Entries from June 2009
We’ve just booked a spot at Kleine Fabriek, a children’s trade fair taking place in Amsterdam this coming Sunday-Monday.
The fair showcases around 400 collections from 24 countries, blending global brands like Guess and Armani with smaller independents like…er…us.
Thanks to our new Dutch rep Saskia from Stones Kids Agency for securing this late (and great value) spot. A fab start to our relationship.
We’ve already been added to the exhibitor list and after some frenzied sample sending and press-pack creation we’re ready to go.
This event should give us some great European exposure 
Categories: events · marketing · netherlands · olli & lime · partners · places · retail
Lots of people (in addition to Karen & I) make Olli & Lime tick. They beaver away on our behalf, far from the relative ‘limelight’. Don’t feel bad though, we do pay them! Plus they get the occasional mention here.
Anyway, time to welcome more of the supporting cast in the shape of two (North American) sales agents. These are the people who tirelessly (we hope) sell our products into stores across their respective regions.
The first is Tanya, from Monkey Business in Portland, who is covering Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Amazingly, she secured a big order within her first week, which is very impressive!
We’ve also added a new Canadian rep, Sophie from In Bloom Kids in Vancouver. As she’s only just had samples we’re not expecting any sales just yet! Fingers crossed as always though!
If you’re interested in becoming a sales agent, or if you’d like to stock Olli & Lime, you can email me direct: andy@olliandlime.com
Categories: canada · olli & lime · partners · retail · usa
This one kinda speaks for itself…
…only other thing worth mentioning, a couple of items are reduced by 40-50% but you’ll have to be quick. You can see everything on our sale page
Categories: offers · olli & lime · sale
We’re nearing the end of a massive production run that’s been less than smooth, shall we say. One of the bi-products is a long waiting list for our cushions/pillows.
Apologies if you’re on the list. The good news (as I’m sure you’ve guessed) is they’ve arrived. Even better, a new production process has given us the best results yet!
Pictured from the top are the George and Billie designs. You can buy them now from our shop
Categories: cushions · olli & lime · pillows · products
Some pretty exciting news. I mentioned some time ago that we were appearing in a Rotovision book, Print and Production Finishes for Sustainable Design.
We submitted some text and images then forgot about it. Well, now it’s been printed. Even better than that, we’re on the cover…
(That’s our ‘Carrie’ design second from the left)
I haven’t actually seen the inside yet (I’m hoping it looks OK) but clearly this is good exposure for us.
Oh, and thanks to Keith at Mini Moderns (also on the cover) for alerting me to this
Categories: books · marketing · media · olli & lime
Making the most of the beautiful weather last weekend, we took short trip to the nearby village of Painswick…
It’s a typical Cotswold village; great views but not much to do, except breathe clean air, enjoy the oddly shaped trees and reflect. Perfect then.
I also tried out my sat nav and (although the route it plotted was slightly ‘creative’) it got us there! This is good news as my sense of direction is questionable at best.
Another bonus was the cheap parking…
It would’ve been even cheaper to park on the road but this was the first spot we came to…and at 10p an hour you just can’t grumble
Categories: england · life · places · travel
No, not me…or Karen! It’s Josh, one of our three distinctly ‘different’ cats. Josh doesn’t do conventional. Case in point, here he is drinking direct from the tap!
Josh likes to play it his way. He does what he wants, when he wants. If he’s in the mood for some fuss though, his affection rivals either of our other two cats.
For the record, anyone who says cats are boring or don’t give you anything back is nuts. Our other two cats prove how ‘unique’ their personalities can be…
Egg (the only girl of the bunch) goes crazy for chocolate! She is also fascinated by any new shoes and bags (honestly) that enter the house. So, I guess she’s conforming to the female stereotype!
Our other boy cat, Bert, thinks he’s a dog. He comes every time you call and follows you (me in particular) around the house, which can get quite annoying!
Bert even plays fetch (seriously). He’ll retrieve pretty much any object he can carry (repeatedly) including sticks…in true doggie fashion!
Hope you enjoyed this furry insight
Categories: cats · life
It was my birthday on Sunday so, as is tradition in these parts, I thought I’d belatedly share what I got up to and provide a peek at my fabulous presents.
I spent Saturday with friends, plus my dad (who was a bonus late addition). In typical male fashion, we watched football, drank beer, played pool and (later) ate curry! Some managed clubbing but I ducked out before that.
Sunday was muted in comparison, though no less enjoyable. Following an early-hours Red Sox triumph and some much-needed sleep, I enjoyed a relaxing morning of coffee…more coffee and present unwrapping.
We then drove the short distance to my mum’s house, where I was surrounded by family and spoiled with more gifts. As promised here’s a selection…
…including a beautiful leather jacket, new trainers, England footy shirt, SatNav (which is so much fun), FM iPhone transmitter (US sports radio in the car) and a smart navy jacket…phew! Thanks to everyone…who spent far too much.
I also got masses of chocolate (always welcome) and a birthday cake. Later, Karen and I settled in for a night of baseball with a Chinese takeaway. The perfect way to round-off my birthday
Categories: birthdays · family · life
We’ve been working with ella + elliot for a while now but until yesterday I had no clue what their store looked like. Shame on me!
Anyway, that’s now resolved. Having an (all too regular) Flickr browse I stumbled across their photostream and took a look inside ella + elliot.
I love the engaging compositions and the feeling of space in this loft-like setting.
Toronto is on our ‘to do’ list so I hope we can visit this beautiful store one day!
If you’re lucky enough to live nearby I suggest you go check ‘em out! At the very least, click through to the picture set on Flickr! :-)
Categories: canada · olli & lime · partners · retail
While in Chicago we noticed lots of independent boutique-style kids stores. Now I’ve uploaded my 759(!) photos, I thought I’d share a few.
This is (obviously) Grow, in East Village, one of our existing retailers…
This shop is truly beautiful, Hadley in Lincoln Park…
And this is the wonderfully named Kickin’ in Roscoe Village…
In fact, although Roscoe Village itself is very small, we saw three stores carrying kids products in its main street!
Seems like a very kid-friendly city then. And dog-friendly too! In fact we saw almost as many dogs as people
Categories: life · olli & lime · partners · places · retail · travel · usa
