How a drawing on a bar napkin led to a software platform that processes trillions of calculations
April 15, 2024
In 2007, while sitting at the pub Moran’s with a beer, I drew a sketch on a napkin that would change our business. I drew a software model that would allow an indie store to instantly show (and sell) thousands of products online—without any labor. (The secret sauce: The respective brand would do the product update work for the merchants.) The immediate goal was to help my two retailers more efficiently load products onto their websites (and save me the boredom of doing it).
Jim Shreve made Baccarat hip. Now, he and his longtime partner, Mark Brashear, along with Sally Burnside, the former Baccarat sales V.P., intend to do the same for DeVine Corp., the 32-year-old distributor of elite European brands. You're invited to the opening!
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Congrats to you all. This is very exciting. Tim, we’ve known each other since before you started DeVine Corp., 32 years ago. You’ve been looking for the right opportunity to retire. TIM ...
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You can use a free PDF flyer to help your retailers more quickly sell what they just bought from you.
January 18, 2024
FOR BRANDS AND SALES REPS
Were you at the Dallas or Atlanta shows? If so, you want to help your stores sell what they just bought from you.
We have a solution to increase your post show re-orders:
As you know, your customers bought from you at the show.
They will return to their shop and be adrift about getting these products on to their website. That hurts your future re-orders.
Let's help them sell what they just bought. Why? This will help them re-order from you more quickly.
Greetings from Dallas. Good to see our brand partners promoting their Shop Local Syncing service in their showrooms. Here we see Neil Peters, national sales director for Carmel Ceramica, holding a Shop Local display. A merchant can scan the QR code and get all Carmel’s products online instantly.
Your Shop Local account offers a built-in solution to shop thousands of products. The Wholesale service combines the best features from wholesale marketplaces and buying on a brand’s site into a new service. Shop Local retailers can save time and money by using the Wholesale service.
The Ivy House, an indie retailer in Texas that has used our e-commerce software since 2015, uses the Wholesale service to save time and money. Laura May, the owner of The Ivy House, easily places...
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Our new pattern for 2024! Carmel Sky stoneware has a wide variety of gifts, serving pieces and dinnerware. As a neutral it fits with any decor but the hints of blues, greens and yellows creates endless combinations.
Available mid January. Find us at the winter gift shows:
Dallas - Ryan Associates, TM #2630
Atlanta - Werner Frank, bldg. 2, 12th floor
Las Vegas - Collective Home, C-585
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It’s a 40th anniversary for the company founded by Colin Riggs (left) and Ned Voelker’s parents, Abigail and Ed Voelker. Over the last four decades, the entire family has created a curated collection of handmade tableware and giftware for the nation’s independent store retailers.
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Congratulations on a milestone 40th year in business. Are you surprised Abigails has endured? Ned Voelker: We are surprised. It’s a tribute to Ed and Abbie ...
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We'll be at the Dallas Market Center show Wednesday, January 10 - Friday, January 12, 2024. We'd love to meet with you and hear about your business and what you're seeing.
Trade Show Materials
We put together the following materials for sales reps and brands. Please share these materials with your retailers. Please print these for use during the show:
1. Explanation Materials
A flyer showing featured Brand Syncing partners. We have 115+ partner brands. You'll likely see
Brands and sales reps display the Shop Local decal in their showroom windows in Atlanta and Dallas. The decal lets authorized retailers know they can display their products online quickly.
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How online calendars can help retailers manage and save time.
October 4, 2023
One of the main problems that businesses have is efficient use of time. A retailer (or brand or sales rep) seeks on a daily basis to manage their time and optimize results. (I was reminded of this while reading a The Wall St. Journal article about time management for the family.) Businesses use a variety of tools to manage and save time, including email, texting, and Zoom.
Shop Local helps businesses in their quest to save time. We offer businesses a variety of services to help ...
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Babcock Gifts celebrates its 50th birthday in 2024. The bridal registry and gift shop opened in 1972 as a partnership that included interior design. In 1974, with the exit of one partner, the store focused on antiques, gifts, and bridal registry. Over the next 42 years, there would be growth into two stores before downsizing to one. In 2016, ownership changed and the store moved one block down, where it continues to be a destination for bridal registry and gift-giving. With the constant doom and...
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A special thanks to Ari Lowenstein, owner of the new Dallas catering service Ari’s Pantry, for hosting industry friends at his home. He cooked Italian specialities and his wife entertained us with stories about their new home. Ari treated us to ‘affogato,’ which he shared literally translates to ‘drowning,’ with Italian liquors.
A pleasure to tour the updated The Ivy House store in Dallas. Laura May, the owner, took me for a tour of her ode to fine china. I learned that her shop is named after Josiah Wedgwood’s home in England.
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