Back From The Furniture Show

Man it's good to be back in good old Vermont, even if the weather is as weird as all get out. You are looking at some of the raw data coming back from the Highpoint Furniture show. These are 3, of the many, pieces that we found noteworthy.

However it's just the beginning of the buying process. Of the things that we see at a show only the most popular will actually go into production. Then we buyers have to come back home and figure out how much it will cost to bring it to our part of the country. Vermont, by the way, is at the end of the shipping chain so getting goods delivered here is often more expensive than bringing them to a more populated market. Still I don't think we would trade our great environment and slightly higher cost of living for their shipping discounts and traffic jams. Never-the-less we still have to figure out whether or not we can get it to market at a competitive price for our customers.

Then we look at our product mix. There are thousands of new products introduced at each new show and deciding which ones will suit our store from a price, quality, and style perspective can be a daunting task. It is also the most rewarding when we pick something that our customers really dig. Conversely it is a real bummer when you pick a dog.

Here at Homeport we have  a tried and true method of curbing the number of bad buying decisions - "Merciless Ridicule" Here is but one example of a real looser: The Moon Goblets. You might even be thinking "Hey, those aren't so bad" and you would be in fine company. We thought well enough of them to buy several dozen. We were wrong!

All of that said, the buying trips are great fun and if we do our job right then you will be able to enjoy the fruits of our labors in the coming months right here on Church Street.

I will leave you with a few more possibilities to ponder:






...You see those "Nutter Butters" on the Kitchen Cart? That's just one of the perks we are treated to as vendors try woo our buyers...