As the year comes to a close I want to thank our readers, and most especially our loyal advertisers, for their continued support of Scrapbook Retailer. It is our pleasure to serve the scrapbooking and paper crafting business community!

I'd also like to extend a special thanks and recognized the contributions of the dedicated editorial and art staff of Scrapbook Retailer: Christy Miller, Maddy Roe, Melissa Whitehead, Bill Doe, Natalie Kendall and Kjerstin Myers. They make business of scrapbooking come alive in print and online.

Also thanks go to our fine ad sales team under Jemina Keller: Cristy Adamski, Carol Lake, Mary McClane, and Krista Morel for their contributions are so very important.

May you  all enjoy the true gifts of the season-peace, hope and love- and may the new year be a happy and healthy one on every possible level.

I am looking forward to enjoying some down time next week to get a little organized for what will be a very exciting and busy new year.--Beth

I just got my son's school photos back, just in time to tuck into the (late) holiday cards. Boy are school photographers getting savvy.

Now they print the pictures ahead of time which naturally (if I represent the average consumer) you end up buying more photo sheets  because you can't bear to destroy cute photos  of your precious child. Now what do I do with 8 sheets of little photos? There simply aren't that many friends and relatives!

Retailers who come up with great ideas for using all different sizes of school pictures will be doing their customers a huge favor. If you go to the trouble to make lots of samples, consider contacting your local paper because that will be an interesting story for them-especially if they can illustrate the article with your projects!

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Contact the photographer who serves your local school. The principal's office will know or- ask an employee with school age children for the envelope the photos come in- there is usually info on there.
• Work with the school photographer to get samples of the types of photos included in the package.You'll want all the sizes and backgrounds possible. Also if you can- get grade school photos and high school photos so you can show age- specific ideas.
• Create a variety of projects using the photos and display together with the papers and embellishments you use.
• Work with your local paper and other partners to do a "Scrap Your School Photo" contest.
• Apply these same ideas to sports team photos.

If you are already doing things with school photos, let me know! Perhaps we can create a gallery of ideas on scrapbookretailermagazine.com so you can learn from each other's efforts.--Beth

Today it was announced that the Home Sewing Association, the trade association representing the sewing/fabric category is folding.

For those of you who don't know, I started in the craft industry in the sewing category and worked for HSA as the director of marketing communications & education for seven years. So I am greeting this news with mixed feelings. It is my hope that the industry will rally and come up with a new and different type of group that promotes the positive benefits of sewing. We need that.

HSA has a proud industry promotion heritage that demands acknowledgement.Following are some of elements that showed a lot of vision for an industry group. I think there are some nuggets of inspiration for the scrapbooking community here.

• In the mid-1980s, association members ponied up $1 million to fund a series of tv commercials promoting sewing. The theme song "It's original, it's one of a kind" was performed by a pop star of the day and the commercials appeared on an upstart television network called MTV.
• HSA provided the seed money and developmental support to create the American Sewing Guild, a now independent club of sewing enthusiasts that is about 20,000 members strong.
• In the mid-1990's HSA commissioned the first-ever clinical study that linked sewing to stress reduction- the sewing is a stress-buster campaign made papers and tv networks around the country.
• HSA worked with youth organizations such as the Girl Scouts of America, Campfire Boys and Girls and National 4- H Council to fund sewing education programs in States across the country resulting in thousands of children learning to sew.
• In the late 1990's HSA raised $1 million for breast cancer research by encouraging retailers and sewing enthusiasts to raise funds for this worthy cause.
• In the new millennium HSA implemented a teacher training program that  taught best practices to people who wanted to teach sewing.
  

There were so many other projects large and small from dramatic runway fashion shows to National Craft Month promotions that urged Each One, Teach One. HSA was a leader among associations when it came to proactive media outreach.

The leaders in the sewing industry saw early on that sewing had to be made relevant to a younger consumer group if the industry were to survive. The industry had to completely reinvent it's message from promoting the benefits of sewing to save, to the benefits of sewing for creative fulfillment. And I truly believe that now, more than in the past decades, there is a renewed interest in young people to learn this age-old art.

What do you think scrapbooking industry? Maybe we could take a page from HSA's book...-Beth

Did you ever hear the tale of the shoemaker whose children had no shoes? The shoemaker was so focused on making shoes for his customers that he didn't make shoes for his own children?

I am that shoemaker these days. Christmas is a bit more than 20 days away and despite the friendly reminders I get in my mail from the U.S. Postal service I have not begun to make ( or even secure a photo for) my family card.

Oh,I've purchased the blank cards, envelopes,stickers, stamps and assorted stuff. I keep moving the bag to a prominent location to zing the guilt bone every time I walk by... but no movement yet.

Yesterday I got a thank you card from a birthday that took place a week ago. Forget that I haven't mailed the ones from my son's birthday party a month ago. Her's was a cute stamped and collaged card. Mine is the "Thanks for the______ for my birthday! I liked it alot. Love,___________" variety.

I simply cannot brag that I work in the scrapbooking industry any longer. People have expectations that I sit around all day and make cards and pages.

I wish.

Somehow I suspect there's a few of you out there who feel my pain.

I think I'll give myself permission and make the time to do what I urge scrapbooking consumers (and professionals) everywhere to do. To not do it all- but to choose maybe one project and enjoy the process.

For me Christmas=crafting (after the reason for the season of course!) as much as the tree and cookies.

I think maybe tags and paper ornaments with my son who will be decorating his own tree for the first time. Or maybe I should get a jumpstart on Valentines?

Now if I could just figure out how to use the digital camera so I could post photos here...- Beth

Retail forecasters were pleased to see some pretty hefty numbers for Cyber Monday, the biggest online shopping day of the year (on the Monday after Thanksgiving). Sales were up 15% coming around $700 million.

147 Million people shopped on line last Monday with one estimate of 4.6 million visitors per MINUTE! They spent $700 Million on Monday CNN reports that online seasonal sales could reach $39 Billion.

Wow.

What are these folks buying?  Looks like Best Buy and Circuit City had the best days. It seems folks are ordering online from Big Box stores to avoid lines and hanging out waiting for sales people. Moms are also discovering that in order to have Santa surprises, presents need to be shipped to offices or grandma's house for secret keeping.

A good Cyber Monday suggests to me that independents who promote holiday spirit and a relaxing atmosphere can draw in the folks who are "done" their shopping after an hour at the computer.

Because while I believe that alot of people "hate" holiday shopping, it's as much a holiday ritual as trimming the tree and lighting the menorah. Online shopping won't keep folks out of stores, it will just redirect them to stores with a more pleasant environment.

What do you think?--Beth

Any tales from the road from Black Friday?

Turns out that in addition to my sister, my dear college friend was out standing in front of the same Circuit City at 4:50 a.m. That would be Jen, Chuck and about 400 other strangers in a line that wrapped around the building. Some of the people had camped out overnight

The funny thing is they both called me during later in the day- they didn't actually see each other- to report that also in this strip mall,  there was also a lone woman sitting on a lawn chair, bundled in a blanket wearing a cozy hat, she also appeared to have been there all night. And she was sitting outside of ...Michael's.

I sure would have liked to hear that a craft store had a line wrapped  around the mall but I was pleased to hear of that dedicated shopper. To that floppy-hatted lady out there- I hope you got the early bird special you wanted so badly.

Yesterday was Cyber Monday- the online equivalent of Black Friday. Let me check the reports on that one and get back to you. It was anticipated to be just as big as in-store shopping--Beth

F+W has a short day today which is a great bonus for those of us who travel and have pies, squash and turnips to prepare for the feast day tomorrow.

This year my son wants to start a new tradition, the annual Thanksgiving pinata. No idea where that came from but I'll go with the flow.

Since toys have to be part of the mix I am definitely off to my local craft store for stickers and other fun stuff. I'm the mom who anticipates the kid meltdown after 4 hours with the cousins so once the pinata wears off we'll settle in to do some Christmas ornaments- the ones you shake with paint in glass ball. Even better, I should probably drag out the old Polaroid and we could do some scrapping!

However you plan to spend the Thanksgiving holiday, we hope this it finds you happy and healthy. On behalf of the Scrapbook Retailer team, I thank you for keeping us informed and inspired so that we may share that information with others.

Safe travels and for the intrepid Black Friday shoppers. Be sure to report your stories from the field--Beth

Proving that no business is above creating a holiday gift guide, The New York Times had a special ad section/gift guide in last Sunday's issue. It featured books, photos and other special items created and sold by The NYT. I didn't realize it was an ad until I settled into reading it- it was that well done.

There's nothing like the power of suggestion to influence a sale. That is why merchandising, advertisements and project samples are so vital to scrapbook store sales. So this holiday season, why not create your own holiday gift guide?

Select hot items that are especially gifty. Choose things in different price ranges and advertise them as such "Under $5, "Under $25, Under $100 (go for it! there is always a husband who needs something with WOW!) Get employees involved- maybe you want to have "Sandy's Picks" or "Beth's Pick's" to add a personal spin.

Take digital photos or request some from the manufacturers (if you can do it yourself you can probably do it faster- busy time).

Now- what to do with these gift guide items:

 1. Create displays with signage that says "Under $25" etc. Swap out display items as things get sold out.
 
2. Assemble 12 photos in a document with the product name and price.     Include your store name, phone number, hours and the credit cards you take then stuff color copies of this document into bags as folks leave the store.

3. Create a "Great Gifts for the Holidays" poster on foam board and display in a high traffic area.

4. Post a Pdf of the photo document at your website.

5. Create a blast email to customers featuring holiday gift guide items. Include as many photos as you can or at least descriptions of the products.

If you do this- let me know how it works for you! I am curious to know what the  hot  sellers are for the holidays-- Beth

Black Friday is less than a week away. The symbolic opening of the holiday shopping season still gets a lot of air time from news reporters who count down to Friday with the same anticipation as the New Year's Eve ball drop.

But as far as shoppers go, Black Friday has lost its luster over the past years  with the advent of internet shopping and gift cards. Now Black Friday is all about how early you can get up to go shopping on the Friday after a National holiday.

I pride myself on being a pretty good shopper. That said, not even the lure of a $29 plasma television is going to get me to haul my sorry carcass out of bed at 4:00a.m. to be in front of the super mart before the doors open. For one, I rank sleep pretty highly, two, I rank my safety equally as highly.

For others though, this dark of night foray becomes a tradition. For example, my sister (a person who does her shopping in one store or online) sees no reason not to host 40 members of my family for Thanksgiving dinner then pop out of bed at 4:00 to join some friends for the annual Black Friday store assault.

They've been doing this for a few years now and they have it down to a science. Store flyers are scoured for discounts and timing. They pool shopping lists and make one master list (ie: four surfer Barbies, 12  DS cartridges). Next a schedule is made. Then the car with the largest amount of cargo space is reserved. Someone makes muffins and coffee for the group and brings them along.

In each store one of the women is designated as the line stander.That's when you get to eat your muffin and coffee- while holding the place in line.
The others are assigned items to find and bring to the front, thus no time is wasted prowling the aisles to actually "shop". 

I'm worn out just telling the story! The funny thing is, my sister buys relatively little on this trip- it is more of a fun outing with her friends. She'll be more likely to hop online on Cyber Monday. Moral of the store- discount shopping is a recreational event.

Even if your store doesn't open up early for shoppers on Black Friday you can draw them in with a little continental breakfast break and some comfy chairs. By about 9:00-10:00 the post turkey binge energy flags and customers will enjoy the serene and inspirational setting of a scrapbooking store.

In other words, you can service your customers without the paper crafting equivalent to the $29 plasma screen. Your store can be the haven on a crazy day.--Beth

Now is also the time to start thinking ahead and budgeting for the upcoming year. I hope trade shows are factored into your plans.

Gasoline is up to $3.25 in my neighborhood- put a trade show trip into the context of fuel for running your business and you'll see it for the bargain and investment it is!

No matter how great your sales reps are, there is something about being at a show that helps a retailer synthesize all of the incoming trends. You may not buy from 70% of the companies who highlight incoming trends- but you'll get what is happening and how it happens.

Take some classes-I often see experienced retailers who themselves could teach seminars at CHA in the audience. Why? Because they want to keep their skills sharp and there is always something new to learn. A great merchandising or class idea can bring just much, if not more revenue in as selling a collection of items.

Connect with other retailers. It can be isolating being the sole independent with lots of Chain competitors- you need to talk to people who understand the challenges you face- find them en masse at a trade show.

A trade show trip is something to look forward to! Move out some old inventory to generate some cash flow. Plan a couple of classes or crops to pay for your airline ticket. Find someone to bunk with. Even if you are accustomed to coming to a show with staff- having one person at a show is better than no people at a show. See you there-- Beth