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...