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Depending on who you ask, increased credit card use by consumers may be either boon or bane to the economic outlook. The fact that credit card use is rising is seen by some as an indication of increased consumer confidence and a willingness to spend that should spur economic growth. However, others regard credit cards as a net negative, hurting even those who don't use them.
For the rosy assessment, Christine Hauser writes in the New York Times that "Ever since the United States emerged from the recession, economists have been watching for signs that Americans are spending again." Never mind that many might question the assumption that the nation has completely "emerged" from the recession, Christine sees a first quarter increase in credit card spending as a positive sign that should spur economic growth.
“The dust is slowly coming off credit cards,” said Gregory Daco, a senior economist with IHS Global Insight, quoted in the New York Times' May 13 article. “It is a general return of consumers to credit card usage, but it is a cautious one. Income is lower and slowly making a comeback right now.”
Several polls have showed use of plastic dropped dramaticaly in the early days of the recession, but that may be changing. MasterCard reported a 5% increase in sales during the first quarter of 2011, Visa a 9% increase and American Express saw a 13% rise.
The contrarian view was presented in an MSN Money article by Liz Pulliam Weston. "Recent research indicates that credit cards contribute to inflation and may impose unfair costs on people who don't use plastic. Everybody pays more, in other words, so that some of us can snorkel at Molokini," Weston says, referring to a vacation she paid for with rewards points.
Credit cards increase the money supply, because consumers can spend more than the cash they have on hand. More money chasing the same amount of goods leads to inflation as merchants raise prices in the face of higher demand. In addition, rising "swipe" fees paid by retailers have forced prices up, meaning prices are higher whether the consumer uses plastic or not.
Those fee structures have also become more complex, with four fee categories in 1991 rising to as many as 243 today for MasterCard alone, making it difficult for retailers to know and understand what they are paying. One large merchant reports that a credit card transaction costs them 14 times as much as accepting cash, but most consider the benefits more important than the disadvantages of taking plastic.
indicates a CAMEO EZ© web site.
Aspen Bay Candles: It’s not hard to see why Aspen Bay Candles are simply better. Our candles are poured with a clean burning soy wax blend and use recycled materials wherever possible. We hand-pour all of our products in our factory in Mississippi. The result is a line of premium candles with quality you can see and most importantly smell.
Badash Crystal: Our 24% hand-cut lead crystal is produced in the finest factories in Europe by the same artisans that manufacture for Mikasa, Waterford, Lenox, and Sasaki. Every piece is individually and safely gift boxed. We offer superb quality and value for all your gift giving and/or personal pleasure.
Brownlow Gifts: Brownlow produces a full line of inspirational gifts for every occasion. You will find useful and attractive home decor gifts for the kitchen, bedrooms, study and all other rooms in the house. Brownlow is well known for gourmet products, journals, gifted paper items, photo albums, photo frames, decorative sentiment plaques, a variety of stationery, many different ceramic gifts as well as a large assortment of inspirational gift books. Most products are in coordinating themes that retailers can purchase in eye-catching countertopdisplay collections.
Calypso Studios is a Fashion Accessory & Gift Company that creates products that encompass a relaxed and vibrant lifestyle. We are constantly moving forward and challenging ourselves with new designs and accessories, creating beautiful pieces that everyone can enjoy. We are excited to bring more color and sparkle to any wardrobe in an array of new designs for the gift industry, including our new and extremely popular Comfort Crosses and Wrap Bracelets. Visit us online today at www.calypsostudiosinc.com to explore all of our new 2011 product!
CAMEOEZMarketplace.com: CAMEO EZ© member stores can now log into a site one time and place orders from several manufacturers. This is a newly introduced site, so check back often to see more lines. One Login – Multiple Shopping Carts – Easy Checkout.
Divinity Boutique is a gift company that is focused on trendy and fun gifts that feature inspirational verse and themes.
Don Mark Mi Pet Dancing Speaker - “THE HIT OF THE PARTY” These adorable Puppies and Kittens have a built-in speaker that plays music from your iPod / MP3 player or most any other music source. Our soft synthetic fur pets will dance to your music or press the left paw and just use the Mi Pet in speaker mode only. The arms are posable and the dance feature will automatically turn off after an hour or so to conserve battery life. Comes with one audio connection cable and uses 3 “AA” batteries (not included) plus features a 4.5v DC power jack for use without batteries (Adapter plug not included). MiPets come in four breeds and are beautifully gift boxed. Each pet measures approximately 12” tall.
Elegant Baby recognizes that today’s babies are stylish, and is committed to providing baby gifts featuring the very best design, quality, craftsmanship and tradition anywhere.
Europa Home decor including glass, candleholders and candles for garden, lodge, awards, gourmet food, sale items and more.
Gina B. Designs is an award-winning greeting card, gift and stationery products company featuring exceptional art and design. With an array of styles, variety of products and outstanding customer service, Gina B. Designs has "something for everyone." All products are proudly made in the U.S.A.
The Heeney Company is a wholesale manufacturer and importer of floral and Christmas products. The company distributes, imports and or manufactures floral and Christmas arrangements, silk flowers, foliages and plants, dried materials, ribbons, candles and decorative accessories.
Hook Line Greetings offers the world's first patent-pending "Gift-in-Greet" Fishing Lure Cards. The company's unique and clever greeting cards contain an authentic hand-tied fishing lure as the "gift" that can be taken out for immediate fun and enjoyment. Just "release" the fishing lure from the card, tie on a line and go fish!
Highland Graphics: a leader in functional gift with decorative items for gift giving and kitchen. From our topselling Absorbastone coasters, to our decorative bamboo cutting boards, everything we manufacture is made in the USA. Our high quality plus competitive pricing lets our customers make higher margins. We feature licensed art, official collegiate products and have a full range of custom capabilities with low minimums.
Natural Life: Fashionable and fun treasures to share or keep! Whether you’re shopping for friends, family, baby or yourself, Natural Life has the perfect gift for you.
Nicole Brayden Gifts a bright and trendy collection of stationary and home decor products. Lots of fun colors and designs offered. Introducing new and exciting "Purse Pad" stationary assortments as well as the trendy Cheeky Chic collection.
Puzzle Pen The Puzzle Pen is the only erasable, retractable and refillable pen on the market. This product is a great, new break-thru for puzzlers. If your store has customers that play Crossword, Sudoku, KenKen, Kakuro, Magic Square, Acrostic, or any other word or number puzzle, this unique new Puzzle Pen will be a great hit in your store.
SailorBags: Real sailcloth bags and accessories at great price points. Classic, nautical styling has timeless appeal for men, women and children. Can be personalized with embroidery to make great gifts.
Saltbox is a Manhattan-based design studio known for its signature creations in canvas. Regularly featured in magazines such as Oprah, Self, People and Brides, the Saltbox collection is renowned for its alluring prints and colors and is well-loved for its sturdy construction and heavy weight, water resistant canvas.
Shade Tree Greetings' "Actual Pictures" are recognized as one of the best-selling greeting card lines in the industry. Nostalgic photographs and clever, funny verses make these cards a success. Go to our website to browse over 300 styles. GREAT introductory programs and free fixtures.
snoozies!® are not socks and they're not slippers - sort of a crossover between the two and that's why we call them "foot coverings"! snoozies!® are made with a brushed fleece exterior in colorful & fun printed patterns and then lined with a soft Sherpa fleece inside.
Spring Street is proud to offer the finest assortment of personal, home, and office accessories. Our extensive product lines are all theme oriented, from baby to bride and beyond. All of our gift items are hand epoxy enameled and adorned with faux jewel encrusted motifs. Many of our designs are inspired from the famed Soho district of New York City where the very real Spring Street is located.
Sunbelt
Marketing Group , Inc. Licensed functional and decorative giftware for the home and tailored for the men's market, i.e. (clocks, signs, coat/key racks, salt and pepper shakers, bottle openers, shelves, picture frames, games key chains and more). Licenses include Coca-Cola, General Motors, Pepsi-Cola, Farmall Tractors, Shelby and the Shelby Ford Mustang and Dodge. Product mediums include wood, polyresin, and glass and mixed mediums.
Sunset Vista Designs Inc.: offers you extra margin opportunities, and sells thru at retail. They offer innovative designs, in proven products, with space saving merchandising solutions, and attractive package deals that all add value to the quality products we offer. Many say this is the “best ever” line of innovative gift, garden, and home décor.
Tripar International Inc.: Tripar International is your source for both displays and decorative accessories. Our extensive product line includes a wide assortment of easels, risers, ornament stands, plate racks, mirrors, jewelry displays, and unique display pieces. We are also an excellent source for wine accessories, wall décor, inspirational signs, and cookbook stands. We offer quality with style, low minimums and fast shipping.
Wellspring brings art and organization to everyday life with products in fashion, organization, and home. Check out quick ship items for the holidays that retail under $10- Flip Notes, great lightweight pill boxes and compacts, Auto Notes, lens cleaners and more! Also beautiful curios, scarves, wristlets, and pillows. All great gifts to ship now.
Winshare produces and imports a full line of Natural Wooden 3D Interlocking Puzzles as you’ve never seen before. We picked our best sellers and created for you the most unique Wooden Puzzle Gift Sets out there. Customers LOVE them!! All products are crafted of natural wood and come with wooden box and lid for easy safe keeping. Each set comes in natural craft box with PVC window. Instructions / solutions included in each box. Our products can definitely be categorized under the “PERFECT, SPECIAL, UNIQUE, and NATURAL GIFTS” all at the same time! Projects Customization available.
By Barbara Wold
Whatever you do, make sure you do whatever you can to keep your current customers. Customer retention is absolutely critical.
This economy makes customer retention strategies even more important because customer loyalty has weakened.
You need a customer retention plan. Keep in mind that it doesn't need to be costly, time-consuming or difficult. You just need a few simple steps and always make it a priority:
1. Contact your top customers or clients regularly. Make a list of your top customers, at least 10-25. Call them each at least quarterly. Call, send notes, send articles and information that may be of interest.
2. Keep your name in front of all your customers. Advertise regularly. Network regularly. Send e-mail newsletters regularly. The key is doing this regularly.
3. Give your current customers good deals. We're all used to come-on deals to attract new customers, but we then fail to offer similar discounts to current customers. Remember, your competitors are targeting your customers with deals.
4. Surprise them! Do something special and unexpected for some of your best customers. Send them a small gift. Add something extra to their order.
5. Keep track. Start a database, update your database, contact manager, digital address book. I'm always surprised by the number of businesses — especially small businesses — that do not have a good database of their past customers. Find a way to keep track of all your clients — past and present — so that you can easily and quickly contact them. Your database is GOLD.
6. Communicate, communicate, communicate. All of us, myself included, take our customers for granted. As a result, we get so focused on doing our work, that we don't take enough time out to meet with, talk to, and more importantly, listen to, our customers. Stay in touch. Ask them what they need and want. Be part of their lives and business.
A customer is a terrible thing to waste.
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"Nothing is more expensive than a missed opportunity." -- H. Jackson Brown Jr.
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~ Copyright 2011. Reprinted with permission from Barbara Wold's Retail & Consumer Tips, bwold@ix.netcom.com. Barbara Wold is a street-smart, down-to-earth business speaker, presenting topics from sales and marketing to customer service and tourism. She is an international speaker who has "WOWED" over 650,000 people from all 50 of the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, Singapore, Hong Kong, Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, China, Malaysia, India and the United Arab Emirates.
JACK BADASH OF BADASH CRYSTAL PASSES AWAY AT 92BAYSIDE, NY (June 21, 2011): Gift Industry pioneer Jack Badash passed away at 92; 75 years after beginning work in the industry. Badash's son Mark continues his legacy in Badash Crystal, the company Jack founded. "I would like to thank all of you well-wishers who have asked about Jack, sent your warmest regards, and shared memories through the years since his retirement," Mark says, "Your continuous and sincere interest is a tribute to the kind of a person he was."
In 1936, after graduating high school, Jack joined the gift industry as a shipping clerk for Koscherak Brothers. Nine years later, he borrowed his immigrant shoemaker father's life savings of $1,800 to begin Javit Badash, Inc. For a period, "Javit" became the largest U.S. firm producing hand and machine cut glassware with placement in every major department store in the United States.
Jack was a creative product developer and a dynamic salesman. He developed many close relationships with customers, suppliers, and sales reps alike. The firm owned cutting shops in Cumberland, MD and Jane Lew, WV. He sold the company in 1979 to Towle Mfg. Co. and Lenny Florence.
Retirement, however, did not suit Jack. In 1984, he began Jack Badash Inc., with similar domestic production, before moving on to importing from Russia and eventually, when son Mark joined him in 1987, expanded the company's purchasing to Europe.
Jack is survived by Phyllis, his wife of 63 years, three children, five grandchildren and two sisters who are 90 and 94! He loved his family and enjoyed fishing, sports, great food, gaming in Las Vegas, and was a huge supporter of Israel. He believed in the American Dream and his life was an American success story. He had a burning entrepreneurial spirit with a persistence seldom found in today's world. He will be sorely missed!
June saw the passing of two veteran Gift Industry Sales Reps, one on the West Coast and the other on the East. Randy Newcomb, co-owner of the independent rep firm The Newcombs passed away on June 1 at his home in Southern California. Jerry Freundlich, the original owner of the New York-based sales agency Lineworks, passed away on June 17 after a long bout with lung cancer. He was 62.
Jerry was one of the most well respected leaders in our industry," says long time friend and colleague, Denny King. "His company, Lineworks, earned the reputation as one of the most professional and successful rep agencies. He was a great husband, father and friend. He will be severely missed." (source)
Randy Newcomb and wife/business partner Aileen Haugh opened their L.A. Mart showroom in 1975. Over the past 30-plus years, Randy and Aileen grew their 3rd generation rep firm to impressive new heights, carrying forward a family legacy passed down from grandfather, to father, to Randy.
“Randy was larger than life,” said Aileen Haugh, The Newcombs. “He was passionate about what he did. Starting every day with his newspapers, he was an information omnivore and a total sales guy. He always went out of his way to make people feel comfortable and part of the team. His life was about living. He will be sorely missed but we will make sure that his legacy lives on.” Aileen Haugh and her dedicated team will continue to run the business without interruption.
“Randy embraced his work with great passion; he believed the gift business was a very intimate world comprised of individuals who loved what they did as much as he did,” said Mark Furlet, vice president and general manager L.A. Mart. “He was always looking for novel ways to motivate and reward everyone who touched his world, we were honored to have him as a valued tenant in the L.A Mart for so many years.”
Together, Randy and Aileen made long-lasting contributions to their family business, to the gift industry and to their local community ... with special support to the Assistance League of San Pedro.
Anyone wishing to make a charitable donation in Randy’s name can please contact; The Assistance League of San Pedro-South Bay, (310) 832-8355, sanpedrosouthbay.assistanceleague.org or Guide Dogs for the Blind, PO Box 3950, San Rafael, CA 94912.
The Gift Sales Managers Association is planning a memorial during the Atlanta Gift Show on Wed. July 6. The family is planning a celebration of Randy’s life on September 10, 2011.
CHICAGO, IL (May 25, 2011): Dennis Nemcek Associates (DNA) is proud to announce a roster of new lines available at The Chicago Market Living and Giving™, July 28-August 3 and the Minneapolis Gift Show, August 5-9. DNA is dedicated to continually expand its product breadth and variety in order to best-service its loyal customer base.
New lines include: Baby Dry Goods (IL, IN, MI, MN, ND, SD, WI), Bijoulee (IL, IN, MI, MN, ND, SD, WI), Bookmark Trenz (IL, IN, MI), Cathedral Arts (IL, IN, MI), G.W. Schleidt (IL, IN, MI, WI), H2Z (IL,IN,MI), Handvibes (IL, IN, MI, MN, ND, SD, WI), Milestone (IL, IN, MI, MN, ND, SD, WI), Paper Island (IL, IN, MI, MN, ND, SD, WI), W.I.N.O.S (IL, IN, MI, MN, ND, SD, WI).
"We love to add to the product lines and categories that DNA offers," says Dennis Nemcek, president, DNA. "It helps to keep us on-trend and make sure that we always deliver the best of the best to our buyers."
CHICAGO – (June 15, 2011) – The Chicago Market provides buyers and retailers with the complete market experience with not-to-be-missed events, fantastic amenities and a broad product mix. Event highlights include seminars, networking happy hours and an exciting Retail Tour through Chicago’s Southport Corridor. These events and more can be found only at The Chicago Market, July 28-August 3, with Temporaries, including Beckman’s™ Handcrafted Show, July 30- August 2.
The Chicago Market will offer a jam-packed buying experience with the events "Ballooniversity", Friday, July 29, Sponsored by burton+BURTON®, Floor 2, Merchandise Mart Conference Center; Fair Trade Federation: An Industry Movement Lunch N' Learn, Saturday, July 30, 12 - 1 pm, Floor 8, Room 8A; Anniversary Cocktail Reception, Saturday, July 30, 3 - 6 pm; Country Business Awards & Happy Hour, Saturday, July 30, 4 - 5 pm, Floor 8, Beckman's Light Atrium; Anniversary Party: Celebrating Bette C. & Co., Saturday, July 30, 4 - 8 pm, Bette C. & Co., Floor 14, Showroom #1491; Shop Late Night, Saturday, July 30, 6 - 8 pm, Showroom Floors 13 & 14; Merchandising: Tips & Tricks | Lunch N' Learn, Sunday, July 31, 12 - 1 pm, Floor 8, Room 8A; Designer Day: Designer Focused Lunch N' Learn, Monday, August 1: Designer Day, 12 - 1 pm, Floor 8, Room 8A; Designer Day: Afternoon Cocktail Reception, Monday, August 1: Designer Day, 2 - 3 pm, Floor 8, Home Section; Retail Tour, Monday, August 1, Co-Sponsored by the GHTA and the following GHTA Chicago Market members: DNA Sales, Midwest - CBK, Roman, TECSYS & Transpac Imports, 4:45 - 7:30 pm, Starts on Floor 1, in the North Lobby;
Many of the above events require RSVP and accomodations are limited. For complete information, click here.
