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It’s showtime for Diane Harvey at Spring Fair as Valentines Day looms at Leeds University
Travelling down to Spring batteries required for
W
Fair on the Sunday meant these products!
missing the Monday Although the children’s
morning blizzards and toys are not our market,
arriving at the NEC bright and early with the radios and animal
my comfy shoes on and a wish list of new character torches will be
products for the next trading year. a winner. I think everyone
My buying strategy was different from must have looked in the
previous years. Usually I place orders at garage only to find the
the show, but this year I knew I had to be batteries have run out!
careful in the current financial climate. The wind up torches are
I decided to place fewer orders but practical funky and a
take away brochures and contacts for great price point.
future buying. As the shop was full of The Novelty Gift Company (www. Is it Art, Paperlink and Max and Sid.
Valentines product and we have Mothers
Using Facebook and
noveltygiftco.co.uk) and their retro
Gifts again went well but we seem to
Day coming up, I knew I had plenty of products are a great male gift, particularly have quite a bit of plush left so maybe
stock in store, so my ideal buying time
emails we reminded
the condiment gun and shark fin ice trays
the students are not into Valentine bears
would be at the end of March. This didn’t plus the retro character of the moment - anymore?
stop me from placing a couple of orders The traditional Love Heart sweets
at the show, but it has given me more our customers and
Morph. Check out the ipod speaker key
ring too - a fantastic boy’s toy.
were a great pick up line selling in total
time, especially with gifts, to cherrypick Overall I had a good Spring Fair, 743 packets in the fortnight leading up
new ranges. staff how many days found lots of new products and ideas for to Valentines Day. Other good selling
Culteral diversity is a core value for the next trading year. Speaking to other gift lines were the Martini Glasses Lolita
us at Leeds University Union and we
were left to buy
retailers the general feel was everyone is
Designs, Really Good Edward Monkton
do carry all Religious Festival cards, but being cautious when buying. Love token and the Transomnia Heart
I found a great company, Jivana Style
Valentines cards and
Peg, which at 10p a peg is a great credit
((www.jivanastyle.com), which has created Valentines update crunch gift!
Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Christmas and
told them when the
Back to work from the NEC and it was
The Fun Day on Friday 13th wasn’t
Valentines cards for an Asian and Black straight into Valentines Day- another busy unlucky for us as Emma bakes our
audience. The cards are great and fit
last post was.
week for the feet!
Valentines cookies for the customers
really well within our market and include The main factor affecting us at Leeds
a luxury henna range, which are hand University is that Valentines fell on a
finished with glitter and gems. Jivana also Saturday, which is not ideal. We are open
produces cards featuring modern cartoon Saturdays but the footfall in the Union is
images of Masala Girls, Desi Boyz and very low compared to a weekday.
Retro Kidz, which I’m sure will do very But the promotions and the point of
well for us. sale worked really well - definitely creating
On the gifts side, our main suppliers the love at Leeds.
are Transomnia and Rex but this year I In total we sold 2291 valentines
wanted to find new lines to get the best cards, which was down by 139 cards and they went down a treat. As a retailer
products for our market. on last year. But the average it’s nice to do something special for the
Natural Products (www.npw.co.uk) transaction value increased customer.
is a fantastic company for all quirky and by 7.3% to £1.94 up from Using Facebook and emails we
design-led products and boys toys. £1.81 per card. So it seems reminded our customers and staff how
Ranging from cup cake lip gloss to Build- the students are buying fewer many days were left to buy Valentines
Your-Own Volkswagen Beetle kits, the cards per transaction but are cards and told them when the last post
range is great for the student market spending more on the one they was.
- a good all round company with funky love. Considering Valentines Day fell outside
products for all ages. The top selling of our trading week we increased our
In the search for Eco products the companies were average transaction value and increased
Ecotronic Toys range (www.ecotronictoys. Really profitability.
com) was definitely a winner for me. No Good, And I got a card too!
16 Greetings Today
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