Casual Living Blogs
Paperless Catalogs?!
We’ve all lived this scenario. Your client can't make a decision so you have to pull out three or four of the bulkiest catalogs you have in your store and bring them to the area where you and your client are working. (it's always the bulkiest catalogs, by the way.) The cocktail table you open them on is so small that, as you show one, another slips off the table. Then, the pages of the third f... More
About this blog
Bruce Aronson and his family have been in the outdoor industry since 1952. Their single location store is the largest specialty outdoor furniture retail store in the New Orleans area. Although Bruce has served as VP of The Casual Furniture Retailers Association and has been active in the industry for many years, he does not claim to be any less confused by retail than any other retailer out there.
Consumers count
Signs of economic recovery started appearing about the same time we began hearing casual furniture retail inventories were clearing out long before the selling season ended.Meanwhile the April 20 Gulf Coast oil spill kept everyone fretting about its impact on the environment. One retailer told me he thought that disaster actually helped his business because the media had turned its attention from... More
About this blog
Cinde W. Ingram: Casually Speaking
Hi, this is Cinde W. Ingram and I'm the Editor in Chief of Casual Living and Garden Decor. Each week I hope to use this blog space to stay in touch with our readers. I want to know what you think about new products, markets, the retail climate and, most of all, Casual Living. Let me know what's going on. Check out my latest below.
Calling for wisdom and courage to accept or change
Most of us are probably familiar with what's known as the Serenity Prayer.That's the one that asks for, "the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference. "Although that prayer has been around for a long time, it seems incredibly appropriate today, especially when one considers the volatile and challenging business c... More
About this blog
For those of you who don’t know me, I’m the editor-in-chief of Furniture/Today, sister publication to Casual Living. In that role, I oversee the editorial content of our publication and our Web site, www.furnituretoday.com, I create content for the paper and the Web site, I pen a weekly column, maintain a blog, create the content for an annual Leadership Conference, and try to stay as plugged in as possible to every aspect of the residential furniture business.
You Have Got To Try Google SketchUp
Among many benefits of being an ICFA member are its webinars. Topics range widely and you never have to leave the comfort of your office to participate. The most recent one taught how to design an outdoor living room using Google Sketch-up. Paul Nigon with The Great Outdoor Room Company moderated the seminar. He did a great job. He calls himself a “regular guy with no graphics or engineering... More
About this blog
Bruce Aronson and his family have been in the outdoor industry since 1952. Their single location store is the largest specialty outdoor furniture retail store in the New Orleans area. Although Bruce has served as VP of The Casual Furniture Retailers Association and has been active in the industry for many years, he does not claim to be any less confused by retail than any other retailer out there.
Shipping Costs Going Up...
Container shipments are running late and expensive as we enter the busy holiday season. Although this should be an indicator of an economic recovery, it is more directly tied to the amount of ships taken out of service by major shipping lines. According to today's Wall Street Journal, national retailers struggled amongst late shipments at Father's Day and ship capacity has run tighter since the... More
About this blog
Turning Points is dedicated to helping industry leaders survive the current recession and to prepare for success in the inevitable economic recovery.
When Designing an Outdoor Living Space Consider the Surrounding Features
When designing an outdoor living space you should take into consideration the surrounding materials. In the photo above you will see the red brick accenting the outdoor living space, therefore, a natural choice for the outdoor furniture is wrought iron or aluminum in a dark powder coating. Accenting the furniture with beautiful Sunbrella fabric that has the same coloration as the brick is the key... More
About this blog
Marcia Blake is President / Creative Director of Outdoor Interiors® a design firm specializing in creating outdoor living spaces. She also provides design and consulting services for outdoor furniture manufacturers and has launched a new collection of soft goods and accessories she designed called Outdoor Couture®, she is an active member of the Color Marketing Group, ASID and ICFA.
Things I Should Have Learned in Kindergarten (but waited to learn till I went into retail)
Sales in the morning are not a good predictor of what sales are going to be in the afternoon. And, vice versa. One afternoon, recently, a friend was complaining to me about how slow that morning had been. I called him a few days later to see how things were going. As it turns out, a few minutes after our first talk, a customer came in and spent enough money to make... More
About this blog
Bruce Aronson and his family have been in the outdoor industry since 1952. Their single location store is the largest specialty outdoor furniture retail store in the New Orleans area. Although Bruce has served as VP of The Casual Furniture Retailers Association and has been active in the industry for many years, he does not claim to be any less confused by retail than any other retailer out there.
