Shopping local just might save you money
July 24, 2015 by admin
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Crier Connections
Posted: Tuesday, July 21, 2015 10:00 am
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Updated: 10:01 am, Tue Jul 21, 2015.
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I read a fascinating article in the AJC titled, “Shopping local cuts impulse buying.” The premise is that steering away from big box stores, and instead spending your money in smaller local shops, results in spending less money.
Yes, some items may cost more at a small store, but you’re less likely to walk out with lots of things that weren’t on your list to begin with—those impulse items that somehow leap into your cart as you wander the store. I must admit that when I visit Target or Costco, I do tend to purchase more than the one or two items I go in for.
Carrie Rollwagon experimented with shopping local for a year and wrote a book on the topic—The Localist. She discovered she sometimes spent more on individual items but spent less overall, primarily because she cut down on impulse buying. And it wasn’t only avoiding temptation while in a big store, but also the fact that waiting to find something in a local shop often resulted in the buying urges disappearing altogether.
Shopping local is easy in Dunwoody because we have so many inviting shops. I enjoy walking into a small business where folks know my face and sometimes even my name. I still buy paper towels and such at Costco and lingerie at Nordstrom, but for many other purchases, you’ll find me in a locally owned shop.
Running around Dunwoody on weekends is always a pleasant experience. One Saturday, I met a friend for coffee at Crema and then stopped into Southern Comforts to see if they had any fun yard art. No yard art, but I did find two pillows for my front porch bench. I suppose you could consider the pillows an impulse buy, except that they’d been on my need to find list for a few weeks.
I continued my local shopping at the Dunwoody Library Sale, where I saw lots of familiar faces. Twelve books later, I wrote a check for $18.75. How many books could you get for that amount at Barnes Noble or Amazon?
Next was a quick run into Sprouts to pick up some seafood. Sprouts may not qualify as local, but the author of The Localist suggests shopping local-ish if you can’t go completely local. Local or local-ish, I count Sprouts because they are such a welcome addition to our community. I considered finishing the day by eating dinner outside at O’Brian’s Tavern, but instead decided we’d grill the Ahi Tuna I’d just purchased and save the tavern for another day.
I followed pretty much the same routine on a different Saturday, starting with Crema and then Highland Apothecary, where I picked up Benadryl that Hoang had compounded into dog treats for my itchy dog. I ran into Consigning Women to drop something off and then into Southern Comforts to see whether they had anything for my screened porch I just couldn’t live without. I came away with a lamp for the porch and a new pair of reading glasses. In that same shopping center, I hit Camelot Jewelers to have some earrings repaired and stopped into O’Brian’s to ask about their piano Saturdays.
Shopping local-ish in our little corner of the world is a delight. But then, again,we all know that’s the charm of Dunwoody. Southern Comforts said it best in a recent ad: “What better way to show your support for the USA, your community and neighbors than choosing to shop local?”
Kathy Manos Penn is a Sandy Springs resident who works in corporate America. Read more of her musing at TheInkPenn.blogspot.com or contact her at kathymanospenn@gmail.com.
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Tuesday, July 21, 2015 10:00 am.
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Even ladies are fond of Warner Brother characters
July 23, 2015 by admin
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Licensing – sought of as a brilliant mode of expansion by brands, has gone major breakthrough with deals happening across a wide variety of category and lingerie being one of them. Soie, a brand by Ginza industries has inked pact with Warner Brothers for Superman and Wonder woman branded sleepwear and lingerie. In a tête-à-tête with Retailer, Amrit Sethia, COO, SOIE shares insights about the licensing deal with one of the honchos of entertainment sector and the brand SOIE
Talk to us about licensing deal between Soie and Warner Brothers.
We approached Warner Brother to get their license for innerwear and sleepwear products because we are a brand Soie into western garments and we also do sleepwear and lingerie. The Warner Brothers category was already taken in outwear section, so we opted for loungewear and innerwear. That is what we went for because we thought hiring these characters would add value to our products which has happened.
Who is the target group for this category?
Target audience for this category starts from 16 till 30. We don’t limit age-bracket, but that is what we consider. The products that we have made are for ladies. The below 16 category has already been taken by some other brand.
What is the revenue sharing model for this deal?
I don’t think I would be disclosing that. What I can tell you is that they ask for a minimum guaranty for the brand for a year or percentage in revenue, whichever is high.
Did you face any challenges while dealing with Warner Brother?
First of all Warner Brother being a big company with huge portfolio of cartoon characters, people are definitely noticing. Everyone has seen Superman and Batman suddenly coming out in market on outer garments in last 3 years.
What the brand wants from us a very good manufacturing facility so that they do not need to constantly check upon the quality of products that a licensee is selling off because a licensee not only sells the brand licensed products but also the brand.
They visited our manufacturing unit to see the quality norms we follow and were pretty impressed. The first hurdle was getting our process approved as per their parameters.
Secondly, none of the brands in India have ever done Warner brothers collection on innerwear. Disney, Winne the pooh etc. were there and characters like superman and Batman were there on men’s apparel but none has done it on innerwear. That was the thought with which we targeted a new set of customers along with existing set. Females are fond of wearing these Warner Brother characters on their tee, sleepwear, so why not target those people. That is when we tied up with company and launched two characters – Wonder woman and Superman.
What the brand requires from us is that when we design any product with their logo on it, we have to send it to them for approval. Warner Brother approved the design, the packaging and there we not many challenges we faced.
Did you have liberty of choosing price points or Warner Brother had a say in that too?
Price-point is totally ours and they would not comment or interfere on pricing. We being a brand that believes in competitive pricing, we have a notion of not over-pricing the product just because it has brand name. We want to reach the masses and that is why we placed the price quite competitively.
What are the price-points for Warner Brother collection?
The lowest is Rs 490 and highest is Rs 1,290.
What are the distribution channels you have opted for this collection?
We do online sales as well. Amazon.in has been our exclusive online partner. We don’t have these WB products anywhere else except Amazon and our own website. The presence is there in more than 800 outlets across India.
What is your take on growth in this sector?
Market has evolved a lot over past few years. Earlier this industry was very secretive or the consumers had their shops fixed in their neighborhood. Eventually as numbers of brands in market have grown, consumers have moved to new brands and they have moved in a big way. Success of Zivame tells us a lot about how e-business has helped this sector to grow.
How do you integrate Supply Chain and logistics to ensure smooth distribution?
The warehousing facility is same for all the channels. We have one warehouse at Surat and all dispatching happens from there. In terms of catering to MBOs, we receive orders and dispatch from there. We have separate teams handling each of these divisions of business.
Not just in SCM, we have our own production team. So, everything that Soie produces is our in-house production so that we can control quality at every level right from raw material to stitching, everything is managed in-house.
All the products have been made in cotton except one which is in spandex. All the raw material has been made by the parent company that is Ginza.
Are you in talks with some other licensor?
I don’t think we should be disclosing it. We are in talks with a player for other category.