It’s hard to believe that MEPRA’s sophisticated technicolor collection FANTASIA is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year because its incandescent chromatic complexion is as fresh today as its 1989 debut.
................................
The brilliantly-hued fantasia comes from the Italian silversmiths Mepra, post-war business founded in 1947 by the Prandelli family, four generations fashioning flatware in the industrial Lumezzane Valley, about 90 minutes east of Milan. ...
Read More
Staff at manor department stores like Saks are finding success with Instagram and social media. The Information shares this:
……….
Tyler Bell was encouraging all her clients to “tag your bag.” Every time Bell, a Saks Fifth Avenue stylist in Troy, Mich., closed a sale, she asked the buyer to show off their purchase on Instagram and tag her account, @tyler.saks. Bell posts Saks inventory multiple times a day on Instagram Stories. Her 27,000 followers will...
Read More
I have a friend who recently took a job with a respected women’s clothing retailer after 13 years of retirement. My friend, Leslie, a former school teacher, wanted to be of use and knew that retail was a great opportunity for seniors. She was all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed her first week. She loved that the manager asked her to try on clothes she liked and then suggested outfits that would look good on her. Leslie even purchased a few of those suggestions, couture she never would have ...
Read More
BERTIL VALLIEN is a gift to glass. The impressive portfolio of this prolific artist is haunting, memorable, and mesmerizing.
His 60-year career, spent advancing the craft of sand-casting, is a study of one man's existential questioning actualized on hypnotic works of art.
................................
BERTIL VALLIEN IS A 60-YEAR KOSTA BODA ICON, DESIGNING FOR THE BRAND SINCE 1963.
He is one of Sweden's most celebrated glass artists with numerous awards and museums exhibitions around...
Read More
Limoges porcelain can be used for breakfast, lunch, dinner and LE GOUTER!
In France, it is a pretty nice tradition to have a good healthy home cooked snack when you come home from school.
The picture is featuring honey/lemon/ginger cake with a scoop of blackberry sorbet.
Bon Appétit
View Post
Discover the women and men behind Baccarat’s enchanting creations.
« Being a cutter is a demanding job that requires having a real knack for it. In my spare time, I practice by drawing and painting in oil or acrylic. And I, who came here and joined the robotics core, would encourage anyone who wants to delve into cutting, to persevere.
As for me, I have never given up on my convictions or my desires, and I simply cannot see myself working anywhere else but at Baccarat. Even ...
Read More
A very large table serves as the new heart of the home. With a big table, one end can be devoted to 'work' and 'school,' and the other end can be used for dining, games and entertaining.
All this time at the table calls for a bowl of uncomplicated and straightforward design ... with unmistakable Beatriz Ball flair.
The multifunctional Beatriz Ball SOHO Organic bowl is the essence of versatility and is equally at home with your casual dinnerware or ...
Read More
How we can bring clients together to build a larger network.
February 4, 2023
Economist Bent Flyvbjerg encourages us to find our “Lego” in his new book “How Big Things Get Done.” Mr. Flyvbjerg, whose new book is reviewed by Ben Cohen in this week’s The Wall Street Journal, says that most large projects that are completed successfully use a modular approach. Excerpt from The Wall Street Journal:
“That’s the question every project leader should ask: What is the small thing we can assemble in large numbers into a big ...
Read More
Work With the Nation's Leading Brands and Indie Shops to Support Main Street
Shop Local is a fast-growing e-commerce and gift registry platform providing services to leading independent retailers and premium brands. Based in New York, NY, Shop Local is seeking candidates to support the existing software and build out new services that will change the retail industry.
Shop Local has an opening for an entry level web developer to update the existing code base and write new applications. We are...
Read More
I was happy to learn that our friends at Savannah Bee and Ivystone have expanded their relationship. Savannah Bee, a partner in our Bridge Product Syncing service, has expanded its representation with Ivystone, also a Bridge partner, to cover more sales regions. Ivystone will now cover the honey brand across the country, supplementing the brand with 85 sales reps. (Previously, Ivystone only represented the brand in the Northeast.)
Ronald Reagan said, “If you’re explaining, you’re losing.” Reaganomics usually refers to tax cuts and trickle down economics, yet I propose that we take the Gipper’s quote and ask: How can simplicity contribute to a business's success?
When we share what leading companies do, we can often skip an explanation and sum it up in a brief sentence. Examples:
In the early 2000s, the board game Cranium became a hit. The game combined elements of Scrabble and Pictionary with the goal of helping more people enjoy playing a game. Richard Tait, who created Cranium and sold it to Hasbro in 2008 for $77.5m, passed away in July. Like Mr. Tait, I had been a paperboy, but he went beyond what I ever offered: he came up with a new service that sold breakfast sandwiches along his newspaper route. He increased profits and made customers happier. ...
Read More
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&...
Read More
Do you love a great deal on a t-shirt or TV? Sure, we all do. Yet, sometimes when we shop, the lower the price we pay, the less we pay: people. People that make the goods (factory workers) and people that sell the goods (aka indie store owners) are the victims in the discount-pricing rush.
Today’s Times shares that making a bathing suit in Sir Lanka costs about $4 per unit while in Portugal it may cost $16. In NYC, the minimum wage is $15/hour—making production in NYC ...
Read More
In just a few short weeks, final school bells will ring, nights will be warmer, days will be longer, and—with any luck—work hours will be shorter. Sun-soaked good times are right around the corner, and there’s no better way to mark the changing of seasons than to celebrate over Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer. Happy Memorial Day!
View Post
Some people like to sit on the sofa and eat Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. I roll my eyes at this because I’m very different: I like to read the Wall St. Journal’s Christopher Mims …while eating an entire pint of Ben & Jerry’s on the sofa. This past weekend, Mr. Mims suggested companies may be reassessing where they source products, some even considering more domestic production. The motivation for this started a few years ago with the U.S.-China trade war, ...
Read More
An article in today’s Times cites the high cost of acquiring customers, which ranges from $100 to $800. Excerpt:
“Estimates of an often-cited retail metric known as customer acquisition costs range from $100 to more than $800 per customer, said Daniel McCarthy, a professor at Emory University’s Goizueta School of Business, who has done extensive research in the field.”
Physical retail is one of the most expensive ways to acquire customers. An online ...
Read More
A very large table serves as the new heart of the home. With a big table, one end can be devoted to 'work' and 'school,' and the other end can be used for dining, games and entertaining.
All this time at the table calls for a bowl of uncomplicated and straightforward design ... with unmistakable Beatriz Ball flair.
The multifunctional Beatriz Ball SOHO Organic bowl is the essence of versatility and is equally at home with your casual dinnerware or ...
Read More
Jim Collins, in his book BE 2.0, explains how purpose and mission are important to companies. To help explain this, he uses the metaphor of crossing a mountain range and seeing a star on the horizon. Your purpose is to reach the spot on the horizon below the star. The current mission is climbing up the mountain you’re on. The next mission is climbing up the next mountain and so forth in order to get closer to the spot on the horizon. You will have many missions, and may never ...
Read More
Today’s Times shares that Amazon Prime members often spend twice as much compared to those that aren’t members. This led to me ponder: What if a first step to reducing Amazon’s monopolies is just canceling a $119/year ‘membership’? Prime may be Amazon’s strength—as well as its achilles. If we can find a way to undermine it, I believe one can save money and our communities.