to author this column, as I have been known to have the last word from time to time. As I prepare to leave the industry that has given me so much (I eagerly accepted the opportunity to work in the gift and home area in 1986), I can vividly recall the excitement I felt when I first entered the creative space that we get to live and work in every day. I have been exposed to scores of creative people; I met and worked with artists and buyers who were inspired and ...
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How we can celebrate indie stores and promote sales by hosting a Save Local event.
February 23, 2023
When one thinks of shopping locally, some consider it an act of charity. One may pay more and get less selection. That’s not a recipe for success. In contrast, the world’s most successful retailers, Walmart and Amazon, operate on just the opposite principles: low prices and massive selection. When I’m in Walmart's Panama City Beach location, it’s so massive I feel like I’m in the Giants' stadium. Amazon sells 12m items on its website (350m if you count the third-...
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Internet pioneer, Vint Cerf, made a big break through by drawing it on the back of an envelope in 1983. This story, shared in today’s The Wall Street Journal, hit home because I first drew the concept for Bridge’s Product Syncing solution on a napkin at a Chelsea bar in 2007. That concept now helps 1,100 indie shops sell 60k+ products from 100+ premium brands, including Le Creuset, Baccarat, and Versace. Since that drawing, I’ve become a big fan of drawing processes to ...
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Mothers and Fathers days are coming up. Did you know that, April 23 was National Picnic Day? There seems to be a National Day for everything. Wanting to be most informed we Googled it and it turns out that there is a day for everything. The only problem with that is there were about 117 submissions for special days per month if you look it up on-line. Ok, other than religious holidays, what is more important than honoring your parents or surrogate parents for the sacrifices ...
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November 26, 2018
November 26, 2018
What a great weekend we had at Royal Gifts for Small Business Saturday! Thank you to all that shop with us not just that day but every day thur out the year. We appreciate your business and your friendship!?
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October 16, 2018
October 16, 2018
SFERRA FINE LINENS
Sferra Fine Linens now at Little Brown House Come by October 18th to meet the rep and receive 10% off your order placed that day!
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February 28, 2018
February 28, 2018
What Is the Perfect Color Worth?
Inside the mysterious art - and big business - of color forecasting.
Last spring, a dozen people filtered into a sunny, whitewashed conference room on the seventh floor of the Royal College of Art, overlooking London's Hyde Park. Mostly Western Europeans from different precincts of the fashion industry, they had been called together by a British man named David Shah, editor and publisher of the "Pantone View Colour Planner." The book, issued each February and ...
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September 5, 2017
September 5, 2017
Help us celebrate International Day of Charity today by coming to shop with us - we will donate 10% off our sales that day to Autism Speaks
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September 4, 2017
September 4, 2017
Help us celebrate International Day of Charity by coming to shop with us on Tuesday, September 5th - we will donate 10% off our sales that day to Autism Speaks !
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September 6, 2016
September 6, 2016
This week a bride praised our 5-step incentive program for brides like her. H. Hal Garner Antiques & Interiors offers brides a $50 incentive to complete 5 steps that boost business for the retailer. The bride remarked:
I loved the H Hal Garner experience! I personally loved the extra tips I got on all of the new products that I did not know about. I thought I had my mind made up on everything but I loved all of the new pieces. I had such a ball with my future mother in law and it was so laid back...
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January 15, 2016
January 15, 2016
Hold on to your hat, for it's National Hat Day! It couldn't be better timing, as we're introducing our brand new cowboy hat at the Atlanta gift show this week, pardner. Now admit it -- you don't have to be a bonafide, rootin' tootin' cowboy to love a cool cowboy hat, wouldn't you say?
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