News
Retailers and shoppers aren
Black Friday — the day after Thanksgiving — is the traditional start of the holiday selling season, but it seems many shoppers aren't waiting.In fact, a survey from the National Retail Federation found about 40... more »
Retail suffers as California wildfires burn
Los Angeles (Reuters) - Wildfires in Southern California are exacerbating a difficult retail environment in a state already hit by declining home sales and mortgage woes that have cut into consumer spending. With about 500,000... more »
Valpo gift shop feels the squeeze
Valparaiso -- Competition from big-box retailers and Internet shopping has hit a decades-old downtown specialty gift shop.Diane and Bill Cooley plan to close their American Legacy gift shop in downtown Valparaiso on Dec. 31.For 20... more »
OneCoast Partners with OverCoffee: Catalog Library to Improve Product Data
Pittsburgh, PA— OneCoast, the largest and only national provider of sales and marketing services to vendors and retailers of home decor, gift and collegiate products, has partnered with OverCoffee Productions, the leading web design and... more »
Fat Brain Toy Co. Expands Its Line With New Dado Squares
Elkhorn, NE - When rock 'n roller Huey Lewis first belted out the lyrics to his hit song, "Hip To Be Square," little did he know that years later a toy would be invented that... more »
California Gift Show Introduces New Layout And Lively Showfloor Presentation Space
White Plains, NY - Renowned for embodying the creative, trend-forward and uniquely West Coast spirit that defines Los Angeles, the California Gift Show will unveil a "lifestyle-inspired" layout and a new showfloor venue for complimentary... more »
GHTA Publishes Final Conference Agenda
The Gift and Home Trade Association, the industry's non-profit professional trade association, has finalized the agenda for its 2007 Annual Conference, which will take place Nov. 16-17, 2007, in La Jolla, Calif., at the Hilton... more »
Beautiful bumbershoots: Beat your rainy-day blues with a fun, stylish umbrella
Here comes the rain again.But you don't have to feel so bad about it. Oh, no.In fact, it's time to have some fun with an often-overlooked accessory -- not a handbag or a hat --... more »
One of a Kind
Colorful spinning signs beckon visitors inside a small two-bedroom house off Highway 10 in Dilworth.The unassuming white house with a red brick chimney is home to a host of gift items from candles and bread... more »
Cobblestone Confections’ road to success paved with toffee
Mansfield -- The Halloween candy hasn't even been handed out yet, but visions of peppermint snowmen and spearmint hard tack are dancing in Merry Birmelin's head.Actually, her head, like the house she shares with husband... more »
All roads lead to this store
Patrice Northrup is a map geek.As a child, she was also a book nerd and wanted to know where on the globe the places she read about were, so she consulted maps. As an adult,... more »
Merry Halloween, holiday shoppers
Grand Rapids-- Consumers are seeing red.Red, that is, in Christmas ornaments and tinsel hanging right next to pumpkins, goblins and broomsticks.This holiday creep is making some shoppers grumble about three, even four months, of retail... more »