Category Archives: Guest Bloggers

Day in the Life of a Gourmet Judge

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I thought it was one of those “you won the lottery” pranks but the request was real, AmericasMart Atlanta wanted a judge for The Atlanta Gourmet Market, and they wanted me for the job. They asked if my calendar was free that day. What a strange question, of course it would be free that day.

I was a bit nervous about the assignment, five hours on two gourmet floors, tasting dressings, rubs, candy, snacks, soups and condiments. Was I up to the task?

Upon arrival I met Todd Mussman from Muss and Turner’s http://www.mussandturners.com/ We were given 20 pages of entries, and we stared walking the floors with Bri, our guide from AmericasMart. In an oddly stoic gesture, I did not eat breakfast to save room for all the delectables. What a misguided decision that was. I immediately ate too much toffee at our first stop. Pecans, sugar, nuts and butter, sounds like breakfast food to me. Toffee to Go’s Dark Chocolate Pecan Toffee melted in my mouth and made me smile.  http://www.toffeetogo.com/ This day was starting off just as I had hoped.

At Strawberry Patch, we snacked on Vidalia® Onion Cheese Grits Bits. Diane Justice makes these cheese bits with real Vidalia® onions, and you can taste their gentle sweetness. After tasting the other entries, we quickly decided that these grits bits were worthy of a prize. http://www.gritsbits.com/

With a bit of trepidation, we approached Mother Shucker and we had a pleasant surprise at her booth. Old Mother Shucker is not at all old ,and she has a comedic presence that just makes you want to stay and listen. Lucky for us, her sense of humor was matched by her delicious original cocktail sauce and I have been dreaming about making a Bloody Mary with her mix ever since. This cocktail sauce is worth the trip to Columbia, S.C., and back.  http://www.oysterbarcolumbia.com/

After enjoying Miss Jenny’s Habanero Bread and Butter Pickles http://www.missjennyspickles.com/, Raven’s Nest Specialties’ Original Raspberry Jalapeno Jam http://www.ravensoriginal.com/ and Sugar Marsh Cottage’s http://www.sugarmarshcottage.com/ Bittersweet Chocolate Fleur de Sel Toffee Bits, and all of the other specialty foods, I think I ended the day having completed the food pyramid!  Delicious and exciting food, what more could a food judge ask for?

(Elisa Gambino is the owner of Via Elisa Pasta Sauces.  http://www.viaelisa.com/ Her sauces can be found in Whole Foods Markets throughout the southeast and Florida.)

Guest Blogger Janis Johnson Dives Into Gourmet

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JanisJohnson4-28 highresWhen I opened my retail store in the 70s, gourmet was a new trend – not yet established as a full-blown category. Because of that trendiness I marketed the shop as a gourmet gift store. This brought in customers who were not necessarily thinking about cooking and would not be intimidated if cooking was not their forte.

Entertaining at home has mushroomed into a giant concept for consumers, with the Food Network and other cooking channels encouraging the home chef – whether advanced or novice – to enjoy cooking and to experiment with tastes and flavors. If you recognize cooking as an important pastime for many of your customers, adding kitchen wares can become an additional profit center for your store. Even if you personally are not a cook, you very likely appreciate good food and everything required to bring food to the table. You can cash in on consumer interest by bringing in shelf stable foods that are ideal for tastings, or try special pans that fit a current cooking style.

Gourmet Catalog can help you with decisions about what to carry, how to merchandise your assortment, and also create an expansion plan to put in place down the road. By working within your own comfort level, you can grow and expand at the pace that works best for you.

Gourmet Catalog membership includes more than 200 store locations nationwide. Well-established in the industry, we work with top vendors; and because of our 30-year history, we also appeal to companies with hot new products – which gives our members the chance to be first at bringing them to the marketplace.

Catch up with Janis and learn more about how to successfully incorporate kitchen wares into your gift store on Friday, 16 at 8:30 a.m. when she and Mary Moore present “Catching Up with the Kitchen Trend.” The presentation takes place in the Gourmet Kitchen on Floor 8 in Building 2 WestWing.

 

Fashion Advantage’s TJ Reid Gives Tips for Apparel Retailing

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tjreid

Boutique owners frequently ask me questions about the arrangement of their store fixtures and the layout of merchandise. There are several problems I think need to be addressed:

1. Unless the store is a “Tall Shop” or a Petites store, you should figure the height of the average customer is 5′ 5″. Therefore wall racks and floor t-stands should absolutely not display or hang clothing items higher than that eye level. Anything on a tee stand in the middle of the sales floor where one of the sides is higher than that eye level is an invitation to shoplift. Sales associates can not see over or around it. You are encouraging customers to hide from you, which usually results in offering the temptation to help themselves!

2. Hangers should be faced in a manner as if all your customers are “Right Handed.” Mixing the direction of hangers or displays is confusing to the customer and usually, unattractive. The hangers in a store should be the same. If using wood, they should all be the same color and all is wood! If plastic, again make sure all are the same color. Older plastic tends to yellow so be certain all hangers that are supposed to be clear – are actually clear. Do not at any time use wire hangers in the store. It cheapens your merchandise and is also an insurance liability – customers could be hurt. When a vendor ships to you on a hanger, this is a giveaway hanger. Do that – either give it away or throw it away. It does not belong on the rack on the sales floor, just the stockroom.

3. Rounders are generally considered passé in stores today. If you still have rounders, I must tell you they give the impression of DISCOUNT or SALE, and should only be used for that purpose. Racks are too inexpensive not to use the most attractive and best suited for your image.

4. Racks should be angled on the sales floor and place far enough apart to enable customers to easily pass each other. There is an old saying, “If the butts brush – racks are close!” Three feet apart gives enough space for customers, strollers and even wheel chairs to move about comfortably.

For more valuable information on apparel retailing, please attend T.J.’s workshop, Saturday morning – June 12 at 9 a.m. in the 8th Floor Buyer’s Lounge of AmericasMart.  The topic will be “The Rights of Retail,” and each attendee will receive a free copy of T.J.’s  “What Mother Never Told Ya” book – a $25 retail value.  There will be refreshments and door prizes!

More information on T.J. Reid can be found here.

Guest AMU Blogger Darrah Brustein Shares On Saving Money, Driving Business

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dbrusteinIt’s the dream of many young girls to one day be in the fashion industry! After college, I was lucky enough to find myself as a rep for a high-end denim line and seemingly living my dream of the glamorous life of fashion! As many of you know, the glitz n’glam can be fun, but there is a lot more to the business. After a couple years as a rep, I was ready for a new challenge and was fortunate to be introduced to the world of merchant services. I had a soft spot for the needs of a retail business owner who certainly could use some help cutting costs where they are unnecessary. When I learned how unscrupulous people in the credit card processing world can be, I jumped on the opportunity to parlay my newfound knowledge to the boutique owners I knew and cared about.

If you’ve ever wondered ‘why am I paying so much every month to a credit card processor?’, ‘what’s the difference in what it costs me to transact a debit card, credit card, or a key entered order?’, or ‘would my business benefit from an influx of cash with an advance on my credit card deposits?’, then come meet me as I share what I’ve learned from working with hundreds of retailers and e-commerce stores about merchant services.  I’ll be offering guidance on how to get the best rates on your processing, as well as how to drive more revenue to your business with merchant services. It’s time to take the confusion out of this business and shed some light on the matter!  

Join Darrah on Friday, April 9 at 11 a.m. to find out how to Save Money and Drive Repeat Business during her AmericasMart University (AMU) presentation. More details here.

Guest Blogger Brent Beatty Talks about Creating a Social Media Foundation

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Listen! One of the most powerful tools social networks have given us is the ability to listen carefully to our audience. The first and most important step in building a foundational social media marketing program is understanding what people are saying about your industry, company, products, services and you. Listening to dialogue and analyzing perceptions enables you to thoughtfully create a program based on an understanding of your audience – not blindly put together a plan based on your preconceived idea of the marketplace.

Use free tools like Google Alerts, Google Reader, SocialMention and Twitter Search for insight into your consumers world that companies would have had to pay big bucks for not long ago (there are tools out there like Radian6 that are more robust but not free). The set-up is easy and management is whatever you can put into it.

To create your listening program, use these tools to track keywords and terms that are relevant to your business and set aside an hour a day for researching and analyzing the collected information. Gauge the sentiment of comments and create a spreadsheet with positive, negative and neutral tabs to organize the data. In a short time, you should have a firm finger on the pulse of your industry – new opportunities; what consumers are in love with or might not like at all. This will enable you to position your organization and strategy for the next step – engagement – reaching out and joining the conversation.

The result of a well-thought out listening program is an integrated marketing strategy where you can thoughtfully reach out to consumers and deliver what they expect.

To hear more, visit the Lunch and Learn: Social Media 101 seminar:

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Saturday, March 20, 2010
Noon-1 p.m.
Building 2, Floor 14, Seminar Room 1405

Brent Beatty, Search and Social Media Marketing Strategist for What’s Up Interactive, will take you through a best practices approach to effectively growing your business through interactive channels like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and blogs. In an interactive discussion, hear examples of how businesses are using Social Media and tangible steps you can take to begin engaging with prospects, partners and peers to build relationships and drive sales.

Guest Blogger Fleming Patterson Talks Year-Round Trends

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044 A Legendary Cast IMG_25241Discovering trends is easier than you may think. Jeanna and I find trends in many of your everyday places. Our favorite places to uncover these trends are the fashion, bridal, living and architectural magazines found on the shelves of any bookstore.  In 2010 many people are looking for items that have a use in every season. A simple example is to use a cylindrical vase and decorate it with seasonal fair. During the Winter season fill it with artificial snow or holiday ornaments, Fall can be filled with  leaves, pine cones and even sticks, Summer can be filled with sand and shells and Spring with silk gerbera daisies and moss. With one vase and a little creativity you have taken care of all four seasons! A vase for all seasons isn’t the only “in” design for 2010.

Metallics are here to stay and we couldn’t be more excited! This trend can be seen through the ever popular mercury glass. Every bride is screaming for it. It brings in the “something old and something new” look that helps make the occasion timeless. Mercury glass comes in many finishes including gold which is definitely making a comeback. This particular finish itself brings back old memories and the remembrance of good times.

Apothecary glass vessels in varying heights and sizes create a very fresh look that is commonly used with candy bars or natural or silk terrariums.

Taper candles are very sleek and have been finding their way back into event design. The amount of light given off is just enough to enhance the gleaming moment that one may be watching. These candles can now be found in many colors and act as perfect accents to floral or table design.

These are only a few of this year’s trends and Jeanna and I are excited to show you how many of these design ideas can be created using many of the wonderful finds pulled from the shelves of the Atlanta AmericasMart. We look forward to sharing more of our design experience with you and helping you find your inner designer!

Please visit Jeanna Graham and Fleming Patterson of A Legendary Event discussing Bringing Decorative Taste to the Holiday Table
Sunday, March 21
Building 1, Floor 19, Room 19-A-23

Find out more details about their seminar and the March Market events here.

A Legendary Event - 2010

Guest Blogger Brooke Giannetti Talks about Her AmericasMart Discovery

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When I opened my store last year I never thought that I would be visiting Atlanta to find home furnishing resources.

I asked myself “What could AmericasMart possibly have that I couldn’t find here in Los Angeles?”

The answer to that question turned out to be “A lot!”

Here are my top 10 things that I discovered/enjoyed during my latest trip to AmericasMart:

1. Blue Ocean Traders

Blue Ocean Traders Showroom was filled with a wonderful combination of antiques and amazing reproductions.

2. Tritter Feefer

I found furniture maker Tritter Feefer during my first visit to Atlanta last July. I was really impressed with their beautiful finishes and their reasonable prices. When I stopped into their showroom this time I fell in love with their new designs, including these two new dining tables.

3. Bobo Intriguing Objects.

No other showroom is as inspiring as Bobo. Owner Mark Sage has no fear and is willing to go all out for his designs.

4. Peddlers Home Design

Owner Robert True Ogden’s passion for vintage industrial is apparent throughout his showroom. I loved everything!

5. Solaria Lighting

I’m always search for new lighting resources. I was thrilled to find Solaria. They’re designs and finishes are fantastic!

6. Aidan Gray

I knew of Aidan Gray before my trips to AmericasMart, but I never had the opportunity to see all of their products in person. Being able to touch their products convinced me to carry their lighting and furniture pieces in my store.

7.  The AmericasMart Rug Market.

I found some fantastic rugs for the shop!

8. Thom Filicia

Yes, I got to meet Thom Filicia and attend his talk about his new book! It was such a treat to get some insight into his design process.

9. Kathryn M. Ireland

I also enjoyed hearing designer Kathryn M. Ireland speak. Her latest book is about her love affair with a gorgeous Wallace Neff house that she beautifully restored. While listening to Kathryn, I could feel her passion for design and this home. Just stunning!

Me, Kathryn M. Ireland, and our mutual friend Veranda Fine Arts Editor Leslie Newsom Roscoe.

10. Meeting other design obsessed people!

It was so much fun bumping into other design bloggers (like my friend Rachel from the blog Nest Egg) as well as other designers and store owners.

Brooke Giannetti
bgiannetti@mac.com
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Velvet & Linen
Giannetti Home

Giannetti Interiors

 

AMU Speaker Alison Ilg Tells how Social Networking is Another Opportunity for Connecting with Customers

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AI HeadshotMore and more businesses are using social networking as communication tools. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and others are all great ways to tell your customers more about you, and your store and products. Social networks are also a way to create relationships with customers and give you another touch point.

But, where do you start? The best way to approach social media is to first determine which networks are your customers or potential customers using. Ask your customers if they have Facebook page and how they use it? What’s their Twitter name? What’s the last video they watched on YouTube?

You can also search their names on Facebook and topics on Twitter via Twitter Search.

Then, set up a plan and start using one network. For example, set up a Facebook fan page and use it to promote the same messaging you would promote via advertising or public relations efforts. Bring you and your store’s personality to Facebook with pictures, words and style. You can pre-plan your messaging a few months out. Provide tips and information your customers can use.

Have fun with it. Ask your customers if you can take a picture of them trying on the newest spring dress and post it online. They will tell their friends about it too. Or you  could encourage customers to take their own pictures and post it on their Facebok pages.

Go to Google or Bing and search topics you want to know more about. You’ll find articles, blogs, websites, free webinars and more about Facebook and other social networks. I’ve been in communications for 20 years and this is first time I’ve seen such an abundance of information and sharing. 

As I am writing this article I checked my Twitter account and found these two articles being promoted by social media people I follow. Look at

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/12/business/smallbusiness/12guide.html?_r=2&ref=business  for tips for small businesses or look at  http://mashable.com/2010/01/18/better-social-networking/ for more tips.

Find out more from Alison at her AMU presentation at the Atlanta Apparel Market on Friday, January 22 at 10 a.m.

WITHit Speaker Provides Insight on Social Network Success

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MelissaG_082x-2The only way to ensure you don’t lose followers is to consistently provide quality content on your networks. The only confusing part is that means slightly different things on each network.  Here is a cheat list of content Do’s and Don’ts for the top three!

Twitter Do: Keep it upbeat, fresh, and relevant. Positive quotes are always welcome.
Twitter Don’t: Talk about the weather, your dinner, or share if you are bored.

Facebook Do: Make it more detailed about your activities, events, career, travels, and they love pics, after all it’s called FACEBOOK for a reason.
Facebook Don’t: Any inappropriate comments about sex, drinking, partying, and the like. They are okay with the weather and dinner if you must.

LinkedIN Do: This is about business, make it valuable, relevant, and include trends, current events, latest and hottest, best practices and such.
LinkedIN Don’t: Personal chit chat, weather, dinner, errands, junk.

Each post you make is a tiny snapshot into who you are. Think hard about that and you’ll find that you will be more careful in what you post. Consider that a new follower, friend or contact may or may not look hard at your profile, but rest assured they will look at your latest posts and maybe only the last one or two. Do those posts accurately reflect who you are and what you are about?  This is about defining your essence and continually putting your best self forward.

I’ve actually tracked follows and unfollowers in my Twitter account (not as easy to do on Facebook) and noticed that when I digress into a comment about just getting home, or going for a walk, even though I include it is a glorious day, I lose followers. It is mundane! We all have mundane parts to our lives so do you really want to share those? This is a unique opportunity to invite a more exciting interpretation of your life and showcase that to the world. Did you take your family to Disneyland? Or did you meet the most famous mouse in the world? Did you attend another industry conference, or can you share a nugget or two you gained from the conference that will make a difference to those reading it?

Think of social media as a way to mine for the gold of success in what we often see as an ordinary life. Each of us has extraordinary events, connections, and opportunity every day, it is in how we view it, share it, and interact with it.

Find out more from Melissa during her WITHit presentation at Market on Friday, Jan. 8 at 9 a.m.

Want more great business building tips and easy to implement social media success strategies? Check out www.todaybydesign.com. If you are looking for a social media speaker, consultant or coach, get in touch directly at melissa@melissagalt.com to learn what Melissa’s social media savvy and strategy can do for your business.

Social Media Leader Erik Qualman Answers FAQs

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qualmanpicSocial media is still in the early stages of development, and with that comes many questions. I’ve picked some of the most often asked questions by companies and individuals and have responded with my thoughts. 

Q: Are there things that should always or never be done in social media, things to consider or options to weigh when deciding which one to join (or stop using!)?

A: Fun and common sense — have plenty of both.

Q: Are marketers betting on social media marketing already? If they aren’t, what do you think they are afraid of?

A: Marketers are afraid of the unknown and also giving up control of their brand. They are also afraid of making mistakes. That is why it’s important to fail fast, fail forward, and fail better. You aren’t going to get it right the first time so be quick to listen, interact, react, and repeat.

Q: Why do you believe social media is so important?

A: As human beings, we have the dichotomous psychological need to be our own individual, yet we also want to feel like we belong to, and are accepted by, a much larger social set. People are willing to have an “open diary” as a means to stay connected — as their ultimate desire is to feel accepted.

Part of this lies in a yearning to have a clear understanding of what the majority is doing. It was much easier to know what the majority was doing when all one had to do was tune into Casey Kasem’s “American Top 40″ to find out the latest and greatest in music or to flip through “Vogue” magazine to quickly grasp every fashion trend. Social media help us make sense of information overload by quickly seeing what our friends find important, helpful, or interesting. It also helps eliminate people performing the same tasks — if three of your friends have already performed the task (finding a good hotel in Bermuda), why should you be redundant?

Q: Which is the best business model for social media? Is advertising the only way?

A: That is one revenue stream, but there are many more. Think about people exchanging gifts in social media, small businesses setting up their businesses and using PayPal-type functionality (mircopayments), and craigslist-type interplay. There is also search revenue to be had, as people care more about what people think about products and services than an algorithm.

Q: Who is going to lead this new marketing? Big agencies? Specialized agencies? Media agencies? Brands themselves?

A: It’s a people-driven economy, stupid — people will lead the charge. People that shepherd brands (e.g. Scott Monty, Morgan Johnston, Barry Judge) will also play leading roles. Technology development (application development, etc.) will continue to be outsourced to specialists/agencies.

Q: How will social media force the hyper-acceleration of better search results?

A: You’re already seeing this. Google recently launched four products that are social in nature: Google Sidewiki, Google Searchwiki, Google Hot Trends, and Google Wave. Google understands its main competition will come from social media. That is why in October we already started to see search deals being cut between Microsoft and Twitter/Facebook. This is only the beginning, but it’s happening much sooner than I thought.

Q: Who helps you stay informed?

A: Lee Odden (TopRankBlog) Jeremiah Owyang (Altimeter Group), Mashable, Charlene Li & Josh Bernoff (Groundswell), Chris Brogan & Julien Smith (Trust Agents), Shel Israel (Twitterville), Steve Levitt (Freakonomics), Dale Carnegie books, Laurie Sullivan (MediaPost), Mark Walsh (MediaPost), Dan and Chip Heath (“Made to Stick” and Fast Company), Silicon Alley Insider, David Meerman Scott (The New Rules of Marketing & PR), Abbey Klaassen (AdAdge), CNET “Buzz Out Loud” Podcast with Tom Merritt, Molly Wood, and Jason Howell, Buckhead Church Podcasts, ESPN Fantasy Football Today Podcasts, and of course anything Michigan State Hoops related.

Q: There are many social networks nowadays. Should advertisers try each one, or how should they choose the right ones?

A: Start with the placements that have the best chance for success and progressively grow from there — eventually you should be everywhere that is contributing to success (however you determine that). If you’re engaged and using the tools, it’s pretty easy to determine which social media tools your customers are on. If you can’t figure this out, Forrester has a good Social Technology Profile Tool that will help direct you to where your customers are.

Q: Do you know an agency that is doing it right in social media? Or a brand?

A: Zappos, Comcast, Ford, JetBlue, Skittles, Starbucks, Ben & Jerry’s, Best Buy, Dell, and Virgin are leaders in the space. Crispin Porter + Bogusky and Razorfish have been progressive in this area as well.

Q: What is the “next big thing” in social media marketing?

A: The merging of search and social.

Q: What about those who just want to say, “Enough of this online chatter, I just want to connect with people in the real world”?

A: Social media isn’t a zero sum game. Just because you can stay connected with your daughter in college via social media doesn’t mean that there isn’t a need anymore to meet face to face. Social media is great at keeping people connected when distance/time is a hurdle or limiter. Also, remember that sometimes the opposite can occur — meeting offline after first meeting online. Think about Mashable’s popular Tweet-ups or that one out of eight couples married in the U.S. met online.

Find out more from Erik at his Keynote during the January Market. More info here.