A Rosy Future

In five days, I will be there.
It will be warm and sunny and smell like orange blossoms. Paradise!

Her highness ^ the Queen of Shabbiness shops there. It's Mecca for antiquers and junkers, I tell ya. I've wanted to go there for years but never timed my trips to SoCal right. Until NOW! Truth be told, even tho this trip was planned around my hubby's birthday, I checked the dates for the Rose Bowl Flea first. Then I booked the tickets. ;0)

I'll be attempting to meet up with Suzi Finer of www.iamadiva.com at the flea, too...wish I could head down to DivaCentral on Melrose, but my time is limited. Really, who knows who else I might spy there?... certainly there will be lots of other gals on the hunt for the next big treasure for their shops and displays, maybe even some I 'know' from blogs & online networking. Heather? Tara? Lidy? Kim? A few celebs of the retail world!

If you have any tips, tricks, tidbits or tales of the Pasadena Rose Bowl Flea Market to share with me, I'd love to hear them... and yeah, I know about the 'get there really early for great stuff' tip!

Photo credits: Google image search

In The Bag

I just received an email from my mom, with these photos in it...
Funny, but REALLY creative ideas for packaging!

As I viewed them, I started thinking about the whole 'bag issue' we face today: Paper? Plastic? Cloth? Recycled? It's an argument that can't be won, really - although I personally agree with outlawing thin plastic sacks. There are many variables: cost, availability, manufacturing processes that make some paper bags as dangerous as plastic ones.

I also remembered something my friend Sher used to do: She'd buy a gorgeous paper gift bag every season, laminate it, and take it with her everywhere to use when she shopped. This was, oh, ten years ago. (She's SO ahead of the curve...)


As you look at these, can you come up with some creative shopping bag ideas for your store?
Can you use this walking advertisement to promote your mission, or share an inspirational thought? Perhaps the best way to attract attention is not to splash your store name and brand across a bag or tshirt, but to share something that expresses the essence of your purpose.

I do NOT recomend using THIS image or anything like it! But hey, what if that was a single red rose instead? Or an envelope with the words 'To My Love' written in script on it? Or a baby rattle? What do you sell? How can you feature it in a fun way?

And perhaps, contribute to making something so useful that it will be REused over and over and over again. That's the best kind of recycling...

Image credits as provided by 'anonymous' commenter:
YKM is in Istanbul, it's one of Turkey's well-known department stores
The "Nail Biter" bag is for the anti nail biting product "Stop'n'Grow”
The bag with the person's face on it is for Panadol pain reliever
The "Reach out to Children with Autism" bag promotes the efforts of the Dubai Autism Center
The gun themed bag is promoting the work of Belgium crime novelist Pieter Aspe

'Fast, Cheap & Easy' is my Mantra!

Don't get the wrong idea there, bud...I'm talking about retail display!

My theory on display is that it should be speedy, inexpensive, and uncomplicated. (Hence the 'Fast, Cheap, Easy' mantra!) If you have money to spend on it, great – but if you don’t, you can still get fabulous results from a bit of effort and a lot of imagination.

One question I hear quite often is "Where do you get props and fixtures?" I get them everywhere! From garage sales, thrift shops, and flea markets, to antique stores, furniture warehouses, and unfinished furniture manufacturers, I gather up unique and versatile pieces when I find them. That includes rusty, broken wheelbarrows on the side of the road, too! Sometimes a piece is for a specific client or project, but usually I just grab good stuff because I know sooner or later, I’ll use it.

The secret to cheap props is knowing your style – once you rule out the rustic and contemporary, and focus on the ‘shabby’ feminine look, for example, your eye can easily pick out what works best for you. By using those guidelines and your imagination, you can see possibilities quickly: The primitive wood chairs won’t work, but the wicker ones will – and you are on to the next stop. If you are thinking that this takes a lot of time, it all depends on you. Checking in at your local thrift stores and hitting garage/yard sales one half-day a month can result in huge savings and great displays. And you’ll find items that are unique – something that isn’t in every other retail store.

My eyes are constantly scanning for usable elements – at the hardware store, the craft store, IKEA. This way, when I get an idea for a display, I know where I can find the elements I need. Architectural salvage houses offer a wealth of unique large-scale items to use in displays, such as columns, doors, mantels, railings, and old gates. Many of them show their inventories online, saving you time. And making use of items that would otherwise be in a landfill is always good business. Spending a little bit of time searching for props this way will save you a whole lotta' cash, too.

Remember: "It's not called disWORK. It's called DisPLAY!" TM 2002DWK

For more retail info from me, view today's blog post 'Feeling Boxed In?' at http://www.iamadiva.com/

PS: My friend's name is Lisa, she's HOOT, and yes, guys, she IS available! (Not Fast, Cheap, & Easy, though....)