Well, times have surely changed. We returned this weekend from the apparel market in Atlanta, and I believe it was the worse attended show in a VERY long time. I'm sure there were several factors here, including many retailers totally confused about the new CPSIA requirements and how that affects their business. I believe everyone is also waiting to see how retail spending trends for the Spring. We were all a little shaken up by the recent changes in the economy and retailers are figuring it all out, just like the rest of us. The positive here is that January has still been a strong month for us. Unfortunately, I can not say the same about the Atlanta market.Well, when times change, you must change with them. We are really trying to make life easier on our retailers by offering all of our Spring stock for immediates. We even have our limited editions currently available to our retail partners, although those won't last for long. As everyone is scaling back, and travel is one of the 1st things to go, we must figure out a way to take our products to them instead of them coming to us. I try not to get stuck in the rut of the past, of old habits. I believe those that succeed are those that are one step ahead. I never quite feel ahead in this role, but I will always strive to get there.
We are a part of this fabulous co-op in Atlanta led by Julie Swanson of Stella Jane. She has done a fabulous job of organizing some really great businesses into this showroom and it really looks great. Although this market was not the best, for the most part, we have pretty good success with our Atlanta markets.
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