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September 2022 Holiday Edition

Tis the Season (Almost!)

Can you believe that Christmas is only 3 months away? With the holidays just around the corner, strategic planning is essential to your success in making your registers ring. Check out these merry and bright tips and ideas to maximize your sales.

Tag your holiday displays #OneCoastSocial for a chance to be featured!

Holiday Shopping Trends 2022

This year, the holiday shopping season is trending very differently since the start of the pandemic. Consumers are much more comfortable getting together in person and are planning to buy holiday gifts earlier than ever before. Check out our Holiday Shopping Trends 2022 infographic for great insights and ideas to help drive shoppers to your store. 

5 Festive In-Store Event Ideas for Your Store

The holiday season is quickly approaching and now's the time to plan those in-store holiday events. Check out these creative event ideas to have your store buzzing with traffic and your registers ringing!

Holiday Family Pajamas Party

Invite your customers to a cozy Holiday Family Pajama Party featuring Christmas cookies and hot cocoa. Consider having Santa come and read a favorite holiday story or even have a special art and craft table where kids (and adults) can take home a special gift. Offer special promotions during this event and be sure to promote this event on your social media platforms (before, during, and after!)

Yoga Now, Wine Later Event

Connect with a local yoga instructor and host a Yoga session in your store. Afterward, showcase a local winery to serve up samplings of wine and offer tasty appetizers for your guests. Create a Zin display or table featuring products such as candles, bath & body, chimes, teas, and loungewear.

Fall in Love Pet Adoption Event

How fun would it be to host a Pet Adoption event in your store or possibly outside in your parking lot. Invite your local animal shelter to bring dogs and cats up for adoption to your event. Invite with a local supplier of dog and cat treats to sell their products while offering up free samples. Promote your pet products with a grand display and invite your customers to enter to win a Pet Gift Basket.

Bring a Friend Event

Make it a girl’s night out event with champagne and fancy hors d’oeuvres. Invite your customers to follow your store on your Facebook page. All customers that bring a friend to the event will receive a special gift along with a special discount for both their friend and their customer.

Home Sweet Home Event

Host an in-store event that showcases new fall and holiday home fragrances and décor. Invite a local interior designer to conduct a how-to workshop with tricks and tips on decorating for the holiday season. Drive sales by offering a free gift with each purchase made during the event.

Meet The Designers

Meet Elyse Darling, the amazing Art Director for the Mary Square brand, and Michelle Cable, the designer extraordinaire for the Michelle McDowell brand. Read on to learn how it all started for Michelle and Elyse, and what they have in store for us next season. 

Meet Art Director, Elyse Darling

Meet Elyse Darling, the Art Director extraordinaire for the Mary Square brand. Read on to learn how it all started for Elyse and what she has in store for us next season.

Give us a bio/background in how you got started as an artist. What made you become an artist?

A: Art is something that has always been a part of my life - seeking it out, creating it, appreciating it, but also understanding that artistry doesn’t end with aesthetics. Art is deeper than surface beauty - it can be complex or simple and found in how something works as well as how it looks. The inner workings of a watch’s gears can be as beautiful as the face in front of them. My mom is an artist and taught me to look for beauty everywhere and how to create it myself; my dad was a scientist and Army colonel so he taught me to question everything and the importance of good leadership. These two perspectives brought me to a place of appreciating beauty combined with efficiency and function.

As a child, and even now as an adult, I liked creating things with my hands, making something out of nothing. I love to knit and sculpt - the very idea of taking something formless and creating something both functional and beautiful is exciting. The ultimate moment in design is when those two aspects combine into a great product; This, coupled with my top love-language of gift-giving, set me on the path to always have an eye toward the perfect gift that was both beautiful and functional.

My college education began with a journey toward medical school and then pivoted to Journalism and Visual Communication.  Both disciplines taught me the importance of detail, to ask lots of questions, and that it’s possible to live in a place that comfortably uses both my left and right brain; In college I was the graphics editor of our large daily newspaper and it was there the value of strong leadership was brought into real-world focus, coupled with how to work efficiently and effectively in a fast-paced environment and consider all points of view. This early training has helped me throughout my career in working with clients and other designers and how to be thoughtful in all aspects of design.

Mary Square has provided the opportunity for me to channel all of these life lessons into a role that allows me to work with other creatives to champion beauty, functional design, storytelling, and inspiration that ultimately turns a simple product into a gift. The highest compliment for something we create is that someone wants to buy it for someone else, because then it becomes an expression of love and friendship too.

Where do you find your inspiration?

A: I find inspiration everywhere! I grew up in the mountains of North Carolina, so the outdoors is always one of the first places I look for aesthetic inspiration in color, pattern and texture.

Taking a look at something from a different perspective is inspiring to me - whether it is physical perspective or a cultural one. When my kids were young, I loved handing them a camera to see what caught their eye and what they wanted to capture with the lens. Growing up in a tourist town, it was always exciting to see what caught visitors’ eyes; what I took for granted in my everyday world that they would stop and marvel at.  I traveled extensively with my family when I was young and gained a strong appreciation for cultures and the differences in how they perceive beauty and express it with color, pattern and texture. I find travel and exploration one of the most inspiring things I can do. I am also a bit of a history nerd. I love visiting museums to see how certain styles and aesthetics and even everyday functional products have evolved and why.

What is your favorite color and why?

A: I love pinks and oranges! Any color with a coral hue can evoke both energy and peace in me. It is the color of sunrises and sunsets. It is the perfect color to bookend the day.

From your most recent launch, what is your favorite item and why?

A: I love our inspirational products. In this fast-paced, hurried world I think anything that helps us slow down and reflect is a good thing; Our prayer journals, devotionals, agendas, and stickers are thoughtfully designed with simplicity and beautiful art. These gifts are items that are meant to be used every day, to become part of our customer’s daily routine. I love that we can create items that bring joy to someone every time they use it and that the art we have created and the words we have carefully curated can inspire them every day.

Can you give us a glimpse into your upcoming launch? What can retailers expect to see? And what are you most excited about your new launch? Any new piece types?

A: In addition to our always popular collections in inspiration, celebrations & occasions, gift accessories and pajamas we are launching three new collections for spring 2023!

Our collegiate collection is so full of fun and energy - items for students, alumni, and fans. These are perfect game-day and school pride products and put the FUN in function! We have our always popular large open tote bags and best-selling stainless drinkware in Pantone-perfect school colors that we can’t wait to share with our retailers.

We had so much fun with color and pattern in our new Initial Collection. With 4 bright color palettes and featuring 16 letters, this collection will be a visual show-stopper in any retail location. This collection features some customer favorites like our beach towels, straw tumblers and wine glasses and we are introducing some new products here as well. Our passport cover and luggage tags are beautifully crafted with vegan leather and will be a bright pop of color no matter where you travel. We are also adding some fun new stationery products with this collection - a beautiful acrylic notepad tray and a vegan leather notepad cover. These items make great gifts for any age.

The mended soul collection is a capsule in our always popular inspiration line. We are going back to our roots and designing this new collection based on one of our best-selling mugs. This capsule collection contains unique hand painted mosaic ceramic mugs, frames, planters and home decor. Each heirloom piece features the verse from Ecclesiastes 3:77 “He takes the broken pieces and makes them beautiful.” This soulful collection is beautiful and has already captured our hearts and we can’t wait to share it with our retailers.

Meet The Designer, Michelle Cable

Meet Michelle Cable, the designer extraordinaire for the Michelle McDowell brand. Read on to learn how it all started for Michelle and what she has in store for us next season.

Give us a bio/background in how you got started as an artist. What made you become an artist?

A: Back in 2015 I was a stay-at-home mom with two young children.  Sadler, my son was 4 and my daughter, Charlotte was 3.  My days were filled with playdates, meal prepping, and other household tasks, but I craved a creative outlet.  I have always loved design, fashion, and home décor.  Decorating a room or planning an outfit with accessory pairings was where I found creative joy!  So, one day I decided to start making beaded bracelets.  I loaded the kids up in the car and drove to our local craft store and scoured the isles for jewelry making supplies.  I spend $30 on supplies and quickly returned home to start beading.  I made about 10 different beaded stretch bracelets, snapped a few photos, and sent them to my best friend, Kristin.  She owned a local boutique and we share a love of design and fashion.  She LOVED the bracelets and encouraged me to make it a real “thing.”  I was clueless in that department, but she helped me get started.  I decided to take to social media with my simple idea, and held weekly flash sales to sell my products.  Every Thursday evening at 8pm I posted about 6 new styles, with very limited quantities.  Customers competed to post the first “sold” comment on each post!  It was marketing genius that I still can’t believe took root.  My first sale brought in a whopping $400!  I was SHOCKED!  Needless to say, the little idea I had to help me with a creative outlet quickly became a real business.  I became an artist to serve my own desires to be creative, but it has turned into a desire to now serve others with quality fashion goods that help them look and feel their best. 

Where do you find your inspiration?

A: I find inspiration in all sorts of places – home design and décor, nature, and travel to name a few.  Fashion trends are normally preceded by home design trends.  For example, we all know and love Joanna Gaines, who pioneered the modern farmhouse trend.  That simple and neutral color palette blended with natural fabrics like raffia and jute set the tone for the boho fashion trend.  I love researching what is in style in home décor and translating that into fashion and accessories.  

What is your favorite color and why?

A: It’s hard to ask a creative question like this, but currently, one of my favorite colors is blue.  It’s calming and rich, and pairs well with other jewel tones like pinks and oranges.

From your most recent launch, what is your favorite item and why?

A: For our apparel launch, my favorite piece is the Harley dress in the Walk on the Wildside pattern.  I love the feminine silhouette with balloon sleeves and ruffle detail alone with the neckline.  The rich colors and exotic ikat pattern take this dress to the next level.  You’d never believe it was a dress that cost under $100, which is what I LOVE about our line. 

Can you give us a glimpse into your upcoming launch? What can retailer expect to see? And what are you most excited about your new launch? Any new piece types?

A: My team and I love designing in all seasons, but spring and summer is where we come alive!  The bright, bold colors and rich patterns energize us.  This season, we’ve elevated the much-loved animal print theme to include safari scenes.  We’ve integrated more exotic animals, like birds, to create a feeling of freedom and possibility.  We’ve also expanded our color palette this season to mix our bright jewel tones that everyone knows and loves with calming pastels.  These colors play well together to achieve a dynamic palette.

In our jewelry collection, we’ve designed this season’s pieces within occasion-based collections and themes.  You can fill your stores and create stories on your jewelry tables for the bride, for the sweetheart (Valentine’s Day), and for the Mrs. Claus in us all (Christmas).  Another material that has made a welcomed comeback is acrylic.  We’ve elevated the traditional tortoise shell acrylic and combined it with bold colors in a blocked fashion.  This combination gives the classic acrylic material a whole new flair!

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Holly, Jolly Quick Tip:

Take advantage of our vendor's closeout and sale items now. There are some great deals on gifts, apparel, accessories and much more that you can give to your customers as a FREE gift with purchase or as giveaways during your upcoming holiday events. Shop our sale items now!

And that's a wrap!

Have a wonderful day,

Your friends at OneCoast