The Abundant Consumption Of Candy

Eight billion pounds of candy is consumed each year.  What does this significant number demonstrate?  It shows how much Americans love to indulge in chocolate, lollipops, hard candy, mints and gum.

Americans of all backgrounds and ages will and do enjoy some type of candy throughout the year. If you are not already selling candy, ask yourself  “why am I passing up such a large customer base?”

Why Sell Candy?

Gift baskets are a very popular item for florists.  The largest product requested in these gift baskets is some type of sweet treat. In fact, most people enjoy giving candy as much as receiving  it.

Offering chocolates, hard candies and even specialized treats  such as sugar free and low-carb candies is an easy way to capitalize on a hungry market. You can even offer candy arrangements for those who want to send a gift a bit different from flowers.

Many items purchased by consumers are gifts.  Offering specialty gourmet candy gives your store a unique selling proposition and a way to hone in on a niche.

With candy, you can leverage the gift giving niche as well as the entertaining niche. Candy items such as anniversary chocolate coins (or embossed chocolate) make for great party favors.  Gourmet chocolate and candy give frugal customers a gift with great perceived value.

Who Needs Candy?

Who needs candy? Everyone! They just don’t know it! As a retailer, knowing your customers and their tastes is the key to your product mix. Teaching customers they need candy is the key to successful sales.

How do you teach a customer they need your product?  By solving their problem or fulfilling a need. Candy is no different. Here is an example: You have a customer who is the hostess of a baby shower.  She asks your advice on what she can do for decorative place card holders.  You demonstrate how she can write names on the ribbon tied around your baby booty lollipops.  You have just solved her problem and sold lollipops to boot.

Providing customers with products, service and advice is what  keeps customers coming back.  Whether you are a flower shop or a gift retailer, you have to be choc-full of ideas. Your customers will look to you for advice and candy can be your go-to answer.

How To Select Candy

Selecting candy is like building a house. Start with a foundation based on popular trends and traditional standards. Chocolate is the standard foundation.  It is tried and true.  But every foundation needs to incorporate rising trends. Novelty candy is a good trend indicator.  This year lollipops with unique flavors or shapes is a large portion of the novelty market.

Every house needs personalization.  So add personalization by offering a selection of custom candy. There are many options when it comes to custom or semi-custom candies.  Custom candy could be a lollipop that can be imprinted with one’s name, slogan or a specific date.  A semi-custom candy would be a candy bar wrapped in specific colored tin foil or mints in special tins.

Unique and special candies make your candy house a home. Trendy candy ideas that appeal to specialty groups or interests will give your store the unique and special candies it needs.  Healthy candy sounds like an oxymoron but it is actually a rising trend. Sugar free and low carb will be a trend for the next couple years, as well as organically made chocolates with higher percentages of cocoa content (greater amount of antioxidants). Look for flavor infused candy in both chocolates as well as hard candy.  Candy infused with fruits, herbs and other spices will be a hot trend.  Incorporating these special types of candies will create a unique product mix that sets you above your competitors.

By utilizing the great wholesale chocolate and candy vendors on FGmarket you will be able to find the right products to help sweeten your sales. To jump start your candy search check out the FGmarket wholesale candy vendors highlighted below.

Absolutely no one would walk into a store where all of the products are in piles on the floor and suddenly feel inclined to purchase something. Quite the opposite, in fact. Stores with properly displayed merchandise move the merch faster and smarter. So, having the right display fixtures is crucial to moving product. Every retailer knows this simple fact but there is another simple fact that many retailers have missed. The simple fact is that the best place to buy display fixtures for your store is Store Supply Warehouse. Period.

Whether you need a department store size load of display fixtures or just one piece, you’ll find it at Store Supply Warehouse. They have display cases that allow you to show off items of value or things you’d rather keep “behind glass” until purchase. They have wire racks that allow easy display of a huge array of items ranging in size from keychains to hanging plants and shower curtains. If you need something hung on a sturdy rack, wire racks are the way to go.

Store Supply Warehouse has more than just these display fixtures. They also have plastic bags and paper bags for your customers convenience. They have clothing racks, metal gondolas and pegboards, fixtures, racks, shelves, mannequins, jewelry displays, sign holders and more. If you can think of a display fixture that you’ve seen in a retail store, you will find it at Store Supply Warehouse. They’re that good.

Not to send a “cha-ching!” reverberating through your ears but Store Supply Warehouse also has something no retailer can be without. Merchandising display fixtures are perfect for the retailer wanting to add some “small indulgence” purchases to the product line. These are the smaller items that people buy usually as a treat to themselves or a “just because I deserve it” gift. Instead of simply setting this stuff out, merchandising display fixtures make it easy to …click here to read Need Display Fixtures For Your Products? Visit Store Supply Warehouse!…

What are essential oils?

“Essential oils” are the oils naturally formed in plants which contain the plant’s distinctive fragrance or essence -hence “essential” oil.

Where do essential oils come from?

Essential oils are usually formed through a process called distillation. Here the plant is placed on a screen and steam is forced through the plant. Then the mixture is cooled until it condenses. Essential oils are hydrophobic liquids (resist water) so they are easily separated at this point, bottled and sold.

How do people use wholesale essential oils? What are wholesale essential oils for?

Essential oils are used for many reasons. Many essential oils are used to add a distinct flavor to food. Almond oil, coconut oil, olive oil, sunflower seed oil, grapefruit oil, oil of thyme, peppermint oil and others are used for this purpose. Each of these oils maintains the unique, distinctive flavor and/or smell of the plant and brings this quality to the food or beverages in which they are ingredients.

Wholesale essential oils are also used to add a distinctive smell to personal care products such as bath soaps, shower gels and other bath products as well as many perfumes/colognes and cosmetics. Examples of wholesale essential oils used for this purpose are camphor oil (for a mentholated smell), tea tree oil, myrrh oil, lavender oil, eucalyptus oil, rose oil, frankincense and others.

Essential oils have also been linked to therapeutic/aromatherapy healing. Chiropractors, doctors, aromatherapists and other medical attention providers often use products containing essential oils for therapeutic purposes. Essential oils seen in products often used by these specialists are flaxseed oil, palm oil, borage oil and linseed oil (also used in oil paint production).

Some memorials are spoken, others thought or felt. Some grievers find solace inan ornament or valuable object that can be kept as a memorial. With so much significance placed on Christian and Judaic gifts for this purpose, it is no wonder that the Comfort Cross from Jerusalem Stone/Holy Land Stone Company LLC. is one that few religious mourners can pass.

Judaic and Christian gifts remind the religious of their faith, the pride that comes from this faith, and the many blessings that each day brings. When confronted with the passing of a loved one, it’s this faith that pulls mourners from the pits of loss and delivers them again into a place of comfort and acceptance.

The Comfort Cross from Jerusalem Stone is one of the comforting religious gifts that bring mourners remarkable peace. Genuine Jerusalem stone is cut into a cross shape then cut into two matching crosses. They are bound with leather and come in a velvet gift bag. One is to be placed in the casket and the other is to be kept as a memorial. The significance of such a gift could easily fill a small novel. To the person who needs this gift the most, this thousand word explanation is instantly appreciated.

Your store, like most others, is probably full of customers who would enjoy learning the significance of the Comfort Cross from Jerusalem Stone. When they’ve lost a loved one or know someone who has, the faith embedded in the meaning of this gift brings more transcendent peace than anyone could express. …click here to read Experience The Everlasting Memorial of This Religious Gift…

Vases come in many shapes and sizes. That’s a given. What isn’t always given is a way to keep your vase arrangements from falling over, spilling water being bounced around, or cracking as they clink and bang together in the back of the delivery van.

It doesn’t take many instances like these for florists to begin looking for a floral delivery system that they can trust. If you visit Mac Technologies for your floral delivery systems, you’ve gone to the right place.

Many of the unique features of their Transporter 10® delivery system keep this invention at the top of the game. When you take a look at the features of the Transporter 10 delivery system, you know that this product was specifically designed to reduce the popular causes of headaches among florists.

Graduated openings help the material conform to the particular contours of the vases. The small base, big middle, small top of vases means florists need a material that will hug the vases instead of merely holding them in place. This unique quality helps reduce impact because the shock is equally absorbed by all parts of the vase instead of the pressure being placed on just one part (usually the middle).

Floral delivery systems often come in many sizes, but few allow the option to mix and match. The Transporter 10® floral delivery system consists of blocks that can be easily maneuvered and interchanged. Whether carrying a small vase arrangement and a large one or five huge vase arrangements, this delivery system rises to the challenge of protecting your containers.

Oh but the features don’t stop here. Handles are embedded in the base of each block for easy carrying. Each block has a non-skid bottom. They resist mold and mildew, though the likelihood of spilling water is greatly reduced simply from …click here to read Looking For Unique Floral Delivery Systems?…

Eco-Friendly Containers Are All The Rage With Trendy Consumers

It’s probably a shock to no one that eco-friendly containers are sweeping the nation as a leader among popular containers. It’s also no surprise that environmentally friendly containers come in several forms, making them easy to find and easy to love. When looking for the wholesale eco-friendly products that will get your customers excited, take a look at eco-friendly containers like these.

Biodegradable containers – are great because they are made of materials that break down faster, leaving less clutter and waste in our landfills. Environmentally conscious consumers tend to stray from plastic things because they break down much slower. Offering biodegradable containers alongside standard gardening pots and other containers will keep your eco-friendly consumers happy while avoid alienating this valuable niche.

Recyled containers – are extremely popular because they are made of materials that would otherwise go to waste. Soybeans can now be restructured into food, clothing, candles and containers. Other fibrous materials can be used to make containers for a variety of purposes. Recycled plastic containers are just some of the many options for your customers. Others include containers made of recycled aluminum cans, plastic soda bottles, glass and more.

Even basket and papier mache containers will satisfy the desires of your eco-friendly consumers. The most important things to look for when shopping for these “green” products are:

• Organic or eco-friendly certification – Though some may not have this, it’s always valuable to check the origin of the products to ensure that they are truly living up to their eco-friendly label.
• Functionality and quality – Most eco-friendly containers are every bit as good if not better than their standard counterparts. However, as with shopping for regular containers, consider the design and certification when purchasing wholesale eco-friendly containers.
• Memorable quality – are the wholesale eco-friendly containers you have in mind easy to brag about? Eco-friendly consumers love to say “check out what this is made of!” If you can find something memorable, functional, and certified–you’re on your way to making your “green” customers very happy.

If your store is going green or your customers are favoring an eco-friendly lifestyle, consider eco-friendly containers. They’re hugely popular because they can be used in just as many ways as standard containers. Gardening, planting, holding keys or spare change…whatever the function, eco-friendly containers are where it’s at among consumers in 2009.

How The Fashion Industry Can Help

How do you feel about raising support for breast cancer awareness and research? Breast cancer awareness is a cause that most people feel strongly about. It’s an issue important enough that it has its own awareness month (April). But how does one show their support for this cause? How does the fashion industry play into it?

Breast cancer ribbons, breast cancer jewelry such as pink ribbon pins, hats, t-shirts, even baby pink shoes and socks share the message of support in big ways. All of these items are available from wholesalers who support this important cause.

Breast cancer affects more than just those diagnosed with the disease. Breast cancer also affects survivors of those who lost the battle, those in remission, friends of the diagnosed and others whose lives are affected by the sufferer. Breast cancer awareness is about raising the funds to find a cure for this disease that affects so many wonderful people. Even a simple gesture such as wearing a breast cancer pin during the month of April is enough to show support and raise awareness for such a worthy cause.

Many wholesalers show their support by providing breast cancer awareness products to local retailers. This simple act makes it easy for everyone to embrace breast cancer awareness and research.

Sometimes it seems too hard to tell everyone we know exactly what our feelings are regarding breast cancer awareness. It seems weird to walk up to a perfect stranger and ask for their support in finding a cure. However, many lives can be affected just by wearing a breast cancer ribbon or t-shirt. Jog past someone in the park and get his or her mind reeling for the rest of the run. Make standing in line at the grocery store an important task because your clothes get the word out about breast cancer awareness.

It’s all about spreading the word. We are the cure. Wear the cure. Support breast cancer awareness and research with awareness fashions that get the world thinking again.

Greeting Cards Capture Emotions

I laughed, I cried, my soul was touched. All these emotions came from reading greeting cards at my local gift store.

Relatively inexpensive and easy to display, greeting cards are a compliment to any existing product line you carry. In fact, gift givers are more likely to purchase a greeting card at the same place in which they purchased the gift. In essence, you have a captive buying audience. You sell a gift and the greeting card purchase is inevitable. It’s as simple as that.

What You Need To Know About Greeting Cards

Over 7 billion dollars worth of greeting cards are purchased each year. To effectively capture a piece of this market, it is important to know the ins and outs of the greeting card world. Seasonal and every day are the two categories which divide the greeting card market.

Seasonal greeting cards are just as the name implies; cards revolving around a holiday season. For example Christmas cards, Halloween cards, Easter cards, Valentines Day cards, and Mother’s/Father’s Day cards, as well as graduation cards are all considered seasonal or holiday cards. These types of cards account for 50% of greeting card sales. In this group, Christmas cards are the big sellers with 60% of the category’s sales.

All other cards are lumped into a category called everyday. These cards revolve around events that can occur on any given day. Birthday cards, sympathy cards, congratulation (wedding/engagement) cards, anniversary cards along with friendship cards make up the everyday card group. Parallel to the Christmas cards in sales, birthday cards are the top seller in this category.

We’ve shown you the numbers on why greeting cards are good sellers, what greeting cards are and the identifiable groups they belong to. But, you want the answer to the most important greeting card question “how do you sell them?”

Greeting card marketing is kind of like that movie “Field Of Dreams”. You know the one where Kevin Costner builds a baseball field on the premise “build it they will come”. Greeting cards are that field. Select good wholesale greeting card suppliers with themes in line with your products and they will sell.

Tips For Selecting And Selling Greeting Cards

A tip to keep in mind when selecting card from your wholesale greeting card vendor is balancing trendy with traditional. You will want a combination of trendy as well as classic greeting cards. Trendy cards are those types that play music, have led lights along with movable artistry, or even humorous political cards. Classic cards are the cards that are timeless. They follow a pattern that has been seen for ages. For example, classic greeting cards are often the Mother’s Day cards embellished with calligraphy and floral pictures or wedding cards with a very formal and proper tone. However, that doesn’t mean this is the only style for these types of cards. With greeting cards, you have the many options running the gamut from humorous to classic and from artistic to cartoonish.

A versatile assortment is the strategy that works best for most gift shops. Carry a wide selection in both the seasonal and everyday categories. Select cards that set you apart from the crowd. Look for quirky cards that most people won’t find in the “marts”. Find cards that evoke an emotional response. The idea with greeting cards is to affect the person purchasing the card. Greeting card buyers want to feel emotion because they are using the card to send an emotional message.

“Heavy on the holidays” is a strategy that suits flower shops. Weight your seasonal selection with more Mother’s day and Valentine’s Day cards as convenient add-on sales. However, a few every day cards will still be needed. Don’t forget the blank greeting cards which are fantastic ways for customers to personalize their floral gifts.

Greeting your customers with seasonal and everyday cards puts you in the game with the potential to win a piece of a 7 billion dollar market. Your “Field Of Dreams” resides in greeting cards sales. Offer a card for every occasion and they will sell.

The wholesale greeting card vendors at FGmarket can provide all your cards needs from humorous to sentimental, from classic to trendy and from quirky to cards made from recycled paper. To jump start your search for the perfect greeting cards for your store, we have profiled a few of the many wonderful greeting card companies available through the FGmarket wholesale directory.

Everyone is familiar with the phrase “home is where the heart is.” Home is what bonds us to certain memories and where many of these moments are created. Home provides the inspiration to go and do well in the world. Regardless of whether the day was good or bad, home is the safe place to which we return. There is no escaping the value of someone’s home. Star 50 Handbags make this perfectly clear.

Which state holds your heart? Not which “state of emotion” but rather which of the 50 United States is your favorite? Which holds a special place in your heart that you would like to celebrate? Fashion handbags from Star 50 Handbags instantly return your customers to that place of sanctity and security that they deem their home.

Your customers are among the masses that like to celebrate a familiar area such as a hometown, region or state. Star 50 Handbags help show off a favored state in very fashionable ways. Star 50 Handbags takes famous features of each state and incorporates them into the designs on their wholesale handbags. For instance, Georgia’s fashionable piece features the peach leaf design. Another example is the Alaska handbag called “The Trapper.”

“Home” can be a variety of places. However, everyone can connect with a certain state. Even those who travel frequently return somewhere or have a favorite stopping spot. Being from the area makes unique wholesale handbags like these seem more …click here to read Get Handbags That Let You Choose Your State of Mind…

The term dinnerware may seem ambiguous, so how do you know what to include in your dinnerware product line and what markets to target? Dinnerware includes items such as plates, bowls, glassware, flatware, barware and even bakeware. These are items easily found on the kitchen or dining room table and sometimes referred to as tableware. Whatever term you wish to use, they are big business in gift and decorating markets.

Who needs and wants tableware? Every bride and groom wants the perfect place setting. Did you know that the bridal market accounts for almost half of all dinnerware sales? Most of these sales come from wedding registries. Think of wedding registry sales as your bread and butter while individual sales from glassware, bakeware and tea sets are icing on the cake.

Bring On A Hearty Appetite For Tableware

The key to selling tableware of any type is presentation.  Just like with a meal, the visual aspect is what brings them to the table.  Once you have drawn them in visually, they will explore the variety of tastes (or in this case prices) that are available. Brides tend to be visually driven without regard to price. Other customers tend to be “need” driven and conscious of price. Brides purchase dinnerware to establish their homes. However, other customers buy tableware items to enhance or update their existing dinnerware.

As a result, it is imperative that you have a mixture of both high-end dinnerware items as well as mid-priced tableware items. Offering high-end old English plates alongside moderately priced crystal glassware is a way to appeal visually to brides while capturing the interest of other customers. Keep in mind that wedding registry items are purchased as gifts. Brides may not be price conscious but the gift buyers may be. Creating a table with compatible items in a wide ranges of price keeps gift-givers from leaving empty handed. As brides make selections for their bridal registry remind them to include some moderately price items.

Brides aren’t the only ones sitting down to your table. Apply the same basic principles as you set the tables for these customers. Create a display table with eclectic flair. Put some modern pieces in with some traditional pieces. The main idea is to show the different type of products you are selling. By mixing mid priced with high-end pieces the focus shifts from price to beauty. Keep in mind that candle sticks, tea sets or even bakeware are bought as gifts for birthdays and anniversaries. Take time to set the table for these gift-giving events.

Setting The Table For Special Occasions

Since half of your sales will come from special occasions other then weddings, you need to market to them as well. Create event table settings with items that can be added to existing dinnerware items including suggestive signs like “the perfect anniversary gift”. Try this idea as a way to increase sales for birthday gifts: Set a table with stemware or other tableware items and a toaster with a sign that says “what do you think she’d rather have?” Using ideas such as these gives consumers ideas that they may not have thought of for gifts.

Dinner parties use placecards to direct guests. As you set the tables for your customers don’t forget the placecards (great anniversary gift, perfect for her birthday, etc.). If you set the table right they will buy. Setting the perfect table is easy provided you keep a few things in mind: variety in price points, convenient and easy wedding registries, effective signage. Of course to set the perfect table for your customers you need the right wholesale dinnerware.

The tableware vendors at FGmarket can provide you with all the wholesale glassware, dinnerware, flatware, napkins and other wholesale table top items needed to create the perfect mix for your table.