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We must be getting old. Excitement comes in the most unusual of forms these days. One such example is the eagerly anticipated arrival of our new, branded packing tape. Voila…
Nothing fancy, but preferable to the plain white we’ve been using. We like it. And a good job too, as we now have hundreds of rolls! And now it’s easy to spot your O&L package!
If you’ve placed an order from today, chances are you’ll encounter a bit of this tape when it arrives! Excitement over. Time for a quick lie down. Some proper news on the way… 
As I write, we’re on our way back to the UK, following a trip that was busy and successful, in equal measure. Next time we fly, we’ll be en-route to a much longer stay in Boston.
We’ve ticked-off a mega list of major and minor tasks, each helping to pave the way for a smooth (who am I kidding?) US office set-up in a month’s time. That’s the plan, anyway.
We’re shipping pretty much an entire office, plus lots of stock. Problem is, it’s three weeks on the ocean; meaning we’ve had to buy essentials, like desks, chairs and um…a kettle!
On the plus side, it’s a great excuse to trawl the mass of home and design stores on offer in Boston, albeit (mostly) for ‘window shopping’ only. Here are some of our highlights…
Mitchell Gold & Bob Williams is just up the road from where we stayed, so we had to pop in. A real mixture of styles and price points. Plenty to love. We’ll be back, I’m sure.
Montage is intimidatingly impressive. The space is stunning, and packed with gorgeous furniture. No prices though. And, as they say, if you need to ask, you can’t afford it.
Design Within Reach was appropriately close to our apartment; in our very street, in fact. They get it so right here. This is a dangerous place for ‘chair-oholics’ such as us.
The Lekker store is more homeware than furniture. Here we found all those little one-off kitchen accessories you just have to have, like this ingenious cocktail stick knife block.
Casa Design sits amid the galleries and design-related businesses of Thayer Street. Very cool designer chairs and other stuff here, including an ultra-slick European kitchen display.
Can’t say much about D-Scale, as we didn’t venture inside. Looked like our kind of place though, so thought it worthy of a mention. We’ll have plenty more time to browse soon.
Our retail journey also took in the contemporary store at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA). In honesty, the shop wasn’t that great, but the museum itself was very impressive.
We also visited our trusty favourite, the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), in search of Pantone mugs. In fact, we scoured Boston and couldn’t find them anywhere. Strange.
The Home Depot may look out of place in this list, but we’re avid ‘DIYers’ so have been craving a visit. It appears to be a US version of B&Q, even down to the colour scheme.
It’s not all been about browsing, but our perusal-to-purchase ratio is far from efficient. Oh, back to that kettle. Embracing US on-the-hob culture, we picked out this little beauty…
A predictable colour choice, but we couldn’t resist. Not from any of the stores mentioned. No, we bought this from a more (pardon the pun) household name; Crate and Barrel.
We love Crate & Barrel; great for functional, stylish design. We got cups, plates and a toaster there. Even better than Crate & Barrel is CB2. Shame Boston doesn’t have one.
Enough of my waffling. I need to make the most of the in-flight entertainment on our last free business-class flight. Not sure quite how we’ll cope with downgrading next time!
Not complaining though. This rounds-off an incredible ten or so months, which has seen us visit seven North American cities. And now we’re setting up business in our fave!
Yesterday, we had the pleasure of meeting one of our biggest online retail partners, CSN Stores, who carry our products on All Modern Baby, plus a couple of other websites.
We had a great meeting, looking at ways to move things forward. I also took some time out to admire their building – inside and out – which has a really cool mid-century vibe.
We previously visited CSN in the local landmark Prudential. They’ve grown since then, now occupying an impressive nine floors of this building, at the Christian Science Plaza.
The exterior is pretty ugly – on the face of it – but this 26-storey office building, at 177 Huntington, holds a certain charm for me, in an overtly retro, chunky, brutalist way.
The structure is equally evident on the inside, in the imposing concrete lattice ceilings and pillars, giving a similar feel to Boston City Hall, which I posted about in August last year.
Predictably, for a company selling some of the coolest designer furniture going, it’s well kitted-out – Karen remarked that it had a kind of Mad Men feel, which went down well.
To top it off, they enjoy spectacular views, taking in most of Boston, including our beloved Fenway Park! We plan to set up a local office so (fingers crossed) we’ll be back soon
When we started out, Karen’s dad Tony, who’s retired, thought it’d be a great idea to plot our sales on a map. Equipped with pins, pin boards and a variety of maps, he set to work.
We even gave him his own job title: ‘Director of Global Positioning’ and a job description. Joking aside, it’s been useful. He often draws our attention to the latest trends and facts.
Predictably, most orders come from bigger metro areas. Now though, we’ve managed to get orders from all the US states with the exception of one, Delaware. Question is, why?
I’m considering mounting a focused marketing campaign, just so we can tick it off the list! I’m only joking but it is strange, don’t you think? I wonder what the reason could be?
Please note: I am well aware of Delaware’s (without wishing to sound poetic) relative size, but we’ve managed sales in Rhode Island (which is smaller still), so why not there?!
Time to meet a cool new retailer we gained at ABC. room, in Buffalo, NY, began five years ago, in a modest 650 s/f shop, with a unique blend of home decor and accessories.
Their collection has now grown to occupy the massive 5,000+ s/f showroom below! Now they’ve added nursery to the mix with Baby Room, a brand new store, which opens today!
Great news for us, as our brands fit together perfectly. Chatting with owners Michael and David at the show, we quickly realised this was somewhere we’d love our products to be.
Initially, they will be stocking crib bedding across all our ranges, along with wall art and wallpaper. If you live in the area, do go and check out the store, at 1376 Hertel Ave.
Oh, sorry posts have been a little ‘thin on the ground’. Blame frantic post-ABC show catch up! Much has been happening; I just haven’t had time to tell you about it! More soon…
Right, before I get into the whole San Francisco thing, thought I’d quickly share a couple of media mentions that hit just in time for ABC. In fact, we didn’t see them until the show.
Oh, must give a quick explanation for the pebbly backdrop; I had to take these shots in our courtyard garden, as the light in the apartment was pretty poor this morning. Anyway…
Kids Today and Baby & Kids are both high-profile industry trade magazines, who were well represented at the ABC expo, each producing daily editions for every day of the show.
These pre-show specials carried mentions for our Charlie crib bedding, in Kids Today, and George alphabet wall art, in Baby & Kids magazine, along with a quote from yours truly.
We have a good relationship with both magazines, and attending ABC meant I managed to meet-up with contacts – at these mags and others – that I’d never seen face-to-face :-)
Been meaning to post for days but I’ve just been too busy! Now the show’s almost over, which is making me a bit sad. It’s been great in so many ways but physically exhausting.
Bad shoe choices meant my feet suffered both at the booth and in line at Starbucks! So much so, the last two days have been ‘sneaker days’. Fairly casual here so no problem.
Anyway, just thought I’d share a few random bits from the show. First-up, we’ve been amazed by how friendly, welcoming and (generally) non-competitive people have been.
I can’t possibly mention everyone so I’ll apologise in advance. Canadian folks Wean Green and Today I Ate A Rainbow have been lovely. We’ve chatted and waved lots!
Next to them, Lex Modern, who came and said hello. This Arkansas-based husband and wife team design great wall-art and named the business after their son, Lexton. Sweet.
We’ve had plenty of chats with our own next-door neighbour, Katharine, owner of bag business, gogogear. She lives in Malibu Beach, CA. Much like our home town I’m sure!
Special mention also for Helen at numsi, who had the traumatic experience of having to move booths, after being stuck in a really bad position. New spot and booth look great.
Badges have been central to the whole experience. Exhibitors’ (like mine, pictured) are pink, buyers are purple, or yellow (for online), reps are green and media are orange.
A bit confusing initially, then great for quickly spotting what people are looking for. We’ve had a healthy mix of buyers and media at our booth. “Cute line” seems the consensus!
Oh, must mention these ABC chips, which were handed out at the start of the show. Very Vegas. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll get very far with them at the casino tomorrow!
So many more people I could mention. So much more to say. I need to recoup and reflect first though. Once we’re done at the show, a relaxation day; woo-hoo! More soon…
Our second set-up day is over and now we’re (sort of) ready for the action. Tomorrow signals the start of ABC proper and, in all honesty, we really have no idea what’s in store.
Our booth (6124) is compact, to say the least. Being UK-based makes shipping out lots of stuff cost-prohibitive, so we’ve kept it simple and it’s ended up looking okay…we think.
We also snagged a fairly decent spot in the press room, using the familiar face of Milo – from our website – to (hopefully) attract some media attention. Fingers crossed…
We’re finally here. After lots of deliberation, followed by masses of preparation, we’ve made it to Vegas for the biggest event in our industry, the ABC Kids Expo. How exciting.
Almost as exciting is the fact that it’s our first trip to Vegas. It may not be our vacation spot of choice, but everyone says you have to visit Vegas as least once. So here we are.
After setting up at the LV Convention Center, we walked The Strip, taking in the sights and sounds of what has become the epitome of Las Vegas. It’s simply jaw-dropping.
Not to everyone’s architectural, not to mention ethical, taste, but it just can’t be ignored. It’s pretty vulgar in many places, beautiful in a few, but it’s got ‘fun’ written all over it.
My favourite building so far is The Wynn, below, along with the neighbouring Encore, both of which we can see from our hotel room. They look stunningly slick in the flesh.
Oh, we watched the obligatory music-synced water fountains of the Bellagio, which were pretty impressive. We plan on having a night of casino fun once we’re all done at ABC.
Needless to say, it’s pretty hot here – though mild for Vegas – around 80-90 during our stay; shame I only packed one pair of shorts. Oh well, we’re here to work after all
You may have noticed a distinct lack of posts this last week. Quite simply, ABC has taken over. There’s been so much to do in the run up to our debut that I just haven’t found time.
Next week we fly to Vegas for the show itself, which runs from 10-13 October. It’s been a real slog, not to mention a money-drain, to get prepared but we’re hoping it’ll be worth it.
Once done at ABC, we’re rewarding ourselves with a trip to San Francisco; a place neither of us have been…despite it occupying a lofty position on the ‘places we’d love to visit’ list.
I’m sure to update you throughout our next adventure. In the meantime, you can catch the latest twitter buzz by searching the ABCKids10 hashtag or following @ABCKidsEXPO
Oh, the ‘abc ain’t easy’ line doesn’t just describe our preparations so far, it’s also a nod to the Jacksons’ catchy tune, which I can’t seem to stop humming recently. Oh the irony
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