"Your imagination is your preview of life's up and coming attractions."

-- Albert Einstein, Physicist

by Jami Petersen

In a recent newsletter, Dennis Conforto wrote about the importance of the retailer-manufacturer partnership in these economically unsound times. Co-op advertising is one element of this relationship. The idea has raised questions from retailers concerned about how to approach their favorite manufacturers. Dennis offers his response, and includes news from a retailer who has been successful in partnering with manufacturers. Specific answers to specific questions in this week's SMART article.

Jami Petersen
newsletters@a-z.com

Press Releases

News you can use about the latest media coverage of hot trends, noteworthy events and dynamic industry leaders. Learn more about the current headlines in arts and crafts by clicking on the title of each article segment.
 

Loew-Cornell Brushes Up Support For Decorative Painters. Loew-Cornell, a leader in art materials, is proud to announce it is celebrating the Decorative Painter by kicking-off a fully integrated outreach program starting at the Society of Decorative Painters annual conference in Wichita, Kansas. The re-energized program introduces Loew-Cornell Spokesperson Gisele Pope, a new pay-for-publication
program and an enhanced website.
 

Wilton Brands Inc. Announces Appointment of Mary Cushing Merfeld as Chief Financial Officer. Wilton Brands Inc. announced that Mary Cushing Merfeld, the Company’s President, Operations, has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer. Ms. Merfeld, 48, will continue as President, Operations, a position she has held since 2007. Ms. Merfeld succeeds Thomas Kasvin, who is leaving to pursue other interests. Ms. Merfeld is a 20 year veteran of Wilton, where she has served in a number of roles including as Chief Financial Officer of the predecessor to Wilton from 2002 through 2007.

Wooky Entertainment

Target New Consumers:

Teenagers with the Paris Hilton Creativity Collection. This new line is for teens from 10 years old and older who are interested by scrapbooking. Following the latest trends and fashion, the Paris Hilton Creativity Collection is adapted for teen girls of 2010!

Visit us online: http://pariscreativity.com/
For more information : info@wookyentertainment.com

by Dennis A. Conforto, A-Z Media Group, Inc.

Dear Dennis,
I really enjoy your articles in the Scrapbooking.com Business Newsletter. I wanted to inquire about the co-op advertising being paid by vendors. I have made a real effort at this the last 6 months & so far I’m 0 for 10. With vendors I deal with most often, they are unwilling to share any of the advertising cost or provide any discounts to cover the cost of advertising. Do you have any tips for how to be successful at this?

I am MOST interested in advertising mainstream to get NEW people into scrapbooking. There are so many people taking photos out there, how do we convert them from computer viewers to scrapbookers? -Tammy

Dear Tammy,
Thanks for taking the time to write to me. The best time to get co-op funds is when you are at a trade show with the suppliers. You need to have a clearly stated plan and objective. Remember, you’re asking for a percentage of sales you make for them to go towards co-op funds. So you first must cut your best deal on pricing, then you ask for an additional 5% to go towards advertising. The funds from the manufacturers are then used to pay for 50% of the ads.

If I were going to a show I would carry a notebook (my retail trade show book) that would be divided into three sections. The first section would have an overview of my store with pictures, facts, sales history and competitive history. The second section would be my detailed sales history and Open to Buy report that had forced me to maintain at least a 4 time turn rate. I would know which items were being dropped by either me or the manufacturers. I would know what areas I would need to fill in and I wouldn’t buy more than 90 days worth of inventory, providing that was even in my Open to Buy plan. The third section would have my co-op advertising plan for the year with details of each month’s promotion.

Frankly, to get the manufacturers to invest in your store you must invest time into your retail trade show book. If you have a good plan you will have good results. Manufacturers want to deal with great retailers and the sign of a great retailer is found within their own copy of their store’s retail trade show book. Consider providing manufacturers with a short one-page, two-sided overview of your co-op plan.

When they see your time and effort to plan sales around their products, when they see that you understand the need for more new customers for your business and their business, when they see a true retail professional, you will find that manufacturers will invest into you as much as you invest into your planning.

If you would like to comment directly to Dennis about this article or have him address a subject matter in future articles feel free to email him directly at dconforto@a-z.com.

The Memory Tradeshow

The Memory Tradeshow is the premiere market for scrapbooking and related products, family history and digital imaging.

It is the most important gathering of this industry regionally, and it’s attracting executives from all sectors: manufacturers, retailers, distributors, suppliers, sales reps, designers and press. The show’s goal is to provide the highest ROI show within the industry with a greater focus on the business of the memory industry, education and best business practices.

Learn more and save >>

Epson America, Inc., a leading provider of superior performing desktop printing solutions, introduced the first $99 all-in-one with built-in wireless-n1 (IEEE 802.11n) that offers superior performance and print quality over competitive models in its price range2. The affordable and easy-to-use Epson Stylus® NX420 printer/scanner/copier is designed for busy families and students who want to conveniently share one printer with multiple users for various everyday printing tasks, such as schoolwork, recipes, or vacation photos.

“Not only is the Epson Stylus NX420 extremely easy to use, but it also includes the latest wireless standard, wireless-n, plus print, copy and scan features in one powerful machine,” said Stacey Tieu, associate product manager, Consumer Ink Jets, Epson America, Inc. “Consumers definitely get more for their money with the feature-rich NX420 all-in-one.”

Offering superior print quality, built-in wireless printing and scanning, and advanced image enhancement tools, the Epson Stylus NX420 is an efficient, high-quality all-in-one. Its individual ink cartridges and exclusive fade3-, smudge- and water4-resistant DURABrite® Ultra ink make it simple to print everything from family pictures and photo projects to book reports and driving directions. In addition, the Epson Stylus NX420 boasts a 1.5-inch LCD screen and built-in memory card slots to effortlessly print stacks of borderless photos, all without turning on the computer.

Additional Features of the Epson Stylus NX420:

· High-quality scanning up to 2400 dpi

· Multiple black and color copies with just one touch

· Reduces and enlarges copies from 25 to 400 percent

· ISO Print Speeds of 6.4 ISO ppm in black and 3.3 ISO ppm in color5

· Restores old, faded, discolored photos back to their original brilliance

· One-click red-eye removal and automatic photo correction to quickly fix digital images

· One standard ink set for photo and document printing

· Moderate and standard ink cartridge capacities to fit various print volume needs6; costs as low as $8.99 per cartridge7

· Saves up to 50 percent of paper supply with manual, two-sided printing8

· ENERGY STAR® qualified, RoHS compliant, and designed to be recycled9

· Epson MicroPiezo® print head features DX3™ technology with smart nozzles that each produce and precisely place three sizes of ink droplets to create exceptional photos and documents

Pricing and Availability

The Epson Stylus NX420 ($99.99*) is currently available through major computer, office and electronic superstores, a variety of retail stores nationwide, mail order, PC manufacturers, the Internet, and Epson’s own retail site, www.epsonstore.com. For more information, please see the Epson Stylus NX420 fact sheet

About Epson America, Inc.
Epson America, Inc. is a leading provider of an extensive range of printers, 3LCD projectors, scanners and point-of-service printers that are renowned for their high quality, functionality, innovation and energy efficiency. Epson America is a U.S. affiliate of Seiko Epson Corporation, which employs more than 70,000 people in 106 companies around the world. Seiko Epson is committed to its ongoing contributions to the global environment and for the second year in a row has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index, an indicator for leading companies in economic, environmental and social criteria.