July Buying Trip to the Atlanta Mart Part 3

I have to apologize that these blogs about Atlanta aren't very orgazized.  I   took about 150 photos and can't remember what happened in what order.  It was all such a blur!  Below is some jewelry we got in the cash and carry building. 

Another jewelry booth where we had to stop was Jill Schwartz.  Her stuff is sooooo cool and we ordere some to sell for Christmas.  Below is her setup which was so quirky and fun and vintage.

We also got to meet her!  She wrote up our order and helped us pick out some great pieces. 



Us with the one and only Jill Schwartz!!!

And as if we weren't already excited about meeting one of our favorite artists, we were shocked to see Wendy Addison standing in the Tinsel Trading area.  Yipee, we've been ordering her glass glitter and paper goodies for years now and finally got to meet her!

Did you know that she's from Missouri?  She was very sweet and we placed an order for some of her creations.

Next, we got a couple of wrappy style bracelets.  These are really popular right now.  Expect to see lots of them!

I want to copy the banner idea below.  They literally took some string, cut out triangles from old paper, and folded the edge over and stapled it.  Easy!!!

some handmade frames we ordered

Not all of market is work.  There are lots of parties, coctails,and celebrations going on.

A lot of showrooms have beer, soda and wine sitting out.  We hardly paid for any food either because there were so many snacks and desserts out.

Some of the showrooms have some "interesting" merchandise...

Can't wait to steal this idea and wrap ribbon around old suitcases.

This pic below is what the aisles in the "high design" temporaries look like.  This is where Cody Foster and Jill Schwartz are set up. 

One evening, we went to Jalapeno Charlie's and sat on the patio upstairs.  The street that the mart is on is very busy and we had a great time people watching. 

One of the showrooms is set up like a cute little candy store.  They put the merchandise in cases that would normally have cakes and pies and the walls are pink.  It's so cute!

That's most of my pictures.  I hope they give you an idea what it's like to go to market.  People are always so interested in what goes on in this magical place!  It was a lot of work, but we ordered the coolest stuff.  I think this is the most excited we've been about what we ordered in a long time.  It will come in at all different times but if you want to know when anything specific is coming, just give me a call or email!  Thanks for reading!  -Lindsay 

July Buying Trip to the Atlanta Mart Part 2

Ok so I'm back to uploading photos.  I don't know why but it seems like the blog doesn't like my IPhone.  Also, I had to let the Fedex guy into the back door so he could deliver CHRISTMAS merchandise.  Can you believe it?!  We already have shelves full in the basement that are tagged and ready to go.

Anyway, back to our trip!  So, every night, we sat and planned our next day.  You have to be really organized and know what you're doing at market.  We like to go to dinner and figure out our plan of attack at the end of each day.  Here's my mom studying the guide.

On day 2, we had an appointment in the Midwest/CBK showroom (you might have heard them called Seasons of Cannon Falls)  They had some cool displays and we got some fun cake stands and chandeliers.

Next, we headed over to one of our pillow vendors and picked out some fun designs.  We literally pulled them off of shelves and made a pile of what we liked.  The rep thought we were crazy I bet!

We just happened by a place with this pearl chandelier and had to have it!!!  In my mom's words, it's "stinkin' cute!"

Another place had these fun velvet and paper banners that say, "wish", "dream" and "love"  They also had these party hats and wings.

Made of wood and hangs on the wall.  Aren't they cool?

We came across a cool line of jewelry made with old parts and it has lots of fleur de lis and crosses.  We had a specific customer in mind for a lot of it.  Isn't it fabulous?  I made my mom put it on so we could get a good picture.

One of the days, (theyre all mixed up in my head now) we spent in the area called "Children's World"  We found a fabulous new line of baby blankets and bibs

Can you believe how cute the patterns are?  They're so soft!

We thought this set would be a great Christening gift

Next, we placed an order for some diaper bags that we think are to-die-for.  They're really expensive (Like in the $300 range) but so amazing!  My mom said she would have had 7 kids just to justify getting it.

We've been looking for cute gifty items for baby and found these little gift crates.  They come with a book, a teether, a finger puppet and little cloth.  You can read the book and use the finger puppet to make it come to life.  I think these will be $39.

Then we found some super soft swaddling blankets.  They also make a great gift!

Ok so I'm getting tired again.  I'll have to take a rest and do a part 3 of this blog!

July Buying Trip to the Atlanta Mart Part 1

Every January and July, we go on buying trips to order our new accessories and gift items for the store.  The marts we go to are only for people with stores and you have to wear a badge at all times to get in.  We just got back from Atlanta and wanted to share our pictures form the adventure.  We usually bring a team of friends or employees, but this time, it was just my mom and I (Lindsay).



Angie in the Bethany Lowe Showroom

 We spent 6 days in Atlanta where there are 3 huge buildings full of showrooms.  Some of the showrooms have cool, vintage inspired decor, some are ultra modern, some have only lamps, some are always there and some are only there twice a year for the big markets.  There is so much to see that we didn't see everything in 6 ten hour days!

Bethany Lowe Spring 2012 Collections.

Every showroom has a minimum order amount.  Most are between $500 and $1,000 and you have to make sure that you see enough things to be able to meet the minimum.

Got these cute paper hangers for next spring.

We have so many customers that get excited about this designer, Leesa Daley's, pieces.  This is the Spring 2012 collection

Here's Angie making decisions.  Every item has minimum quantities so sometimes, we really want to order something, but you have to get like 24 of them and we have to pass on it.  It's so hard!!!

Every showroom has reps that take orders and they get commission based on how much you spend.  You can usually ask them what has been selling really well, what kind of special deals are being offered, and get their opinion about what to choose.



Ordered great garden inspired things for next Spring.



We saw a ton of hearts at market.  Is that going to be a new trend??

Below are pictures from one of our favorite showrooms ever.  They always have great things at affordable prices.  We ordered $8,000 in goodies here!

Ordered this cool jar and then saw it in another showroom for twice the price.  Whew!  Lucky us!

Got one of these cabinets with the clock.

We got some of these cool rugs with script and old looking maps on them.  Ordered lots of chandeliers, picture frames, mirrors, mercury glass, and lots more.  It took us about two hours to get through this showroom.

After this huge order, we headed down the hall to Peacock Park, a fun vintage, french wholesaler.

Look how cool their window was!

I can't even begin to describe how confusing this place is if you haven't been here before.

This is what the hallways look like in the permanent showroom areas. 
 

Ordered some awesome paperweights for Christmas gifts.  I really liked the peacock one.

Some of the showrooms do such a good job of luring you in with cool displays in the entrance!  We just had to go in after seeing this mossy elephant.

We were glad we did go in because they had great chandeliers!

Getting a little frustrated with how slow my photos are loading so I'll post part 2 soon...