This post is part of an ongoing series called Letters To a Young Retailer, which explores basic issues related to the start-up and running of an indie retail specialty shop. This series follows my work with Augusta, a retailer in her first year of business. Augusta is real. Her shop is in the Midwest. Some details have been changed to conceal her identity.
Q: I’ll be opening my shop for the first time in just a few months and I need to get some product in here! But with the timing of my opening, I think it’ll be too crazy for me to get away to Market. Is there any way I can find vendors from home? — Augusta
A: Absolutely. While going to Market is one of the basic quarterly or yearly milestones in the work of a progressive retailer {and by progressive, I mean one who wants to keep on top of what’s fresh in her niche}, if you just can’t get there, there are a multitude of ways for you to find vendors from the comfort of your own home, or at least without jumping on a plane. Still, I encourage you to plan that first trip to Market. In my view, it’s one of the things that separates the hobbyists from the professionals.
Photo by bravenewtraveler courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons.
7 Ways of Finding Awesome Vendors Without Going To Market
1.} Keep tabs on websites of other retail stores whose offerings you admire. {Ideally, ones outside a 45-mile radius of you.} Some retailers publish a list of their vendors online. You can also sometimes find vendor information in those retailers’ online stores right in the product description. Then you can Google the manufacturer to find their contact info. If you’re bold, you might also try calling a faraway retail store from a cell phone to ask who is the manufacturer of such-and-such. Most savvy retailers won’t give this info out over the phone. {I never did and always out-and-out asked if the caller was a retailer.} But it may be worth a shot. And some shop owners don’t mind sharing this info with someone who’s not a direct competitor.
2.} Comb the websites of the major retail trade Markets around the country {internationally, too}. Registration is free and just because you’re not attending a show doesn’t mean you can’t take full advantage of its website. In fact, the vendors there hope you do! Three good ones to start with: Atlanta’s AmericasMart, New York International Gift Fair {NYIGF}, and San Francisco International Gift Fair {SFIGF}. Look up Exhibitors in the categories of interest to you. If a name sounds interesting, Google it. Some Market websites provide links to virtual showrooms or the vendors’ own websites. This can be a tedious process but can yield some amazing finds. Registering for each show is not a commitment to attend and it gets you on their mailing lists, so soon you’ll not only be getting information and catalogs for each show {which all contain vendor lists and ads showing product}, but you’ll also start to receive mail from vendors who have purchased the show’s mailing list.
3.} Peruse trade magazines, both online and in print: Home Accents Today and Gifts & Decorative Accessories are two good ones to start with. Some subscriptions are free. These publications provide lots of up-to-date vendor info on a continous basis. Visit their websites to search for product. Join trade organizations such as Gift & Home Trade Assocation and the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade. They all have publications that, in part, educate you about vendors.
4.} Peruse popular magazines. I’m talking everything from Elle Décor to Oprah to Country Living to Cooking Light and Good Housekeeping. All popular magazines feature great products every single month and nowadays, 9 out of 10 of them give vendor contact info for web or phone right there beside the product or an index in the back of the mag. {Just be sure to notice whether they’re providing vendor info and not info for a retailer who sells the item.} Follow up on all products that look interesting. Even read the design credits for home layouts that you like — often contact info for product vendors is given. Indie vendors are usually thrilled to get contacts from retailers who might be interested in wholesaling. When I had THE BLISSFUL, I did this regularly and found many great lines that way. You can also peruse the online versions of popular magazines, which probably will even link you directly to the vendors’ sites.
5.} Shop other stores. When traveling, visit other boutiques and take note of products you like. Often retailers will leave vendor stickers or tags on items and you can memorize the names to write down later. Do not do this conspicuously as it’s considered very bad form and you’re likely to get watched as closely as a suspected shoplifter if you’re caught doing it. But the reality is, most retailers do it or have done it at one point. With-it retailers can sniff out sleuth-y retailer behavior in about two seconds. But done very inconspicuously, you’re okay. Tip: Never, ever, ever shop a store within a 45-mile radius of yours with the intent to scout for new lines. The indie retail community is relatively small and eventually the shop owner and her employees will recognize you. And in the absence of an actual relationship, shopping your competitor store down the street {or sending your employees in to do so} just makes you look pathetic. Consider shopping bigger stores such as Crate + Barrel, Pottery Barn, Pier One, ABC Carpet & Home in NYC, and Anthropologie. While many of their items are designed especially for them and thus won’t be available to you, their buyers also shop the same Markets all retailers shop and you have the right to order what you like even though they may also carry it. In your store, it”ll look different and most customers won’t make the connection. You can occasionally find good lines to follow up on at T.J. Maxx or Marshall’s, but be careful. If their product is there, you know that those vendors either “dump” old product there {which doesn’t look good for you} or they manufacturer down-market items to sell there {which also doesn’t look good for you and once led to my ending a relationship with one of my vendors}.
6.} Scout Etsy. Etsy is the new frontier of wholesale marketplaces. It’s a platform through which independent artists of handmade goods can set up online stores. You can search by item and find some really great vendors. Click Profile when you’re looking at an item listing to see if the artist provides wholesale ordering terms. Click Contact to ask the vendor if he wholesales. Be careful: many Etsy artists aren’t used to pricing for retail and will only give you a small percentage off their retail price. If you can’t double the price they offer you, it’s not worth it.
7.} Network with other indies. Through the blogosphere, build relationships with other indie retailers and designers who share a similar aesthetic. Some retailers are very amenable to sharing lines with friends whose stores are outside their local area. Tip: I wouldn’t write an e-mail introducing yourself and asking if the retailer wants to form a swap alliance with you. Let this evolve naturally or not at all after you’ve established a real relationship. Retailers work very hard to find vendors that fit their store concept and sell through quickly at a profitable price point, so generally this isn’t information a savvy retailer is itching to give away for free. But in the context of friendship and mutual support, anything is possible!
Indie retailers, what’s your favorite way of doing new vendor detective work? Anything I left off the list? Which ones listed here have yielded great finds for your store?
Artists and designers, do you wish more retailers would be more proactive about contacting you for wholesale info or product details?
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Hello, you.