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Encore Joins in Katrina Relief Effort
he Encore Group announced that it is releasing
special gift items that will help fund
Operation Assist, a joint emergency medical
relief program by The Children’s Health Fund
(CHF). Operation Assist is providing fully staffed
and equipped state-of-the-art mobile medical units
to the region hit by Hurricane Katrina.
“We feel an enormous responsibility to do our
part when these horrific event occur,” said Encore
Chairman Eldridge (Redge) Hanes, in a statement
from the company. “Hundreds of thousands have
been affected by these disasters, including many of
Encore’s customers and employees living in the area,
but no victims are more helpless than the children.
Operation Assist is prepared to keep its mobile units
fully staffed and on the job for at least a year, and we
are committed to helping fund this very important
program for as long as possible.”
Encore is donating 50 percent of every wholesale
dollar in sales of specially designed products, now
being delivered to participating retailers across the
nation. The items include Band-Tastic™ silicon
bracelets and metal dog tags designed and manufactured
at Rawcliffe Pewter in Rhode Island.
DVD Screensavers Bring Life to Flat Panel Televisions
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DVDs from Screen Dreams
set the tone in any room.
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he Screen Dreams company offers four DVDs that can transform a switched off flat panel television into a vibrant, soothing and interesting viewing experience. The company was founded by Philadelphia, Pa. entrepreneur Stephen Spivak.
Available DVDs are Living Beaches, Living Butterflies, Living Marine Aquarium and Living Waterfalls. These items are popular for zoos and museums and custom packaging is available.
“People throughout North America are finding new and unique ways to use our TV screensavers,” Spivak said. “Some customers use them to create ambience for a romantic evening, others for a sense of escape and relaxation, and others as digital art on their TV screens.”
A Cheerful Giver Finds Success with Candles, Pet Gifts
Cheerful Giver, which has humble beginnings,
is a 10-year-old company that has found success
with candles, including the Keepers of the
Light line of jar candles with metal lids, and pet gifts.
Keepers of the Light candles are available in 61 fragrances.
“We experienced severe growing pains with this
line, but God has blessed us immensely through it,”
said company owner Cheryl Stuebing in a press statement
from the company.
The A Cheerful Pet line of boiled wool toys, coats
and rugs feature brightly colored folk art designs. “It has
been a wonderful addition to what’s out there for our
pets,” Stuebing said.
And in 2001, Cheryl teamed up with her sister Kathy
Fernald to launch Essence of Heaven, a bath and beauty
company. The firm offers lotions, bath salts, soaps,
body washes, body sprays and candles available in a
wide range of fragrances. All of the products are made
with natural ingredients.
Mr. Sandman® Offers Unique Gifts
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A highly detailed sand castle from Mr. Sandman®.
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r. Sandman® has keepsake sand castles in a wide variety of styles, sizes and colors. Perfect for souvenirs and center pieces, styles include Magical Beaded Castles and the Novelty Castles Collection.
“We knew the owner of the company and we
knew it was a great candle line,” said John Rudberg,
sales manager, in a recent telephone interview. “We
thought it would be a good fit for our existing retailers
and for stores that we are not in presently.”
The Standish, Mich.-based company, which was
founded in 1970, sells screen printed embroidered
and embossed garments for the gift and resort
industry.
The new line features 100 percent soy candles,
which produce no soot and come in four sizes and
45 scents. Also available are display hutches in three
sizes, the cost of which are offset with free candles.
The line is expected to do well in any shop that
offers gifts, from Hallmark to gift and resort stores,
Rudberg said.
Retailing How-To Book Available in a Revised Version
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The book’s cover.
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ariste Publishing
is releasing a
revised, updated
and expanded version
of Marilyn Nason’s book
“Inside Retailing 101.”
Nason is a business
journalist and retailing
expert. Topics covered in
the book include the critical
areas of vendor partnerships,
developing a
profitable inventory mix, creating winning displays
within limited space, identifying the best trade shows
and handling seasonal leftovers, theft, mature and ethnic
customers, staffing and promotions.
The revised version also includes an expanded section
on hospital and museum shops that covers
staffing and the unique retail factors faced by these
types of operations.
The Mountain’s New Packaging Is a Success
packaging program from The Mountain
has been greeted enthusiastically by customers,
said the company’s director of
sales and marketing, Jonathan Dancing, in a recent
telephone interview.
The system allows shops that rely heavily on
sales per square foot, such as zoo and airport stores,
to do well with the company’s shirts. And non-traditional
sellers, such as garden centers, sporting
goods retailers and convenience stores, can get into
the T-shirt business to increase profits. “This gives
them a chance to handle T-shirts in the same way
they handle other packaged goods,” he said. “…It’s
not easy for everybody to sell T-shirts, this just completely
solves these problems.”
The program is a special T-shirt display that features
individual boxes in the shape of a T-shirt
with garment designs featured prominently. The
new system optimizes square foot sales for shops.
And it solves the issues of T-shirts taking up too
much space unfolded and customers inability to
see the designs if the shirts are folded. “Retailers
can show more designs in such a small space, that
helps to sell shirts,” Dancing said. “This has been
effective at a level we did not even know it would
be.”
The packaging program was featured at trade
shows in Dallas, Atlanta, Miami, Seattle,
Edmonton, Las Vegas and Denver. “Our rep group
is showing it and universally it is getting a good
response,” he said. “…You can show more designs
and stock more T-shirts in a smaller amount of
space.”
Dancing said the program expands what the
company offers to retailers, namely high quality
garments and now merchandising expertise. “We
offer a lot to retailers at this point,” he said.
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