While this may be the last issue of Tableware Today, it’s surely not the last of what the magazine has given us. What surrounds me and you has been touched and improved by Amy and Tableware Today in small and big ways. Over the last 19 years, thanks to Tableware Today, I’ve gained friends, grown my business, and enriched my life. In 2006, I was fresh into the tableware website scene and it was hot. I’m not talking limo rides, after-hours parties, and bottle service; I’m talking HTML, ColdFusion, and JavaScript. The web was still young and many brands and retailers still doubted if the web would ever amount to much more than it was. 

This is when Amy’s vision and publishing platform first put its imprint on me. Amy asked me that year to pen a Last Word column to help her readers better understand e-commerce. I was honored and jumped at the chance to share my enthusiasm for the web. Shortly thereafter she invited me to write a regular column that helped readers embrace e-commerce. Amy identified at that moment, even before the first iPhone had launched, that e-commerce was important, not something fleeting, and she’d give me and readers a forum for best practices. Amy set about editing my columns, polishing them, and helping us espouse the world of online capabilities. She helped arm the indie stores with ‘digital bayonets’ for the digital war we’re still fighting today. And, Amy’s invitation changed my life.

For me, the column set off a domino effect that helped make my business, Shop Local, what it is today. Thanks to her, we grew our clients’ list from a handful of stores in 2006 to today’s 1,500 indie stores and 110 premium brands, including Juliska, Vietri, and Herend. Back in 2006, as it was for many young web designers, it was feast or famine for me. Then, I got a call. Sallie Kramer, who owned Sallie Home in St. Louis, read my Tableware Today column. She called my office and left a message on my answering machine telling me she’d picked me to build her website. I’d never heard of this woman in life. (I have the message saved on my machine to this day.) 

The Sallie Home project inspired me to create the Bridge Product Syncing service, cemented my dedication to the craft, financed my fledgling startup, and propelled me to keep going. Without it, I may have moved on to other industries and projects. Instead, we honed our e-commerce skill set which brought us even more projects in our industry. Today, 80% of the top 20 selling brands use our service. Today will always be thanks to Tableware Today, as will the day after Today. Amy, from every- one in the industry, and especially me, a warm thank you.