Saturday Gift Post--A Great Big Animal Bank Shipment Arrives

I was talking to our FOB/sale rep/ex-Schwartzian John as he was doing his early holiday shopping. He's as obsessed with our animal banks as I am. He asked me if I'd written a blog on them, and I was positive that I had at least mentioned them in passing. We decided it was worth another, especially as I just got in a new shipment.

The banks are proving to be one of our most popular gift items for fall. The price point is good and you don't see them everywhere. I continue to be surprised by how many colors there are, which you can see somewhat in the accompanying picture.

I suspect that these aren't really for the American market (they are made in India). This theory is based on two things I've noticed:

1) There are three kinds of cats, plus a lion and tiger, but no dogs at all.

2) There is relatively little blue in the mix, but many kinds of reds and purples. Of course, it's possible that another account is requesting lots of blue, the way I first complained when I was getting too many black cats...not that there is anything wrong with that.

What else is happening in the world of gift? We reordered the baby sock monkeys, as those proved to sell out quickly (even though I initially ordered three displays). I thought there needed to be more brown in the mix, as did our rep. She heard back from another account that the mix was just right. Right now we only have pink and purple (which are also selling fine, just at a slower rate). If you want a brown one, you'll want to have us put a hold on one for you.

The matryoshkas are selling fine, but not as quickly as I hoped. I know they'll go as they are so different, and a hot design element. Originally I had some nesting doll designs with snowmen and nutcrackers, but the shipment was so delayed that I decided to pass, as those two designs were too seasonal for us. Our assortment is best right now, and we are almost out of my favorite, which I bought for myself, a nesting doll with a ladybug on her forehead.

We really only have one Christmas item to put out, now that our Gund reindeer and Christmas bear and holiday house plush came in this week and went out on the floor. They are wooden trees from Germany. I'll have a picture of them soon.

What's not working? I'm surprised that these Kaiju photo holders haven't sold better. I think they are quite cute, but they are now in their second location, with only modest sale to date. It's my 2nd photo holder to not work to expectations (in spring we bought some pinwheels, which are now on clearance). Maybe everybody has stopped printing photos and is just keeping everything on their computers. In any case, we have four different designs.