MIKASA’s powerhouse COUNTRYSIDE franchise continues its domination decades after their launches. Tapping into the zeitgeist of the times, the patterns’ staying power is testament to compelling classic design, line extensions, and passionate fans.
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IT’S BEEN 50 YEARS SINCE MIKASA’s FRENCH COUNTRYSIDE DEBUTED, the perfect panacea to a formal-dominated dinnerware domain. The scalloped, edged, and curved creamware provided the ideal ...
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A new feature lets your store tell a registrant about a gift purchase but not reveal too many details.
February 5, 2024
Your Shop Local Store has a new feature: You can now decide what information a registrant sees in the registry purchase alert email.
Previously, all registry purchase alert emails displayed the gift giver and gift details. With this update, the "limited information" setting allows your store to only inform them that a gift was given. This feature's purpose is to help keep the gift's details a surprise to the registrant.
Your store can display the following information in ...
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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.
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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. ...
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The Atlantic shares how Chinese factories have found a new way around U.S. retailers and into our homes: Chinese apps. SHEIN and other Chinese apps are bypassing Amazon to be a new leader in Chinese goods. In addition to Amazon, Target, Walmart, and indie shops now have a new group of digital competitors embedded in customers’ pockets.
Except from The Atlantic article:
MATERIAL WORLD
IS THIS HOW AMAZON ENDS?
An open embrace of cheap foreign products has helped ...
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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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Susan Gravely – alongside her sister, Frances, and mother, Lee – founded VIETRI 40 years ago after a serendipitous vacation where they discovered the charms of Italian ceramics. Gravely’s new book, Italy on a Plate, equal parts travelogue/cookbook/memoir, is a culinary delight celebrating four decades of bringing the best of Italy’s tableware to an adoring fan base.
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You and I go back almost to the start of VIETRI in 1983. [Editor&rsquo...
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A beautiful picture frame is one of the perfect gifts for mom on her special day, to remind her of when she became a mother. Put together a collage of baby photos and other family shots - or surprise her with a picture frame displaying just one memorable moment you shared together. Glassworks has an array of picture frames and other gift ideas for Mother's Day. Pictured are various Michael Aram frames and a vase, all in-stock at Glassworks.
Stop in to see the variety of pieces!
In the book The Cold Start Problem, Andrew Chen says that the 'network effect’ is really three effects:
The acquisition effect
The engagement effect
The monetization effect
In the beginning, a business seeking to build a network has to concentrate on acquiring users, even if they are non-paying. Companies often give away the service, especially software companies, and we can see that with Facebook, Slack, TikTok, and many others. Bridge didn’t do ...
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Bridge has something that every store needs, but doesn’t really want: product data. We get stores to trust us that they need our product data for 64,000 products from 109 brands. They really don’t want the data—they want the sales from it. The data itself is worthless, but the sales from it are invaluable. Do you know who also has this issue? Funeral directors. Last week's Wall Street Journal shares that mortuaries are leveraging bonsai trees, setting up bouncy castles, ...
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An East Village Artist’s Death Prompts a Reflection on the State of Indie Retailers Today
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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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Six of the many unique religious gift ideas from Beatriz Ball. Make great heirloom presents for baby showers, baptisms, first communion, confirmation, graduation, birthdays, and holidays.All boxed for effortless gifting!
•Save precious mementos of your little one's first years in the exquisite BABY Peek-A-Boo Cross Oval Keepsake Box shown above. The lidded metal box features an embossed cross on the top and contains a "peek-a-boo" surprise--another cross--sculpted on the base ...
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Jeff Lawson, CEO of Twilio, a software company valued at $28 billion, was recently interviewed in the Wall St. Journal. When he shared who his advisors are, I was surprised to see Danny Meyer, the restaurant kingpin who owns Shake Shack (another publicly-traded company). Mr. Lawson read Mr. Meyer’s book “Setting the Table” and was impressed to learn about the difference between service and hospitality. Service is the delivery of the technical aspects of ...
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At my local postal shop, which doubles as a surprise book purveyor and emergency greeting card supplier, I picked up this guide by Monocle, a magazine and book publisher, about indie shops. The book, ‘The Monocle Guide to Shops, Kiosks, and Markets,’ has an appreciation for brick-and-mortar retail that mirrors our ethos here at Bridge. Local shops bring people together and support communities unlike online-only marketplaces. We encourage citizens to ‘unplug’ and browse ...
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MEMBERSHIP SURGES 50% IN E-COMMERCE COMMUNITY Online Shopping Boom Drives Retail Industry to Team Up On Bridge
NEW YORK, NY, July 30, 2021 – Bridge, an e-commerce community, reported a record increase in membership as the pandemic continued to rattle the retail landscape. In the last 12 months, 275 retail stores joined Bridge, bringing the total membership to more than 826 stores—a 50% increase. ...
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One present probably won't capture the love you have for dad. Surprise Dad with these donuts with a fun twist served in Calaisio`s glass serving tray! You donut want to miss it!
CALAISIO
natural elegance, extraordinary durability
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Six of the many unique religious gift ideas from Beatriz Ball. Make great heirloom presents for baby showers, baptisms, first communion, confirmation, graduation, birthdays, and holidays. All boxed for effortless gifting!
Save precious mementos of your little one's first years in the exquisite BABY Peek-A-Boo Cross Oval Keepsake Box shown above. The lidded metal box features an embossed cross on the top and contains a "peek-a-boo" surprise--another cross--sculpted on the base