Yup. A good time was had by all (including me and my friend, Ted Teale, from OneCoast), but most especially the Retailer Excellence Award (REA) winners. Two, in particular, top my list:Marketing Achievement
Healdsburg, California retailers Linda Chartier and Shelley Anderson (Midnight Sun Bed & Bath Shoppe, Midnight Sun Children's Shoppe), Nanci Bosio (Papitre), Cynthia Zizi (Zizi), and Sue Sacks (Options Gallery, Inc.) pulled together to create a buy local campaign...then convinced the city of Healdsburg to pony up $30,000 in support of it. You ladies rock.
Industry Achievement Award
The Gift and Home Trade Association
Yes, this is one of the Board of Directors I sit on, so yes, I was pretty tickled about the nod...and even more tickled to hear Kelly Dierke and Andy Bjork (current Chairman and past President, respectively) extoll the virtues of the Retail Advisory Board and our positive impact on the GHTA. Such a glowing review was both a surprise and a delight to hear.
Other award winners were:
Gift Store Design/Redesign
Hearst Castle Gift Shop in San Simeon, California
Visual Merchandising/Display
The Umstead Hotel Gift Shop in Cary, North Carolina
Retail Internet Innovation
Moxie in DeKalb, Illinois (a storefront retailer with a website that succeeds)
Lifetime Achievement Award
Carole Dixon, retiring director of 41 Madison, the New York Merchandise Mart (aka: Tabletop Nirvana)
Outstanding Manufacturer's Rep
Cindi Smith, OneCoast
Rising Star
Whimsy Press in Atlanta, Georgia
Photo credit: Ted's camera, but I don't recall who actually took the shot...? Hey, told you we had fun....
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