Saturday Gift Post--Things Just Look Better When they Hang from the Ceiling

Boswellian (well, sort of ex-Boswellian, but she might be working a bit at the holidays, though she doesn't know our new computer system) Rebecca came in this week to do a little shopping, as she was in the neighborhood. We had a great time catching up, and of course I got to give her a little tour of what gift items came in.

She gave me a heads up that Anthropologie sure had a lot of matryoshka-themed items this fall. They are always at the forefront of these design trends, and I was glad to hear we were keeping up, at least with the ones I like.I wound up ordering more matryoshkas (pictured), which are selling pretty well, although amusingly enough, not quite as fast as things with matryoshkas pictured on them, especially if they in some way nest. I won't mention the glasses, as we're out of them (oops), but we still have the measuring cups and spoons.

One other thing Anthropologie seems to do quite well is displays. While I don't have the budget for some of their grand projects, I have learned one lesson--everything seems more interesting when it's hanging. This week we sold almost all our black and cream hanging globes (yes, I think I was able to confirm another order) and sales of our wooden bird ornaments picked up after we hung some over the Christmas cards.

Jocelyn has been decorating the store for Christmas, and has already hung our snowflakes. And we still have our autumn leaves up through Thanksgiving in the kids area. Jocelyn hung puzzle pieces over our jigsaw display (fortunately, one of our cartons came bashed and we were able to get credit and use the pieces). And yes, I have a very Daniel-like idea for our front window, which deserves it's own post. May I just say it involves hanging?

I've been doing a lot of restocking, as I tend not to buy in large quantities. That doesn't work for some of our vendors, but we did just get more Plip Clips in. They went fast the first time, perhaps due to our clever makeshift display, which used to involve fairies. We brought in more Gobblet Gobblers, the tic tac toe variation that has been doing well, as well as another wooden game from our mobile called Zimbbos. It's a balancing toy, involving circus animals and clowns.

More stuffed bears, more sock monkeys, more Folkmanis puppets, and a great deal from a very good vendor of boxed cards, with a new assortment we're selling for 25% off list price. I like it because it adds a nice multi-cultural touch, with African American, Mexican, Brazilian, and Jewish-themed illustrations.