TOP RETAILER/GLASS GALLERY

Kittrell/Riffkind Art Glass
Barbara and David Kittrell, Michael Riffkind, owners
Dallas, Texas
www.kittrellriffkind.com

What influenced you to open a glass gallery?
We love glass. We had a glass studio for more than 10 years before we opened the gallery. Now it’s 21 years later, and we still love glass. It’s amazing how synergistic the studio and the gallery are.

What do you do to get people into your gallery?
We have a very limited advertising budget, so we’ve gotten very creative. We’ve developed relationships with freelance writers, newspaper editors and writers, and editors at magazines. And people call us. We have a lot of longtime customers. We’re also on Facebook. Word of mouth is the best thing you can do—now they call it social media. We always try to give people what they ask for.

TOP RETAILER/BEST PRINT ADS OR PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGN

The Village Artisans Gallery
PJ Heyman, owner
Boiling Springs, Pa.
www.villageartisansgallery.com

How do you use your brochures to help the store?
The “Artists in Action” brochures are distributed to area visitor bureaus, restaurants and shops. We give one to every customer with an explanation of the contents. They are also given to the demonstrating artists to hand out at craft shows. The remainder of the year, we use our rack cards for the same distribution.

How important do you think advertising is, and do you plan to continue/expand advertising?
Consistent and continuing advertising and publicity are very important to emphasizing the pleasure of shopping locally for American handmade products and to keeping The Village Artisans Gallery in the public eye.

How is your year shaping up so far? If you’re like many retailers, your hopes are high but your bottom line is still a little weak.

Take heart. With some savvy planning, creativity and elbow grease, it’s not too late to close out 2010 well in the black. Shoppers are out there again; they’re just holding on a little tighter to their dollars. We’ve identified two key tracks for getting them to loosen their grip: community-centered sales strategies and outside-the-box event planning.

What follows are features that target both sales and special events, backed up by real-life success stories from retailers who’ve put great ideas into play. If you start now, there’s no reason why your gallery can’t be ringing in the holiday season with plenty of sales.

For more of “Guerrilla Marketing for Holiday Dollars” pick up a copy of the Summer 2010 issue of NICHE magazine.

Village Artisans Gallery

P.J. Heyman, owner
Boiling Springs, Pa.

Have you reduced your inventory levels? What needs to happen before you will feel comfortable increasing your inventory levels?

I don’t carry high inventory levels because of our very limited storage space. I’m more comfortable ordering inventory for just-in-time delivery, but am increasing orders specifically for the holiday season.

I’m not sure that increasing the inventory levels is as important as bringing in new work to keep our customers interested.

What indicators do you need to see before you’ve decided that the economy is indeed improving?

I actually think the economy, at least in this area, is improving. Customers are talking less about the economy and are not as reluctant to spend on a whim.

Are you advertising consistently?

Yes, in various magazines. Two are sent to readers who appreciate fine craft and art. We also advertise in a brochure because it’s part of a statewide program, as well as the local newspaper to keep our name in front of our local customers.

What are a few other ways you’re preparing for the rebound?

I am not doing anything different from what I’ve consistently done which is:

• Continually work on promoting the gallery by creating events such as our yearly series of about 20 “Artists in Action” demonstrations. This year we produced a tri-fold brochure for the series that will be sent out at regular intervals to customers of the demonstrating artists and distributed to the local visitors bureau and B&Bs.
• Send out e-newsletters once or twice a month to about 1,000 of our customers to inform them of new artists, new work and the “Artist in Action” demonstrations.
• Partner with local organizations that give us the opportunity to have a presence on their websites and advertise in their brochures.
• Network with local B&Bs by providing coupons to their guests.

What have you noticed in terms of consumer confidence?

I get the feeling from my customers that they are ready to spend, but will be more discriminating in what they buy. They are looking at spending more on quality gifts that have meaning.