139 Results:
December 8, 2011
December 8, 2011
Garnier-Thiebaut, French manufacturer of luxury linens, joins Bridge.
The company offers table, kitchen, and bedroom linens. Some notable clients include Ritz-Carlton and Waldorf=Astoria hotels.
Learn more about Garnier-Thiebaut at www.gtlinens.com/bcg/ View Post
December 4, 2011
December 4, 2011
Brown's Jewelry
Brown's Jewelry of Georgia joins Bridge. Visit Brown's Bridge: https://brownsjewelry.bridgecatalog.com/
Urban Source
Led by Bill Volpi, the New York-based company represents many leading home goods manufacturers such as Victorinox Swiss Army, Rosenthal, and Paperproducts Design. "We're joining to help easily connect retailers and manufacturers," says Mr. Volpi.
View Urban Source's Bridge: http://...
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September 14, 2011
September 14, 2011
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How Jason Solarek Created The Facebook Of Retail
By Shira Levine
Freelance Writer, Business Insider
September 14, 2011
Building an e-commerce site can be expensive. Jason Solarek, who founded Bridge, realized that e-commerce sites were lacking their own free network, so he developed what he calls, “Facebook for retail businesses.”
“The E-commerce industry hasn&...
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August 25, 2011
August 25, 2011
From today's Wall St. Journal:
A Toast to Change as Crystal Goes Practical
By J. S. MARCUS
Whether you serve your wine in an IKEA glass costing $2.99, or in hand-cut Baccarat crystal costing 50 times as much, sooner or later you'll have one concern—the ring-shaped stains that wineglasses tend to leave behind.
Some new hand-blown crystal stemware is now strong enough to go into the dishwasher, Jeff Marcus reports on Lunch Break. One
...
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August 12, 2011
August 12, 2011
A Bridge to the Future
by Carol L Schroeder
Read full article: http://www.giftsanddec.com/blogpost/7603-a-bridge-to-the-future
Originally published at: www.giftsanddec.com
August 8, 2011
If you feature products on your website, you know that it can take a lot of time to keep the photos and information current. The Bridge is an innovative approach to solving this problem for retailers, connecting brands, shopkeepers and customers online by "stocking...
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November 22, 2010
November 22, 2010
This WSJ article relates to how brands/vendors/distributors may uphold MSPR/MAP.
By JESS BRAVIN And THOMAS CATAN
Three years after the Supreme Court authorized manufacturers to set prices at retailers, the Dallas boutique that lost the landmark ruling is asking the justices to take another look.
In an appeal filed Monday, Kay's Kloset contends lower courts have gone too far in applying the 2007 decision, reading it as giving manufacturers carte...
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February 10, 2010
February 10, 2010
There was an article in the New York Times this week about price setting by brands/manufacturers, and retailers seeking ways to get around this. Overall, brands being allowed to set prices is now often accepted. This is in the Bridge's favor since the Bridge sets prices, and rewards retailers for this by by giving them all the product pictures and prices. It's a win-win.
With that said, the Bridge works best when brands police discounting. Why? We don't want ...
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September 7, 2009
September 7, 2009
I just added this section our our website design services page. This helps explain the benefits of working with us and our clients/partners.
Our page explaining our website design services can be found here: http://www.solarek.com/
1. There is strength in numbers. The sum of our network provides leverage with brands, manufacturers, and distributor.
2. We can easily and quickliy compare retailer information (e.g. sales ...
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August 26, 2009
August 26, 2009
Sales for the overall home goods industry are down by 35%, but for our Bridge partners they are up. Please see the accompanying chart. This shows a distributor's average retailer sales. Most of the distributor's retailers are down 35%, whereas our Bridge retailers' sales are up from 22% to 98%. These numbers are based on the first seven months of 2008 vs. the first seven months of 2009.
About the Solarek Studio Bridge Solarek Studio ...
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August 1, 2009
August 1, 2009
Will fine china manufacturers and retailers offer 'secret' discounts?
This article below from today's NY Times shares how brands and retailers in our market are offering 'discreet' discounts. How do we act on this info below to compete?
August 1, 2009
High-End Retailers Offering More Discounts
By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM
Scott Stuart was at the Bloomingdale’s store in Manhattan when a salesman sidled up to him, said a private sale was under way and offered him a discount on the slacks he was inspecting.
...
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December 28, 2008
December 28, 2008
The ruling by the Supreme Court last year on MAP (or MSRP) has left some scratching their heads about whether they can set minimum prices on home goods and tableware. According to the article below, it appears so.
Excerpt:
But in a controversial decision last year, the Supreme Court opened the door for manufacturers to set minimum prices as a means to enhance a brand's image and for retailers to make enough profit on their merchandise to ...
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November 1, 2008
November 1, 2008
Pickard China, the oldest manufacturer of tableware china in the US and the producer of the White House's private tableware, asked Solarek Studio to design its new website.
Above are three images:
- Home page
- Find a Sales representatives map page
- Monogram china page
The site is built to be rich in keywords and well indexed by Google. There is an administration system to let ...
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October 23, 2008
October 23, 2008
An article in today's Wall St. Journal sheds light on home goods manufacturers' ability to fight discounting.
Excerpt:
Blocking discounting used to be clearly an anticompetitive practice, but a Supreme Court ruling last year changed things. The court said it wasn't illegal for manufacturers and retailers to agree to minimum prices, but that such agreements must be examined case by case for possible antitrust violations. ...
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August 18, 2008
August 18, 2008
Tableware manufacturers often want to set retail prices, but are afraid of being accused of price fixing. According to the article below from today's Wall St. Journal, due to a court decision last year manufacturers now are much more likely to be able to set prices. I'd be happy to hear your thoughts about the article below. (The story appears on the front page, if you'd like read the print version.)
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Wall St. Journal
Price-Fixing Makes ...
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February 11, 2008
February 11, 2008
I'd like to see the tableware industry take a page from Dr. Martens: have a design competition to create the next tableware set.
Dr. Marten had a contest to design a boot. People vote online for their favorite. Dr. Martens manufactures the winning design.
Dr. Martens design contest: http://www.dmbootdesign.com/ View Post
January 10, 2008
January 10, 2008
When I shop, I sometimes find an item in a physical store, then go home, find it online and buy it for less. That is often how we think of the web these days: our hidden shopping buddy. (How guilty do you feel taking a camera phone picture in a store knowing that you're going home to track down the item online?)
With that said, I wish there was a way to help level the playing field between physical stores and online stores. (Did you ever think one would...
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September 26, 2007
September 26, 2007
Nancy Meyer, HFN's senior editor for furniture and lighting, writes in this week's issue that brick and mortar lighting retailers should better compete with retailers that sell exclusively online. She proposes that brick and mortar retailers compete by offering better service–and hoping manufactures support MSRP policies. I would add to this that the physical retailer can join the online retailer by creating a website. Although ...
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September 11, 2007
September 11, 2007
This past August Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. captured the crown jewel of the publishing word by purchasing
The Wall Street Journal from the Bancroft family for $5 billion. What does this event have to do with us in the tabletop industry? I propose that there is a lot the industry can learn from Murdoch's coup. The main lesson is that investing in technology-and in particular online operations-is ...
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August 27, 2007
August 27, 2007
Below please find a recent article from the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/13/technology/13ecom.html?ex=1188360000&en=260df47ff777e764&ei=5070) This article relates to the tableware industry since it discusses how some brands bypass retailers and sell directly to consumers. The tabletop industry faces this same issue.
I have excerpted some parts and put my comments on below the excerpt. This, I hope, makes for faster reading and comprehension of...
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