Friday, July 31, 2009

Facebook Friday Winner for July 31st is...

And the Winner of the Facebook Friday of the Week is...

Last week we couldn’t decide what to give away so we gave you a choice – Green Bamboo Clipboard or Notepad. I think it was a tie – you guys definitely liked both! Also, thanks to all the teachers who commented – I will have to remember to tell customers at Christmas that you guys would love a monogrammed clip board!

And the lucky winner is: so you think no one ever chooses the first or last number when given a range and asked the question “Pick a number” – right? Well not this week because one of our customers picked number 43 – our last entry!

Congratulations to Kristi Janssen – see her comment below!
Email me at mandy {at} swaggergifts {dot} com and I will hook you up with your gift! You have until next Friday August 7th to claim your prize!

For this week’s Facebook Friday contest, we are giving away this customizable sign from The Studio by Danielson Designs.

We just found this line at market and we are SOOOOO excited! You can change all the words and even the colors of the sign! Check it out by clicking here.

All you have to do to get yourself entered is hop on over to this post on facebook, become a fan of Swagger on FB, and leave a comment before next Friday August 7th!

Good Luck!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Swagger International Headquarters

So after flying back to Zurich from attending market in Atlanta - I was pleasantly surprised to find out that my apartment complex had been SWAGGERIZED! Seriously - see below! The building was already lime green but they changed the awnings to ZEBRA!!! I guess they knew that I was operating Swagger's International Headquarters out of the building and they wanted to give me a welcome home present!:)

Friday, July 24, 2009

Facebook Friday Winner for July 24th is...

And the Winner of the Facebook Friday of the Week is...

Last week we gave away our new kids plate! Soooooo cute! And the lucky winner is: Christine Hurley – see her comment below!

Congrats Christine! Email me at mandy@swaggergifts.com and I will hook you up with your gift! You have until next Friday July 31st to claim your prize!

For this week’s Facebook Friday contest, we are giving away EITHER our brand new Green Bamboo Monogrammed Clip Board OR our new Green Bamboo Monogrammed Notepad – you guys get to pick which you would rather have! Both are from the new line by Fontaine Maury.

All you have to do to get yourself entered is hop on over to this post on facebook, become a fan of Swagger on FB, and leave a comment before next Friday July 31st!

Good Luck!

Friday, July 17, 2009

Facebook Friday Winner for July 17th is.....

And the Winner of the Facebook Friday of the Week is........
Last week we gave away one of our personalized cutting boards! We appreciate all the comments – I think we have some gourmet cooks out there! And the lucky winner is: Tiffany Armstrong – see her comment below!
Congrats Tiffany! Email me at mandy@swaggergifts.com and I will hook you up with your gift! You have until next Friday July 24th to claim your prize!
For this week’s Facebook Friday contest, we are giving away one of our BRAND NEW Fontaine Maury Melamine Plates!
So cute and such a great gift (my nieces and nephews LOVE theirs)! All you have to do to get yourself entered is hop on over to this post on facebook , become a fan of Swagger on FB, and leave a comment before next Friday July 24th! Good Luck!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

A Week in the Life of a Gift Shop Owner - Day 5

Sorry guys - day 4 was so crazy I was too tired to even blog about it! I totally just crashed in the bed! So let's just talk about day 5......

Not sure if I told you guys, but I started the week off with strep throat! I guess that is what happens when you spend a week with your very cute nieces and nephews!:) I don't think I've had strep since I was 10! Anyway, now that I've finished a box of theraflu and started my antibiotics I am good to go! Made for a very exhausting week though!

But today was the last day for us at market and I am so excited about all the stuff we purchased! Heather, my Mom, and I started the day off on a mission for a line of bath and body products. We bought these very cool "bath seltzers". Brand new product on the market and it is hard to describe but for all of you who loved our Me Bath products you are going to LOVE this too!

Next we moved on to jewelry - it is going to be a great season for fashion! I love the mix of metals. I wear gold and silver together anyway, but now it is going to be REALLY in style!

Here is a list of WHAT's HOT in Fashion Accessories:
1. Layering - layering necklaces is the hottest trend this fall!
2. Pearls
3. Metals
4. Rhinestones
5. Bangles & Bracelets
6. Turquoise
7. Brown

We found some brand new artists out of New York - they are fabulous! We are bringing back some jewelry with us tomorrow but the rest will be arriving between now and October! We will make sure to post the info here when we get them in.

We finished the day with men's gifts, gourmet food, and toddler! All things that were recommended by you guys in our customer survery and on our facebook page! Thank you so much for all the feedback!

Tonight Heather is flying back to Raleigh from Atlanta and tomorrow morning my mom and I are driving with all the goodies we bought while we were here! Be sure to come by this week to see the best stuff - you know most of the jewelry is one of a kind - and seriously this stuff is awesome!

I am now headed to bed so I don't fall asleep during the 6 hour drive tomorrow! It will be nice to be back on a normal schedule! Cell phones don't work at the mart and I haven't spoken to my husband for more than 10 minutes total in the last 5 days - I need to get back to reality! I hope to see some of you this week before I head back to Switzerland on Thursday!

Mandy

Friday, July 10, 2009

A Week in the Life of a Gift Shop Owner - Day 3

Another great day! Heather, Swagger's Store Manager, arrived this morning and it was great having her shop with my mom and I!

We started off the day giving our (valuable:)) opinions to the design team at Bungalow. What a fun thing to do! We got to see all the new patterns they came up with and pick our favorites. We also got to see what types of items they were thinking about adding to the line. Wow! I hope we get to do this again - it was really a lot of fun!

Today was a much more relaxing day - but we did a LOT more walking around! We only had one appointment at noon and the rest of the day was free to roam around the building and find "new" stuff! My philosophy has always been to make sure to check out every square foot of every floor! You never know what could be displayed in the corner of same random showroom! I think stores get "old and stale" when they buy from the same vendors over and over again and don't really get any variety!

We found several new vendors today - even new concepts that we have never seen before! Today we found some men's gifts (lots of you have requested that and we are trying REALLY hard to deliver), books, beautiful aprons, more monogrammed stuff (of course), and lots of really cool RANDOM STUFF - you know - the stuff that makes us "gifts with attitude" :)! And we definitely bought some attitude today! My favorite phrase from a gift line today was - "Bitchy is the new black" - love it! :)

I have been to over 15 markets now so it was interesting to see a fresh look through Heather's eyes today! She said market wasn't anything like she expected, but she wasn't sure what to expect. Cameras aren't really allowed at market, but I snuck one in (don't tell anyone:)) and I took some pics so you guys could "visualize" market. There are basically two types of places at market - the Permanent Showrooms and the Temporaries. The permanent showrooms are set up more like a gift shop - the visual merchandising is amazing! (We always try to steal a couple techniques from these pros!) The Temporaries are more like booths at a trade show or junior league show. For the last three days, we have been in the permanent show rooms but we head to the temporaries tomorrow! Here are some pics from today!



Isn't this beautiful? I think we should hang some of these lights and flags from the ceiling at Swagger!






Lots of people everywhere - and even a few men!:)


Heather said this was her favorite showroom because she felt like she was in Myrtle Beach! Probably b/c everything here was blinking and very tchotski -ish:) And you know we bought some of that flashing jewelry for the Holidays - you know you love it!:)

My mom and I engaged in a mean air hockey game - we bought this for the store! Convert any table you have to an air hockey table - hells yeah!

Finally, we ended the night at a great italian place in the Inman Park area of Atlanta called Fritti! I highly recommend the Gorganzola, Pineapple, and Balsamic Vinegar pizza if you go - Molto Bene!

I see a lot of you liked our Facebook Friday of the Week giveaway this week! We love the comments! Thanks for participating! We love you guys! Good Luck on winning!

Till tomorrow - Mandy

Facebook Friday Winner for July 10th is.....

And the Winner of the Facebook Friday of the Week is...

Last week we gave away our new waterbottle coozie! I appreciate that cold water is as important to you guys as it is to me! If only the Europeans got it! :-)

And the lucky winner is: Cori Elmer – see her comment below!

Congrats Cori! Email me at mandy@swaggergifts.com and I will hook you up with your gift! You have until next Friday July 17th to claim your prize!

For this week’s Facebook Friday contest, we are giving away our 9 x 12 Cutting Board with Scalloped Handles! All you have to do to get yourself entered is hop on over to this post on facebook, become a fan of Swagger on FB, and leave a comment before next Friday July 17th!

Good Luck!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

A Week in the Life of a Gift Shop Owner - Day 2

It is currently 12:01 am and I am dead tired! I know - waaaaah - right?:) I'm up late b/c I was drinking wine with my friends after market so I guess I shouldn't complain. But all work and no play makes Mandy a very dull girl - right? I went to Georgia Tech in Atlanta and I still have a lot of friends (and family) who live here, so I try to see as many as I can when I'm in town. I even stay with two of my sorority sisters when I come for market (Go Alpha Xi:))! It makes it so much more fun to come to market - I get to hang out with people that I love but only get to see maybe twice a year! So on top of working our butt off during the day, our social calender is pretty full too! Yes - I do love my life!:)

Okay - enought about that! How was market - you ask? FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC! I'll be honest, I was a little nervous before coming that the vendors weren't going to have developed that much cool new stuff - with the "economy" and all, but I am HAPPY to say that they did the exact opposite! I think all the vendors got off their butts and put their teams to work - harder than ever before! The design teams must have been working some SERIOUS overtime because the patterns and fabrics and colors and designs are awesome! Do I sound excited?!!!! I was thinking that maybe I am so excited because I didn't expect much, but honestly I am excited because the stuff is fabulous! Don't worry you will see soon enough!

The hardest part of my job these last two days have been practicing self control! I want everything to come RIGHT NOW, but I can't, so it has been really hard! Not sure if you guys know this, but when store owners go to market they usually buy for the next 6 months following that market and any major holiday that is about 1 year away. So, for example, this market we are buying for July thru December and Easter. In January, we purchase Jan - June and Christmas. So when I see stuff that looks very "Swagger Like", I "date out" the invoices so I get a certain percentage in July, a certain percentage in August, etc, etc.

Today our meetings started again at 9 - then 10, 11:30, 2, 4, and 6! A man on the marta train asked me what my favorite thing I found today was - and I actually said, "I can't remember what I bought but I remember they were all my favorite!":) And that basically sums up Day Two! I since went through all my invoices and "remembered" that we purchased luggage, tote bags, lots of new baby stuff, cool new inspirational jewelry, some of the funniest cocktail napkins I have ever seen, a bunch of tiaras and tutus, and so much more!

Tomorrow I promise to take some pictures so you guys can visually see what it is like to be at market! 7.1 million square feet of a bunch of gift stores! Sound cool? And maybe a little overwhelming? It is both - and I LOVE it! :)
Good night - I need some sleep!
Mandy

ps - and now since it is technically Friday I am going to post our Facebook Friday of the week and the winner from last week! If you don't know what I'm talking about check it out here!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

A Week in the Life of a Gift Shop Owner - Day 1

Hi Everyone! It is market time again! Twice a year we pack up our most comfortable shoes and head down to Atlanta to see the newest stuff on the market! We love this part of our job (of course - we ARE professionals shoppers:)) but it is also VERY stressful! What should I get? How much of it should I buy? Will my customers like it?

Usually, I write about what lines I found, but I thought you might like more of a "behind the scenes" version this time!

Preparation for market starts a couple weeks before we arrive. I go through all the statistics in our Point of Sale System to see what categories are selling the best. Purses? Jewelry? Bath and Body? I think I can tell by gut feeling and visually looking at the merchandise (or lack there of because it soldout) in the store, but sometimes I am surprised by what the actual numbers tell me. It is so great to have a computer system to back up my gut feeling or kick me in the butt to tell me I am wrong and keep me from buying stuff that I love and that you guys don't!:)

Then I look at the HUGE market book to see all the new stuff that is coming out! I also buy In Style, Vogue, Oprah, etc to make sure I am up on all the newest trends!

Finally, I make appointments with the vendor representatives for our most important product lines, so we can work with the sales person who covers our area. I think it is always better to work with someone who knows you, your store, and the town you are located in, so they aren't pushing a bunch of stuff that is totally wrong! That just wastes my time and theirs - and with over 7.1 million square feet to cover - we certaintly don't have time for that!

A typical market day starts around 7 am for us (my mother Jill and I have been coming to market together for the last 5 years) when the alarm clock goes off! I know this doesn't sound like such an early time, but when you have been up till 11 or 12 o'clock review orders, answering emails, and writing blogs:) it comes very quickly! Also, being on your feet all day making important business decisions is tiring both physically and mentally. My husband thinks it is just a big shopping trip - which it is, I guess - but I'm NOT shopping for MYSELF so it is WAY more stressful!:) I have to make sure that all of you are going to like what I pick out!

First appointment is always at 9 am. Today we had appointments at 9 am, 11 am, 2 pm, 4 pm, and 6 pm. Very long day! AND we were late for each appointment because we spent so much time buying stuff at our 9 am appointment!:) But it was WELL worth it and I think you guys are going to LOVE the new personalized stuff that we have coming in the next week or so - TOTALLY blew my mind and I think it will do the same for you! Very exciting stuff happening and I can't wait to share it all with you!

Next we went to dinner with the rep from VERA BRADLEY. I know, I know - I'm not the biggest fan of quilted fabric (which is surprising since I was raised in the south:)) but she had some very intersting things to show us. Now those of you who know me are probably going to be shocked that I am even entertaining the idea b/c of all the nasty things I have said about the bags in the past, but who knows - stranger things have happened - AND I do like some of the newer products. What do you guys think of Vera Bradley? Have you ever seen her stationery? Do you like it? Do you have any other favorite pieces? I can't guarantee you will be seeing it at Swagger anytime soon - but I would love to hear your opinion! You never know...... I like to keep you on your toes and I want to provide my customers with the products they love!

Finally got home around 9, finished checking my email, and writing this blog - it is now past 11!DAY 1 is complete and I am SOOOO tired I can barely keep my eyes open. I'm going to bed!
Peace out,
Mandy

ps - I almost forgot - one of the coolest things that happened today was that Scout Bags by Bungalow (one of Swagger's and your favorite items - seriously we can't keep the stuff in!) asked us to give our opinion on the new patterns and styles for next year! We get to help with the product selection! They are asking some of their best customers for opinions - and we made the cut - yeah! We are VERY excited about it!!! You know I am always good for an opinion!:)

Friday, July 3, 2009

Facebook Friday Winner for June 3rd is.....

And the Winner of the Facebook Friday of the Week is...

Last week we gave away our Set of 4 All Purpose Wine Glasses!

I laughed out loud several times while reading the comments! I love that you guys like wine and monograms as much as I do! Good thing we let customers pick a number at random for the winner of the FB contest or I wouldn’t have been able to choose!

And the lucky winner is: Ali McGee – see her comment below!

Congrats Ali! Email me at mandy@swaggergifts.com and I will hook you up with your gift! You have until next Friday July 10th to claim your prize!

For this week’s Facebook Friday contest, we are giving away our brand new Water Bottle Coozie!
All you have to do to get yourself entered is hop on over to this post on facebook, become a fan of Swagger on FB, and leave a comment before next Friday July 10th!

Good Luck!