As much fun as it sounds, our shopping trips to big gift shows aren’t necessarily “fun”.
Two things are required: the trip must be productive and you need a huge amount of stamina. Fortunately our leader, Joan, is able to do both. I had forgotten the much needed second pair of shoes and by day two, I was limping around the showrooms like I’d aged twenty years. Once I purchased another pair of shoes I was able to keep up with both Joan and Camilla (our manager in Great Barrington).
We posted some photos last week (click here) after we’d just been there for a day. Here are are few of the new things we found!
Having done this show for so many years, I understand what we need to do: find the right merchandise that will propel our stores into 2012 with an exciting and fresh look. The shopping experience at the Gift Mart is sometimes like an “out of body” experience when you see what people are showing. You often ask yourself “who buys this stuff???” Searching for the right merchandise is comparable to entering a stadium and looking for your seat when you can’t remember your seat number or what tier it’s on. The Atlanta show has grown to three buildings, with over 20 floors each and over a hundred different vendors on each floor. Even after attending this market for many years, I still get lost but I have no compass. Just ask Joan who has had to travel with me for many years…I am pretty hopeless. Having our new Great Barrington manager, Camilla Gray, with us was a HUGE help. She is a wonderful asset to our team. Camilla possesses many talents — including design. She has years of retail experience, a wonderful eye, and knows more about art (and everything else for that matter) than Google.com. Her good nature and sense of humor were a great compliment to Joan and I as a traveling companion, since Joan and I are like an old married couple when we travel.
Alas, I ramble on. The purpose of this writing is to tell you we DID find some exciting things in that giant stadium of merchandise. Having been in business for so many years, one tends to shop the vendors we have curated over the years. It’s true that many manufacturers that once produced here in the U.S. have moved overseas to save costs, but we always look for continued quality. We proudly stock three furniture companies (Mitchell Gold+Bob Williams, Lee Industries & Cisco Brothers) which are all made in the United States.
Even though we have three locations, it’s important to remember we are not a chain store — we are still a family-run business in every sense of the word. There is no “fluff”. We all work hard as a team for a common goal: to offer the best merchandise, to feature great style and to offer the best customer service we can in all of our stores. Many of our staff have been with us for years. They give us their best each day in providing our customers with a beautiful environment in which to shop and even to take some time to share their personal stories. They have shared so much of their lives with us, we can’t help but think of our customers as friends. The loyalty they have afforded us is a gift and as a small business…that is our life-line. Sure, the economy has its challenges but we don’t use that as an excuse when we feel the “pinch”. It just inspires us to work harder to improve and to always ask ourselves “what can we do better?” That is why each year we travel to the gift shows. We want to find just the right things to bring to our stores — things that will continue to entice you to shop with us, rather than go online or to some big box store. After all, how can anyone really know the comfort of a sofa or chair or the softness of a cashmere scarf by shopping the internet?
Yes, shopping has changed over the years, due to many factors, but one thing that hasn’t changed for our customers — They get to enjoy the whole shopping experience — the excellent customer service…the scents and sounds of our stores and of course…the opportunity to engage with our warm and friendly staff members. You won’t be finding that online!
