about everything im hearing is bad......except the cash and carries in pennsylvania and madison wi .......... they sounded really good...
.talked to a busy rep yesterday and she said shops are really being careful..and sales down..and her travel costs are going up so bad she is trying to plan her trips better....
a favorite customer was here and said about the same thing...
what really tells me how bad it is is when we get the returns from our dealer mailing.... that is a mailing to actual stores we have sold to.we just mailed out to our big list for our february sale.....a couple dozen came back as no such person, meaning closed ..
a big question is what to stock....what to get that isnt in hobby lobby,target,gordmans, lowes..etc etc
..the big gift companies are jumping right over us to sell to the big boxes...and the independants are supposed to get 8$ for what gordmans sells for 4$....how does that work?
here...we are holding even and thankful...and hoping our new lines will be exciting for our customers...
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I am having problems with the "Gordman delima" also. I even contacted a few of my vendors, saying I understood that they are in survival mode also, but could they please let me know what Gordman's had ordered so that at least I wouldn't order the exact same thing. They said they couldn't. Well, they lost sales because I couldn't risk ordering from them and having the same thing as Gordman's at half the price. It's only 3 miles from my store. It is getting tougher to find product. Good product, reasonable prices and not at the discount stores. Our nitch is similar to yours. Antiques, handmade, a little market, and events. Only we are on a much smaller scale. Pretty much a two man band, my husband and I. We are still hanging in there.
good luck!!!
whats helped me is getting the 30 yr olds in....they still need things...but they arent like the collectoers who were our base for so long...... think about tv stands...computer tables...recycled and green, use vintage not antique...
i think the vendors person on the phone would say about anything...and not know whats going on...
can you expand your sales area? more used in a seperate place? like our rough room...it looks bad but its a good draw....those new girls are on budgets!!!
hugs...ann
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