The photographer’s shots are in-—geeze, we really did have a good time. (If you missed the original post, it can be found here.)
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January 2009
A lot of conversation is going on in offices around the country right now as vendors and sales agencies debate the value of having taken booths at the various gift shows. In normal years, the conversation would include sales numbers that justify the expense; this year, however, the paper written during the shows won’t tell the entire story.
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As one top retailer put it a year ago, “There’s a lot of confusion about what ‘recycled’ really means. It’s not always what you think it is.”
Well put.
Retailers are inundated with references to green products now that the term has transcended beyond “trend” to “norm.” And no one clears up the confusion better than Joan Schnee, owner of Green Paper Company and my personal recycling guru.
You know from my previous post that GPC is on top of their game. An up and coming aficionado in recycled papers, Joan decided to take her passion for eco-friendly stationery beyond just selling good product to demystifying the process. Supplying pocket reference guides for GPC retailers’ staff and customers that explain the differences between recyclable, recycled, post-consumer, and virgin, she makes it simple to sort through the hype:
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The winter show season is an endurance race. Unlike the summer circuit that spans two months, the winter circuit jams everything into four weeks-—this year, the biggest shows piled into only 21 days. It’s not hard to see the wear and tear on faces of vendors who attend all the biggies; it’s even easier to hear the exhaustion in what they say. [click here to continue…]
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This afternoon, Congress received a request from the Postmaster General asking permission to cut mail delivery to only five days a week. Ironically, the day that would be cut may well be a weekday-—not Saturday-—due to volume.
The first thing that comes to mind? Net 10 invoices. Depending on the day of the week an invoice is cut, how it’s sent, and which days your store is open, this could cut Net 10 to a threadbare three or four days. Not much to work with.
If this goes through, expect lots of pushback from retailers…and resistance from vendors whose credit lines are already stretched to the limit.
Getting thank you notes into the pipeline could be the least of your worries.
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The rumors are true-—Swoozies is assuming ownership of several bankrupt Blue Tulip stores, as demonstrated by court filings certifying lease transfers filed the past six days.
Here’s how it’s playing out:
Last Thursday, January 8th: The failing chain asked the courts for permission to begin the process of transferring unexpired leases to Swoozies.
Last Friday: Additional motions were entered to transfer leases on seven specific locations, including Ardmore PA, Marlton NJ, Florham Park NJ, Closter NJ, Warrington PA, Burlington MA, and Princeton NJ. [click here to continue…]
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Assuming Mother Nature doesn’t expedite her next tirade on the east coast, I’ll be headed home in a few hours. Wanted to stay an additonal day, but the combination of hotel, airfare rebooking fee, and the ice and snow storm headed this way convinced me the original plan was best.
I’m anxious to get back on the blog with an upcoming post about green papers, based on wisdom shared by the woman I consider an expert in the field-—Joan Schnee, owner of Green Paper Company. [click here to continue…]
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I see a lot of interesting booth designs traversing so many shows. Interesting good, and interesting “what the heck were you thinking?”
Umbra created a third category: Interesting “Why didn’t I think of that?”
Their walls and display cubes are covered entirely in pieces of white, light weight card stock, stapled into place like random fish scales. The only signage is a spray painted stencil of the company logo, centered on the back wall. The 3D effect is terrific; the all white palette makes their colorful product pop.
This could easily be translated into a store display window. The key is to use coated stock that meets fire codes (assuming you care about such things). Very cool. Very hip. Very inexpensive.
Home run.
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