MAY 2010

Morgan Furniture.

We are always looking for new ways to showcase H&G Product. The web site, gift fairs and of course the hard work put in by our reps are obvious areas that we concentrate on but sometimes you have to look outside the box.
This is why we have entered into an agreement with Morgan Furniture to supply H&G product to accompany their new furniture ranges in their Albany Showroom.
It has been very interesting to see the response of their customers to our product and has opened the door for H&G to customers who traditionally would been outside our customer base.
Where in the past they would sell feature furniture pieces on the strength of the piece alone they are now seeing the value in creating a story to create an atmosphere and enhance the buying experience.
In short they are not only selling a lounge suite or dining table but also the Vase, Candelabra, Fruit Bowl, Rug and Coffee Table that transplants the scene back to the customers home. Multiple products in the one sale.
To our minds this is a sales tactic that should be embraced by all retailers. If you can generate the sale of an entire story from each individual customer it can only develop and grow all our businesses.
So get on line, compare your product with the wide range we have on offer and build your own story.

 

 

 

 

 

What Is A Gift?

Posted 12/06/2007
The main topic of discussion in the office this week has been one that is close to home for all of us in the giftware business.

Why do we choose a certain gift?
The simple answer is as a token of appreciation, love or thanks but what drives us towards a certain gift for a certain person?

We spend hours agonising over the things we give measuring up colours, styles, size, personal taste, cost and value only to find what we give often suffers the same fate as those gifts you have at home hidden in the dark recesses of a cupboard. Brought only into the light when your old aunt Meg comes to visit when the said gift takes pride of place on the sideboard filling your otherwise reserved display of art deco cork screws with an infusion of colour that could only be a tasteful and eloquent decorative miniature Teapot.

For this very reason when we source our products we have to give way to the voice of reason and look beyond our personal tastes. I always feel that style should outweigh substance but in buying for the mass public this theory is mute. A delicate balance of affordability, style, trend, practicality and desire is ideal but when it comes to the crunch what MR and Mrs Public want remains a mystery that is beyond all comprehension.

So that is the conundrum that H&G are facing. What do you and our beloved public want?
Style, and trend are fickle. Practicality is boring. Desire is in the eye of the beholder. Affordability is a personal choice and taste is impossible to gauge.

All we can do is rely on instinct and cunning and hope that our heads over ride our hearts in our buying so that we can read the emotions of our own particular client base.

Good luck to one and all, I fear we all may need it

Daniel and Prue

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Launch of the Home & Garden website

Posted 12/06/2007