my best business resource is this site
http://www.sampler.com/ME2/Apps/DiscussionBoard/default.aspits an active forum with mostly brick and mortar stores... you have to have a store or legitimate resale thing and register to get on, you cant blatently advertize, its active everyday ...and very user friendly......
there are all kinds of stores on there, prim, country, yes but also some other types too...some fancy, some tourist, some farmers market, some high end giftshops, just a nice cross section of independant stores on there sharing all kinds of good info.....what i like about it is the feedback you can get...just throw a question out and get advice and feedback from many view points.......nice long talks sometimes...
.. deep discussions on china, how to survive, ,events, big box inventory, show info, display discussions, dud discussions, field trip reports.... i have gotten so much out of it...and im on there a lot...
its nice but not like a tea party...
it has helped me build a country section in my store, helped me improve my displays , and ive used lots of ideas from there about christmas events etc...also i have gotten great product advice and welcome warnings about companies to stay away from....
the best part is getting to know the women on there...and a couple of men.....
you do have to register but i would sure recommend it for any store...
there is a public side and a side for retailers....
its connected to american sampler....and they also publish country business magazine....for stores....
we just ordered our spring garden iron....the way i figure out how much to order is to look at last years sales and aim for that much.....this year im going into more glass...glass gazing balls, glass stakes, etc..... we have a good garden niche going....i cant get it cheap enough to wholesale as low as i would like....but my store customers who come here do save all the shipping.....its a lot of real big pieces.... arbors, gazebos, trellises, big urns..planters, fence.bird trees..dress forms..etc etc
