[/caption]For any of you heading off to market as a Buyer in Atlanta this week (or Dallas or Chicago next week/New York later this month), Susan put together several great tips. Although she'll be at all those shows as a vendor for Grandmother's Buttons Jewelry, she'll also go a few days early to buy for her retail store.
Here are six really good ideas for Buyers from someone who's worked both sides of the market aisle. Let us know if you have anything to add.
1. Shop the Temporaries. Do NOT spend all of your money in the permanent showrooms. So often the freshest designs come from the young companies with temporary booths--buy the original from them before a big company knocks them off and has the clever design made in China.
2. Wear comfortable shoes. No really. As much like bedroom slippers as possible. Even my 23 year old daughter has come to accept the wisdom of this.
3. Have a plan but be ready to break it. For instance, you may find a product that is so wonderful, so new and exciting that you will decide to create a whole new area in your store for it. Trust your gut instincts when you feel powerfully drawn to such products--usually it is something that will set your store apart.
4. Ask vendors how they can support your web, email and social media promotions with photographs or other information. This will save you a lot of research time when you get home.
5. Come equipped with business cards (I had our graphic designer make up a template of business cards that we can print on our laser printer--they look nice but are very inexpensive so that I'm not hesitant to give them away freely) and detailed credit sheets. Vendors will really love you if you come with stickers to put on their purchase orders that have your name, store name, billing and shipping addresses and email address on them.
6. As much as possible, walk the show one day and place orders the next. Buying decisions seem to sort themselves out in my head overnight as I sleep!
Happy Shopping - hope to see you at market!
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