The Laughing Dog Gallery

Susie Wilber, co-owner
Vero Beach, Fla.

What changes did you make to your inventory mix during the economic downturn? What types of items are selling best right now?

We are still positioning ourselves as a destination shopping experience.

We are known in our area as an exclusive, customer-oriented gallery with many one-of-a-kind items. We’ve worked hard to build our brand and our reputation, so we have no interest in sacrificing either.

We are still selling big-ticket items, but not as quickly as in the past. We are not having sales or slashing prices, but we are slowly adjusting our inventory and concentrating on what is working well right now.

We’re finding that our customers still want to give gifts from The Laughing Dog and still want to buy American-made products, but their budgets are not as big as they were a few years ago. That’s understandable, and it’s our job to make sure we have well-priced items on hand that fit their needs.

I’m concentrating on keeping our customers happy, because the good days will return, and when they do, our customers will still be our customers.