We have returned from the Atlanta market and have found many wonderful treasures you will love! Many people think the market is a fun vacation for us, but it is a lot of hard work & long days. We do have some fun while we are there, but most of the day is searching for the perfect treasures to bring to the shop. The following is how we spent our days at market.
Saturday, July 17th
We leave Barnwell at 4:30am and head to Atlanta for a long day at market. We check in at the hotel (a funny story in itself) and catch the bus to the market. We begin our adventures at 9:00am looking through countless showrooms trying to pick up on the current trends and fashion colors. Most of the home accessory showrooms are a feast for the eyes. It is hard not to want to buy it all, but budget forbids it! We went to a seminar given by Eddie Ross, a former contestant on Bravo's Top Design. He gave many wonderful ideas on entertaining & decorating that we will pass on at our September Holiday Evening of Design. Several of the showrooms hosted buyer appreciation parties that we attended. We returned to the hotel at 8:30pm. It took several times riding up & down the hotel elevator & a nice woman to tell us we had to use our room key to access our floor.
Sunday, July 18, We catch the hotel bus and arrive at the market at 8:30am. I have a 9am appointment & add many wonderful new designs in our popular decoupage trays including new vanity trays. A buyers' group lounge was offering a complimentary breakfast & we gladly accepted. After breakfast we had another appointment & I bought wonderful bright & cheerful Easter & Spring 2011 merchandise.
We found many wonderful pillows, lamps, and accessories you are going to love! I picked up the Sunday addition of Home Accents Today magazine and found the list of the best showroom displays. I like to see all the winners & get wonderful display ideas from them. Market closed at 6pm today and we were back at the hotel by 7pm. A woman on the bus suggested a Thai restaurant for us to eat supper. We were a little hesitant since we had never eaten Thai food, but we decided to give it a try. The waitress was wonderful help and we loved it! We returned to our rooms and & reviewed invoices and budgets.
Monday, July 19, We catch the 8:30am bus to market & begin with appointments bright & early. Wow! I love the new prints we bought at such great prices! We also added a new entertaining line that will debut at our Fall Open House in September. Time seems to really fly by fast while at the market. We catch the 6pm bus back to the hotel & walk 2 blocks to one of our favorite restaurants, Einstein's. We love all their food, and their drinks are so needed by this time. We get back to our rooms & I re-work my schedule to make sure I get all the buying done in our last day.
Tuesday, July 20th, This is our last day at the market and we arrive at 9am. We quickly go up to the holiday & floral floors to finish all our holiday buying. These showrooms are always packed during the week & I wait until the last day so I can easily see everything. We are so excited with the looks we will have for this fall and Christmas, and for the new service we will be offering. We get back to the hotel by 7pm and go to another one of our favorite restaurants, Houstons. They have a wonderful jazz trio and the best ribs anywhere around!
Wednesday, July 21, We leave Atlanta at 9:30am and drive through all the traffic and look forward getting back to Barnwell. The traffic & business of Atlanta makes me truly love living in the small community of Barnwell!
Our wonderful new treasures will begin arriving in August and all will be here by our Fall & Halloween Open House, Saturday, September 18th. Also, don't forget about our Holiday Evening of Design in September (only 40 tickets are available). Other events include our Witches' Night Out, October 14th, and Holiday Open House, November 7th. We look forward seeing you soon in the shop. Be sure to follow us on facebook(evelyn's jewelry & gift shop) and
twitter (evelynsjewelry) for all our updates and arrives of our great new treasures!
