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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
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41 Results:

May 29, 2024 A Bicentennial Bounty
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A Bicentennial Bounty
May 29, 2024
A BICENTENNIAL BIRTHDAY REPRESENTS REMARKABLE LONGEVITY AND VISTA ALEGRE IS TAKING FULL ADVANTAGE of it with dozens of new pieces created specifically to commemorate the 200 anos occasion. “It’s a very important milestone and a time of reflection to see how far we’ve come and where we want to go,” says Daniel Silva, who helped bring the brand new luster here since he started the American subsidiary in 2012. Nuno Barra, Vista Alegre product development director and board ...
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May 29, 2024 THE SWIFT GENERATION
THE SWIFT GENERATION
May 29, 2024
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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December 7, 2023 Tableware Today Interview - Colin Riggs + Ned Voelker
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Tableware Today Interview - Colin Riggs + Ned Voelker
December 7, 2023
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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November 10, 2023 Holiday Gift Bundles
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Holiday Gift Bundles
November 10, 2023
We have created beautiful bundles for our customers to shop this season. Offering all price points to help meet budgets when having to shop for your groups. 

Custom gift bags are available. We have a Georgia bag and Holiday treats bag ready to go.

Ask about our pet parent gift sets which include our very own brand; The Stinky Pet Co.

We are also partnering with Local Grounds Coffee pairing cookies with coffee. These are in stock and ready to go. 

Shipping is available on ...
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September 21, 2023 New Leather Bound Books By Graphic Image At Glassworks!
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New Leather Bound Books By Graphic Image At Glassworks!
September 21, 2023
Founded in 1969, Graphic Image's core principles are: great value, great leather, great price. With leather sourced from the world’s finest tanneries (primarily in France and Italy), Graphic Image products are hand-made with full-grain leathers. 
For classic books that touch the soul, a leather bound edition will be a keepsake for life, never to be put away and always out for friends to see. The children's books cover some of the most popular books of a generation and are instant ...
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July 25, 2023 This and That
This and That
July 25, 2023
I have a stack of virtual news clippings that either struck my fancy, taught me something new, or just made me shake my head in bemusement. On their own, they may not be enough for me to make a point, but together they have a thought-provoking synergy (and I'm sure I'll figure out what that is by the end of this column).

Our industry has been negatively affected by the loss of American manufacturing after we entered a long stretch of automation and outsourcing in the late 1970s; every ...
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July 14, 2023 The Stinky Pet Co.
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The Stinky Pet Co.
July 14, 2023
We are a luxury home decor pet line for pet parents.
Offering pet safe & sustainable products:
Candles
Room Sprays
Sanitizers
Essential Oils
Laundry Wash coming soon! View Post
June 30, 2023 Mission: Statements 🧨
What we can learn about a company through its mission statement.
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Mission: Statements 🧨
What we can learn about a company through its mission statement.
June 30, 2023
This past week, I read a mission statement from The Knot's corporate website (https://www.theknotww.com/). The statement included a paragraph and five principles. The paragraph describes what the parent company does. The statement says:

"We help couples around the world navigate and enjoy life’s biggest moments together. As a global company, our industry-leading websites, top-ranked mobile apps, and trusted resources provide the most sought-after information, connections, and ...
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May 29, 2023 Tableware Today Interview – Susan Gravely
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Tableware Today Interview – Susan Gravely
May 29, 2023
Susan Gravely – alongside her sister, Frances, and mother, Lee – founded VIETRI 40 years ago after a serendipitous vacation where they discovered the charms of Italian ceramics. Gravely’s new book, Italy on a Plate, equal parts travelogue/cookbook/memoir, is a culinary delight celebrating four decades of bringing the best of Italy’s tableware to an adoring fan base.
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You and I go back almost to the start of VIETRI in 1983. [Editor&rsquo...
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February 2, 2023 Tableware Today: GRANNY CHIC NOSTALGIA
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Tableware Today: GRANNY CHIC NOSTALGIA
February 2, 2023
There’s nothing quite as cozy as grandma’s house. It’s like a warm snuggle of home cooked meals, fresh cut roses from the garden, doilies, chintz, needlepoint, vintage furniture, wallpaper, a breakfront china cupboard, Earl Grey in a collection of English bone china teacups, and lavender oil that soothes the senses and transports you to carefree days of yore.

The Granny Chic or Grandmillennial trend is all the rage, particularly among millennials. It’s an expression of...
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March 28, 2022 Globalization's Effects on Hiring and Shopping Local 🖼
Globalization's Effects on Hiring and Shopping Local 🖼
March 28, 2022
Some people like to sit on the sofa and eat Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. I roll my eyes at this because I’m very different: I like to read the Wall St. Journal’s Christopher Mims …while eating an entire pint of Ben & Jerry’s on the sofa. This past weekend, Mr. Mims suggested companies may be reassessing where they source products, some even considering more domestic production. The motivation for this started a few years ago with the U.S.-China trade war, ...
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February 9, 2022 What's In a Brand Name™️?
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What's In a Brand Name™️?
February 9, 2022
I recently saw an advertisement for Windows 11 in Wired magazine. I thought: “Wow, finally something  from Microsoft that someone can understand: a logical name for their software offering.” I recall a time when Microsoft had a confusing litany of software names including: NT, 98, 2000, Millennium (ME), Windows XP, and Vista--before finally relegating those clumsy names to the desktop recycle bin and adopting a simple, progressive number system.  Apple has been naming its ...
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August 21, 2021 It's Your Business to Be Happy
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It's Your Business to Be Happy
August 21, 2021
"Are you happy?” That’s a question you may ask yourself. Your parents and friends also likely inquire (I hope!).  While it may seem flaky to say, happiness is important. This topic was the subject of Dr. Edward Diener, who passed away in April of this year. Dr. Diener, who studied happiness and earned the moniker “Dr. Happiness,” reported that happiness often correlates with social relationships, being with others, and not being alone. 

Reading his ...
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April 29, 2021 Spring Has Sprung and we are getting ready for Mothers and Fathers Days
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Spring Has Sprung and we are getting ready for Mothers and Fathers Days
April 29, 2021

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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February 24, 2021 Amazon and Shopify Have a Baby: Bridge?
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Amazon and Shopify Have a Baby: Bridge?
February 24, 2021
Clients choose Bridge because we bring together many of the benefits of selling on Amazon or using Shopify.

To understand this, it helps to first view the e-commerce provider spectrum.  Marketplace sites are on the left, and solo sites are on the right.  In the marketplace model, the store's logo (the seller's logo) is often nowhere to be seen.  The seller is like a cog in the machine working for 'da man (aka Jeff Bezos).  On the other end, there is the solo website for ...
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January 3, 2021 NYT: Life Without Amazon (Well, Almost)
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NYT: Life Without Amazon (Well, Almost)
January 3, 2021
The Times' John Herrman covers what it takes to go without Amazon.

Amazon has appeared to upset people across the spectrum, as "anticapitalist liberal college student[s] and...uber-capitalist conservative grandparents are both boycotting Amazon.” 

Yet, Amazon is now so large that it's hard to escape its reach. Even the The New York Times' website is hosted by Amazon AWS services.

Read the full article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/29/style/amazon-abstainers.html
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September 14, 2020 Home decor demand on the rise due to Coronavirus
Home decor demand on the rise due to Coronavirus
September 14, 2020
Coronavirus has resulted in a national shutdown, with many companies shifting to having at least some employees permanently working from home. People ended up spending most of their days at home during the week and, having nowhere to go due to the shutdown, on the weekends. Having a more intimate relationship with their domiciles, appears to have encouraged people to have an increased interest in decorating the place where they're now spending most of their time.

RH, formerly known as ...
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August 17, 2020 MyRegistry.com Review
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MyRegistry.com Review
August 17, 2020
Part of my job is to review registry software. I ensure that it works well for retailers, registrants, and gift-givers (family and friends). I also assess whether it offers good value (price vs results).

A retailer recently shared with me that it uses the service MyRegistry.com.  I reviewed the retailer's site and how a customer would make a registry purchase via MyRegistry.com.  For privacy purposes, I changed the name of the store in the screenshots shown.

Accessing the ...
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January 30, 2019
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January 30, 2019
Amy Stavis in Tableware Today shares that 47% of New Jersey Millennials live with their parents, and nationally 74% aren’t married. This translates into a smaller gift registry market than 40 or 20 years ago.

With that said, Crate &Barrel, Target, and Zola are selling millions of registry gifts. Why shouldn’t your store? The gift registry market is easy pickings for stores that sell cups and plates. You already have the stock and offering the service costs almost nothing. And it’s a service ...
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December 12, 2018
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December 12, 2018
Don’t forget your 2018 Wallace bell!! We only have 5 left in stock. These make the perfect gift for newlyweds and new parents!!
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Next page

Press: Shop Local & Bridge in the News
Tableware Today Column: Saying I Do To Registries
Tableware Today Column: Saying I Do To Registries
October 2024

Tableware Today: New Leaderboard Column from Shop Local
Tableware Today: New Leaderboard Column from Shop Local
August 2024

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

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