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  1. News from Us
  2. News from Members
  3. Events
  4. Press
  5. Dollars & Sense
  6. Profile Stories
  7. Updates
  8. Training Calendar
  9. Training Videos
  10. Jobs
+ Bridge in the News - Bridge in the News

2,152 Results:

March 19, 2023 Labor costs up 18% since 2020
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Labor costs up 18% since 2020
March 19, 2023
This weekend’s WSJ shares that retail labor costs continue to rise and will likely contribute to more inflation. Stores either have to cut staff or raise prices—and higher prices result in lower revenue creating a downward cycle.  Large players, like Amazon, have more robots and access to capital and may be better insulated from these rising costs.  Yet, even Amazon had had to make some cuts, including its recent pause on completing its HQ2 campus in Virginia and its ...
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March 16, 2023 New Mariposa Tortoise Handled Trays At Glassworks!
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New Mariposa Tortoise Handled Trays At Glassworks!
March 16, 2023
These new handled trays are grasscloth, which is made from hand-woven strands of natural fibers on an unpasted rice paper backing. The grasscloth's rich texture and tawny tones are complemented by hand-finished tortoise handles. Available in large and small sizes and 3 colors: Palma (green), Mallorca (tan), and Midnight (dark blue). See all 3 colors at the Shadyside store.

Click here to shop for Mariposa Tortoise Trays on our Glassworks website.


 
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March 14, 2023 Lenox Corporation Interview- Christine Bova
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Lenox Corporation Interview- Christine Bova
March 14, 2023
It’s a formidable task, overseeing product development for all of Lenox’s flatware brands, which includes Lenox, Kate Spade, Oneida, Cambridge, Hampton Forge, Reed & Barton, and Gorham. Your tenures at Oneida and Bed Bath & Beyond, as the tabletop buyer, provide a solid foundation for this position.
Prior to Oneida, where I was senior product marketing manager when Lenox acquired us, I was at Bed Bath & Beyond for 12 years, most recently as the tabletop buyer. My whole ...
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March 14, 2023 THIN and SIMPLE
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THIN and SIMPLE
March 14, 2023
THIN AND SIMPLE says it all, a perfect moniker for Pampa Bay’s latest juggernaut, a throwback to the shapes and looks the company achieved in stainless steel, its one-time material of choice, a decade ago. Then, in 2016, Carlos Barbagallo, president and owner, decided to segue into the dishwasher-safe, tarnish-free porcelain that looks like metal, using a proprietary, state-of-the-art technology that’s neither painted nor glazed. “Thin and Simple is our homage to the looks we ...
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March 13, 2023 New Product Designer in Town: Midjourney
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New Product Designer in Town: Midjourney
March 13, 2023

Art and design play a crucial role in creating a unique and memorable brand identity. However, designing compelling art and graphics can be a challenging task, especially for brands and retailers looking to create something that stands out in a crowded market. Midjourney, a new AI-based service, may provide valuable inspiration when designing products. Brands may be able to differentiate themselves from the competition.

Midjourney is an image creation software that reads whatever ...
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March 9, 2023 New Juliska Veronica Beard Bohemian Vine Collection At Glassworks!
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New Juliska Veronica Beard Bohemian Vine Collection At Glassworks!
March 9, 2023
American apparel brand Veronica Beard has partnered with Juliska on a limited-edition tabletop collection. Introducing Bohemian Vine, a dinnerware collection inspired by the colors and patterns of the Iberian coast. Designed to be effortlessly mixed and matched, the collection has an eclectic sensibility and a natural ease. The collection includes dinnerware, tea service, vases, and napkins. Swing by the Shadyside store to see the collection.

Click here to shop for Juliska Veronica Beard on ...
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March 7, 2023 WIRED Magazine: Amazon’s Air Delivery Service Takes Flight
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WIRED Magazine: Amazon’s Air Delivery Service Takes Flight
March 7, 2023
Wired magazine covers the rise of Amazon’s air delivery fleet. 

Read the article:
https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-air-quest-to-seize-the-skies/ View Post
March 7, 2023 Sync With Nicolette Mayer
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Sync With Nicolette Mayer
March 7, 2023
I am pleased to announce the Nicolette Mayer Collection is ready to sync products with authorized retailers. If this interests you, please continue reading and I'll share how to sync. Syncing products is free for your business.  There is no charge. (The brand pays for this service.) 
 
Nicolette Mayer Collection joins our stable of 112 premium brands that sync products with 1,200+ fine indie stores. 

About Nicolette Mayer Collection
Produced by dedicated artisans in ...
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March 7, 2023 67% of Brands Offer Free Shipping
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67% of Brands Offer Free Shipping
March 7, 2023
Bridge analyzed the websites for the top-40 selling brands in the tabletop and giftware industry. We assessed what promotions and discounts, such free shipping, brands offer. Bridge did this because a product's price, which is impacted by discounts, is often the leading factor when shopping online. More than 67% of the brands surveyed by Bridge offer free shipping.

Brand Study Findings: 
  • Of the 40 brands, 27 (67.5%) offer free shipping. 
  • For brands that offer free
...
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March 3, 2023 New Product Syncing Brand: Nicolette Mayer Collection
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New Product Syncing Brand: Nicolette Mayer Collection
March 3, 2023
We are pleased to announce the Nicolette Mayer Collection is ready to sync products via the Product Syncing service.

Please take a moment to view all Synced Products here:
https://nicolettemayer.myshoplocal.com/collections.cfm/Nicolette_Mayer

About Nicolette Mayer Collection
Produced by dedicated artisans in America, the Nicolette Mayer Collection offers over 1500 Art de la Table items. Nicolette Mayer is a lifestyle brand whose product categories include:
  • Placemats
...
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March 2, 2023 New Vietri Melamine Campagna Collection At Glassworks!
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New Vietri Melamine Campagna Collection At Glassworks!
March 2, 2023
Daydreaming of weather warm enough to dine al fresco! ☀️ This spring, serve your guests with Vietri's flagship dinnerware collection, now available in melamine! From the famed Amalfi Coast, Campagna offers endless possibilities for artistic entertaining with colorful patterns that capture the vitality of the Italian countryside. See the collection at Glassworks in Shadyside.

Click here to shop for Melamine Campagna on this website.



 
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March 2, 2023 Honoring Our Peers
How we can honor those that came before us in the retail industry.
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Honoring Our Peers
How we can honor those that came before us in the retail industry.
March 2, 2023
The founder of Juan Pollo Chicken, Albert Okura, passed away last week at the age of 71. Mr. Okura envisioned Juan Pollo, a fast food chain with 25 locations in Southern California, as a household name that would someday sell the most chicken in the world. He believed in this so much that he bought the site of the original McDonald’s restaurant, located in San Bernardino, CA, in 1998—not to turn it into a Juan Pollo restaurant but rather into a museum to honor his fast food industry....
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February 26, 2023 Barnes & Noble Launches New Discount Subscription Service
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Barnes & Noble Launches New Discount Subscription Service
February 26, 2023
The Wall St. Journal reports that Barnes & Noble has updated its subscription discount program. Previously, it had one tier that was $25/year. Now, Barnes & Noble has a two-tier system. There is a free program that offers rebates based on what you spend, and a $40/year program that gives you rebates plus more discounts and some perks at its cafes. 

The new memberships are meant to help the bookseller better compete with Amazon's Prime and Walmart+.

Bridge has considered ...
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February 24, 2023 For Sales Reps & Brands: $468 Give-Get Referral Promotion
For Sales Reps & Brands: $468 Give-Get Referral Promotion
February 24, 2023
 
For Sales Reps & Brands:

I have some great news for you:
  • I'm giving you a $200 finder's fee when you refer a store. 
  • When you refer a store, the store will receive $268.  It will receive $100 towards a wholesale order with your brand and a $168 credit towards their registry service with us. (My company is paying the $100 wholesale order credit.)
  • This offer is good through May 1, 2023.

Summary: you give a store $268 and you get $200. (Bridge ...
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February 23, 2023 New Juliska Bilbao Sage Dining Collection At Glassworks!
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New Juliska Bilbao Sage Dining Collection At Glassworks!
February 23, 2023
The beauty of the Basque country inspired this collection, that highlights the city of Bilbao's stunning combination of modernity and patina. Featuring a soft sage hue for a fresh take on their classic coupe shapes, this set is the new neutral for all of your spring and summer dining - indoors or out! This new hue is from Juliska's Bilbao Collection, also available in the original color, white. Both colors may be seen at Glassworks in Shadyside.

Click here to shop for Vietri Bilbao on this ...
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February 23, 2023 Save the Date 🗓️
How we can celebrate indie stores and promote sales by hosting a Save Local event.
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Save the Date 🗓️
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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February 21, 2023 NYT: Indie Stores Face Challenges in Austin
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NYT: Indie Stores Face Challenges in Austin
February 21, 2023
The Times covers how indie shops in Austin helped develop SoCo and now are being edged out by Hermès and Lululemon. 

Excerpt: 

“The story is always the same,” said Mr. Hodge, who owns the Big Top Candy Shop and Monkey See Monkey Do novelty shop. “The scrappy locals go into a run-down area, they take it over, they rebuild it into a destination area that’s attractive.”
But the quirky ambience on the grand avenue doesn’t last long, he ...
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February 16, 2023 New Haviland Stanislas China At Glassworks!
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New Haviland Stanislas China At Glassworks!
February 16, 2023
Haviland transports us into one of the richest historical styles of its era, "the Renaissance", with the Stanislas table and interior decoration collection. Available in gold or grey blue, this elegant pattern on the pieces brings about a certain dynamism to the collection. Stop in at the Shadyside store to see both the blue and the gold.

Click here to shop for Haviland china on this website. (Stanislas to be added)
 
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February 16, 2023 Updated Feature: Display Gift Givers' Names to Encourage Future Gift Givers
How to encourage registry customers to purchase from a registry by sharing previous gift givers' names
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Updated Feature: Display Gift Givers' Names to Encourage Future Gift Givers
How to encourage registry customers to purchase from a registry by sharing previous gift givers' names
February 16, 2023
Your Bridge Store has an updated feature to encourage customers to complete a registry purchase.  Your Bridge Store displays gift givers' names on a registry's list.

Previously, the gift givers' names were only displayed by rolling over "Purchases" at the top of a registry list. 

Now, the gift givers are also displayed in a box at the footer of a registry's list.

In the example shown, we see a registry list at The Ivy House, a fine china store in Dallas. At the ...
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February 10, 2023 Shopping on Amazon Sort of Sucks
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Shopping on Amazon Sort of Sucks
February 10, 2023
New York magazine reports that shopping on Amazon is a mess. It’s got an antiquated interface and lots of spam results and reviews.  It’s not a nice experience and you’re not sure what you’re buying.  

Excerpt: 

“There was the ’90s-retro e-commerce interface, which conceals a marketplace of literally millions of sellers, each scrapping for relevance, using Amazon as a sales channel for their own semi-independent businesses. It subjected ...
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Press: Shop Local & Bridge in the News
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Shop Local Helps Indie Merchants in Florida Get Google Sales Leads 🔍
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April 2024

Shop Local Helps Indie Merchants in Tennessee Get Google Sales Leads 🔍
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April 2024

Shop Local Helps Indie Merchants in Louisiana Get Google Sales Leads 🔍
Shop Local Helps Indie Merchants in Louisiana Get Google Sales Leads 🔍
April 2024

Shop Local Helps Indie Merchants in Delaware Get Google Sales Leads 🔍
Shop Local Helps Indie Merchants in Delaware Get Google Sales Leads 🔍
April 2024

Shop Local Helps Indie Merchants in Pennsylvania Get Google Sales Leads 🔍
Shop Local Helps Indie Merchants in Pennsylvania Get Google Sales Leads 🔍
March 2024

Shop Local Helps Indie Merchants Get Sales Leads in Mississippi
Shop Local Helps Indie Merchants Get Sales Leads in Mississippi
March 2024

Shop Local Merchants Are 60% of Google Page 1 Results in South Carolina
Shop Local Merchants Are 60% of Google Page 1 Results in South Carolina
March 2024

Shop Local Merchants Are 50% of Google Page 1 Results in Georgia
Shop Local Merchants Are 50% of Google Page 1 Results in Georgia
March 2024

Shop Local Helps Indie Merchants Get More Sales Leads than Big-Box Stores Using Google
Shop Local Helps Indie Merchants Get More Sales Leads than Big-Box Stores Using Google
February 2024

Shop Local Retailers Rank on Page 1 of Google in 60% of States
Shop Local Retailers Rank on Page 1 of Google in 60% of States
February 2024

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