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  1. News from Bridge
  2. News from Members
  3. Events
  4. Training
  5. Updates
+ Bridge in the News - Bridge in the News
August 26, 2022 Brands Need Stores
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Brands Need Stores
August 26, 2022
Over the last 15 years, brands have been increasingly doing a run-around to bypass their retailers and sell direct.  Some brands suggested they’d never have a physical store. Some brands said they’d never have their products sold in another retailer’s physical store. What allowed the brands this hubris? The internet and Facebook. With the internet, brands would have a ‘store’ anywhere the customer is, and with Facebook, they could target them.  

In ...
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August 25, 2022 WSJ: Business cards go digital
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WSJ: Business cards go digital
August 25, 2022
Adam Sigel, who heads up sales at Savanna Bee’s indie stores, recently showed me his ‘business card:’ a piece of metal with a QR code on it. I scanned Adam’s QR code and my phone offered to place his contact information in my phone’s address book.  This not only saved me time.  Behind the scenes, the software allows Adam to see who clicks on his scanned data—one can’t do that with a traditional business card. 

The Wall Street Journal ...
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August 15, 2022 We Suck 🪠
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We Suck 🪠
August 15, 2022
Last week, Amazon bought iRobot, the company that makes Roomba, the robot vacuum cleaner, for $1.7b.  Why? Yes, their 'Rosie from the Jetsons' has AI and is in your home (which is where Amazon wants to be), but the reason Amazon wants it is because customers want it. Which leads us to ask: Why do customers want Roomba? Because it does something that humans find annoying and hate doing: cleaning. Roomba has spotted the value that robots bring to the world and it's not simply being ...
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August 14, 2022 New Feature: More Easily Manage Registry Bonuses
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New Feature: More Easily Manage Registry Bonuses
August 14, 2022
Your Bridge has a new feature. You can now more easily manage your gift registry bonuses.

Background:
Your Bridge Store's Gift Registry software has a marketing program built in. This program gives registrants (e.g. brides) a monetary bonus if they complete five steps. Previously, when registrants reported that they added a link on their social media page, a store would have to ask the registrant on which platform they added the link. The same process occurred when the registrant reported ...
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August 14, 2022 Congrats: 50th Anniversary for the Botanic Garden Pattern
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Congrats: 50th Anniversary for the Botanic Garden Pattern
August 14, 2022
Botanic Garden, a pattern from the brand Portmeirion, is celebrating its 50th anniversary shares Tableware Today magazine.  The pattern, which is based on an 1817 herbal book’s illustrations, was unconventional at the time because it came in unmatching sets.  Store buyers feared it wouldn’t sell.  Fifty years later, the pattern has sold more than $1b and accounts for about half of Portmeirion’s sales. The company’s daughter created the pattern after ...
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August 10, 2022 We Deliver and Install
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We Deliver and Install
August 10, 2022
I don’t own a car, yet I have a strange desire to read Dan Neil's car column each weekend in The Wall St. Journal.  Why would someone who doesn’t own a car, won’t be buying one soon, and hasn’t owned one in 25 years read a car column? It's a mix of enjoying the design and technology of automobiles, wanting to know what Dwayne Johnson may be buying next, loving Dan’s witty writing style, and, confession, simply being 13-years old at heart. Cars are ...
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August 9, 2022 Small businesses forced to wait till the fall for relief from Amazon
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Small businesses forced to wait till the fall for relief from Amazon
August 9, 2022
Excerpt: 

If passed, the law would bar huge online platforms such as Amazon’s e-marketplace, Apple’s app store, and Google’s search engine from giving preferential treatment to the company’s own products and services, such as steering consumers to in-house products instead of competitors’ offerings in a way that harms competition.

Read the full article: 
https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/antitrust-bill-targeting-big-tech-in-limbo-as-...
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August 9, 2022 T-Shirt: Amazon is not our friend
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T-Shirt: Amazon is not our friend
August 9, 2022


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August 7, 2022 Sales Reps Are Important
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Sales Reps Are Important
August 7, 2022
We all know that sales reps play a crucial role in our industry, but one may ask, “how important a role?” I was happy to see Ari Lowenstein, our industry friend at MarketTime, pen a report that measures the impact of sales reps in this digital era. 

The next time a brand extols the benefits of Faire or another online platform that cuts out reps, please share this article and its report with them. 

Thank you, Ari. 

Read the full article:
https://www....
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August 5, 2022 Peddlers Are ‘Sew’ Good for Us
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Peddlers Are ‘Sew’ Good for Us
August 5, 2022
I met Georgi, who runs this mobile sewing shop, while walking down the Bowery yesterday.  I shared with her the story of Ronni Solbert, a neighbor who illustrated a childrens book about peddlers like her, and praised her for being an indie business—with a creative delivery approach. Georgi said her cart had previously been a coffee cart and was repurposed during the pandemic when people wanted to get their clothes hemmed in airy locals. 

Read our post about pushcart peddlers ...
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August 3, 2022 The Everything War
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The Everything War
August 3, 2022
An East Village Artist’s Death Prompts a Reflection on the State of Indie Retailers Today

…….

While thumbing through the Times, I noticed a smiling young woman’s picture in the obituaries. In the black and white photograph, she's standing on a fire escape with a historic building and a bridge in the distance.  I was initially attracted to Ronni Solbert’s 1959 picture, yet I was even more drawn in by what I noticed next to her photo: a children&...
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August 2, 2022 Bridge Is 60% of Google Page 1
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Bridge Is 60% of Google Page 1
August 2, 2022
In this e-commerce age, a store being found on page 1 of Google is very important.  Online advertising has become much more expensive recently, making being found even more important. Being found in Google saves the store on costly advertising.

Sometimes a potential client asks me if their store uses Bridge Store software, will their store rank higher in Google? The answer: Yes.  In this example, we Googled "gift registry texas." We see that Bridge retailers claimed ...
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August 1, 2022 George Lois’ advertising advice
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George Lois’ advertising advice
August 1, 2022
George Lois, the adverting icon, wrote Damn Good Advice for those in the advertising field.  In one section, he encourages us to highlight a truth.  This may even include an assumption about a perceived weakness.  Following George Lois' advice, I came up with these two pieces of ad copy for Bridge:
  • We’re smaller than Shopify. And that’s why you get more with us. 
  • Shopify watches its stock price. We watch our customers' needs. 
  • Shopify was created to
...
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July 28, 2022 WSJ: The Challenges of Buying a Town’s Beloved Small Business
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WSJ: The Challenges of Buying a Town’s Beloved Small Business
July 28, 2022
The Wall St. Journal shares a story that many indie stores may be able to relate to: the challenge of selling your business. The Journal shares issues that arise when ownership changes.  Small, brick-and-mortar stores are more likely to face a big decline in sales than, say, a large IT company. 

Excerpt:
"The revenue drop following the sale of a business can range from an expected 20% to 30% in the case of an IT-services provider to 50% in the case of a hair salon, says Sam ...
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July 28, 2022 Always Be Reading 📚
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Always Be Reading 📚
July 28, 2022
In the movie Glengarry Glen Ross, a motivational speaker played by Alec Baldwin addresses a group of salesmen. He writes three letters vertically on the chalkboard, “A B C.” He explains that the acronym means "Always Be Closing."  

The way that Baldwin's character thinks about sales, I may think about reading. I think of: "ABR,” Always Be Reading. Whether it's breakfast, lunch, or dinner, I try to get in a page or two of the Times, Wall St. ...
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July 27, 2022 $200 Off Your Dallas or Atlanta Order
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$200 Off Your Dallas or Atlanta Order
July 27, 2022
Good news: Your store can still get $200 off your Dallas or Altanta order!

Example Orders:
  • Your store placed a $200 wholesale order. You receive $200 from Bridge. Your order is free.
  • Your store placed a $1,000 order.  You receive $200 from Bridge. That is a 20% discount off your order.

23 Participating Brands:
  • Beatriz Ball
  • Casafina
  • DeVine Corporation's lines:
    • Anna Weatherley
    • Couzon
    • J.L. Coquet
    • Mario Luca Giusti
    • Medard de Noblat
...
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July 26, 2022 Helping Stores Work More Efficiently
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Helping Stores Work More Efficiently
July 26, 2022
This graphic shows the situation in which many retailers find themselves. Many retailers are stuck trying to connect their digital wholesale buying and their stores’ websites.
  • On the left, we see wholesale software operators, including MarketTime, Juniper, Faire, Bridge, etc.
  • In the middle is the retailer.
  • On the right we see retail (D2C) software providers, including Bridge, Shopify, Big Commerce, etc. 
The software entities on the left should connect ...
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See You in Dallas in January 2023 Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023 - Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023
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See You in Dallas in January 2023 Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023 - Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023 Bridge will be in Dallas for the January 2023 show. Show dates: January 4 - January 10. 

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July 24, 2022 Tableware Today: 4 Brands Promote Bridge
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Tableware Today: 4 Brands Promote Bridge
July 24, 2022
We're happy to see four brands promote Bridge in Tableware Today's August/September 2022 issue.

In each advertisement, the brand displays Bridge’s ‘B’ logo in the lower left or right of the page.  The brands that promote Bridge include:
  • Bordhallo Pinheiro
  • Carmel Ceramica
  • Pampa Bay
  • Vista Alegre

The brands show the Bridge logo so that retailers reading the publication will know that they can easily sell the products shown. Since e-commerce makes up 30% of U...
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July 24, 2022 Bridge Client Mikasa Mentioned in the Wall St. Journal
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Bridge Client Mikasa Mentioned in the Wall St. Journal
July 24, 2022
This weekend’s WSJ shares how Bed Bath & Beyond customers preferred Mikasa over BBB’s private label brands. When BBB couldn’t give customers what they wanted, sales tanked—and the CEO, Mark Tritton, was shown the door. 

BBB is not the only major retailer questioning the recent mania to offer private labels. Amazon is walking back its private label brands, but is doing to for another reason: the Department of Justice may be investigating it for anti-competitive...
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Next page

Bridge in the News
HFN: Bridge Experiences Record Growth
August 2021
HFN: Bridge Experiences Record Growth

Press Release: Bridge Membership Surges 50%
July 2021
Press Release: Bridge Membership Surges 50%

Four Trade Publications Report on Bridge's Growth
July 2020
Four Trade Publications Report on Bridge's Growth

HFN Editor Praises Bridge
March 2020
HFN Editor Praises Bridge

Seminars Offer Strategies for Independent Stores
January 2020
Seminars Offer Strategies for Independent Stores

Tableware Today Article: Chart Your Future Before Big Tech Does
November 2019
Tableware Today Article: Chart Your Future Before Big Tech Does

HFN Publishes Jason Solarek's 'Letter to the Editor'
May 2019
HFN Publishes Jason Solarek's 'Letter to the Editor'

HFN Shares Juliska is Joining Bridge
March 2018
HFN Shares Juliska is Joining Bridge

HFN Reports Bridge's Product Syncing Service Helps Indie Stores
January 2018
HFN Reports Bridge's Product Syncing Service Helps Indie Stores

Bridge Brand Conference
June 2017
Bridge Brand Conference

HFN Magazine: Bridge Crosses $2 Million in Registry Sales
December 2016
HFN Magazine: Bridge Crosses $2 Million in Registry Sales

HFN Magazine: Bridge Passes $1 Million Milestone in Registry Sales
November 2015
HFN Magazine: Bridge Passes $1 Million Milestone in Registry Sales

...