I receive calls all the time from cart and kiosk retailers asking if I've seen any new products… particularly ones where they can make at least 3x mark-up. Sometimes I can rattle off six new things I just read about, but other days I'm fresh out of ideas.

Fortunately, I just returned home from our tradeshow in Baltimore and found several new and diverse products for retailers. There were three in particular that I either brought home… or really wanted to.

The first, I'm wearing. It's a garment that can be worn in 100 different ways from Kariza Designs and I'm using mine as a skirt. All of them are made from vintage silk out of India, so the color choices and fabric patterns are incredible! The wholesale price is $20 and they retail for $50 to $100 depending on the length (they come in three different lengths), so the mark-up is perfect. My favorite part was actually going through the dozens of designs and choosing the one I liked best… and I wasn't the only one. For women, being able to try something on, right there, is a HUGE selling point.

Another thing that I loved were the Flow Boards from Flowlab. It's a board that's a hybrid between a skateboard and a snowboard. I didn't get one (I really thought about it, though), but I can see the fun demonstration possibilities.

Finger sports from Zelosports also caught my eye. Remember table football in college? It's a hugely entertaining game, and from what I saw, immensely popular.

So that's what I've found recently. Have any of you found/seen/heard of a new product?

It's the third and final day of our East Coast trade show, and I've been so busy that I haven't posted a thing!

Yesterday, I went to a very interesting session with a panel of industry participants (retailers, wholesalers and shopping center leasing managers) and the focus of the session was a discussion about the margins that cart and kiosk retailers need to be successful. (Due to my past experience as a kiosk operator, this was definitely a topic right up my alley.)

What we concluded as a group was that a minimum 3x markup is critical. As the rent rates in shopping centers, airports and other high-traffic retail venues continue to rise, retailers need even higher margins to maintain their profitability.

The good news is that there are plenty of products out there with superior markups… if you tap the right resources. Of course search engines, trade magazines and conferences are all great sources, but I've found over the years that lots of products pop up as a result of chatting with fellow retailers and keeping your eyes open when colleagues talk about what they're buying.

The overriding message that I heard yesterday is that while retail can be tough at times (high rent, staffing issues, mall hours), opportunity is still abundant for those who stay connected to others in the industry and ask a lot of questions.

And along those lines, we hope you'll connect with us. Drop me a note on where you look for the highest-markups and the most unique products… or where you accidentally found that great product you still stock today. ;)

By now, you've probably heard about Sheryl Crow's post recommending that everyone use a square of toilet paper as a way of saving trees. She might have just been joking, but it got me thinking about our environment (especially on the wave of all the articles and documentaries about the impact of global warming).

It's easy to feel powerless about what ONE person can do to make a difference. But when I thought more about it, I remembered an old college professor telling me, "we need to think globally and act locally." Then it dawned on me. I may not be able to save the planet, but I can make a difference in my office and at home.

At our next staff meeting I'm going to ask everyone to come up with ideas on what we can do, and then set up a plan to implement as many of them as possible (i.e., start a recycling program in the office, plant a tree, buy recycled paper, print out less documents, print our magazines on recycled paper, etc.).

As a store or cart owner, there are ways that you help our planet. One wholesaler just told me that he received a $60,000 grant from the government to buy special equipment to manufacture his product in an earth-friendly way. Retailers can now choose from hundreds of eco-friendly products to stock in their store, or use recycled gift wrap, or celebrate Earth Day by donating a percentage of the proceeds to your favorite environmental charity.

The bottom line: going green will help our planet… and it's good for sales.

I'm in the final stages of preparing for our conference next week. Much to my husband's chagrin, one of the last things on my "to do" list includes a few trips to some of my favorite independent clothing retailers to seek out some new outfits.

I love shopping at a small store where the sales person (or even better, the owner) is invested in helping me find the perfect new ensemble. At one of the stores I stopped by yesterday, the owner helped me, making sure to point out some recent arrivals that I wouldn't have seen had she not pulled them off the rack and suggested I try them on. I, of course, left the store with far more than what I had planned on.

On the way out, I noticed a sign posted by the cash register, detailing her return policy. It read, "Full refund given if clothing is returned in one week, otherwise store credit will be issued if returned within 30 days."

This disappointed me. I can understand that as a small store it would be very challenging to accept returns after a season has passed, but it has always been my thinking that a full refund return policy should at least extend to 30 days.

I believe customers will buy more knowing they can bring it back if they change their mind. Plus, it's another way to extend excellent customer service.

What do you think? What's your store's return policy?

This morning the editorial team for one of our magazines received an email from an advertiser asking us for insight on the Fall/Thanksgiving/Halloween buying trends of gift store owners. Basically she wanted to know what retailers are seeking for fall merchandise… general stuff, or more holiday-specific lines for Thanksgiving and Halloween.

Our managing editor, Poornima Apte, CC'd me on her response.

From what we have seen, Thanksgiving-specific purchasing is quite limited. Most retailers seem to do general fall-themed purchasing (pumpkins, orange/russet colored decor, fall leaves) and are increasingly stocking select Halloween items as part of their fall offerings. This Halloween-specific trend is on the upswing and it is often mixed in with more general fall merchandise. Thanksgiving-specific merchandise, however, does not seem to be high on shopping lists.

If you're a retailer, take note. There are clearly opportunities to cash in on Halloween merchandise as this trend grows… we think it's so notable we even did a feature in our Spring Issue.

I love running! I started at age 13 and then several years ago ran the Chicago Marathon (a huge milestone for me), but recently I decided I wanted another challenge. A race that I could train for and get excited about.

So after researching my options, I decided to do a mini triathlon in July. My husband agreed to join me, and as we talked about it at work, several employees decided they wanted in… now there are six of us preparing for the event.

We've had so much fun talking about it as a team (some of our team members are taking it so seriously that they've lost weight to be more competitive), but most importantly, all of us have enjoyed joking about how hard we're training ("I ran 15 miles this morning.." when in reality it was three).

What I've learned from this experience is that it's great for team building to have an activity outside of the office. Something we can discuss at work, prepare for at home and then go out and do it together. I hope to find activities like this that we can do every year… any ideas?

For the past few weeks our entire staff has been involved packing boxes and gearing up for our conference next week, SPREE, an annual event that we produce for the cart and kiosk industry. This year we've had over 700 people pre-register, and knowing how many show up at the last minute, we've been discussing the logistics of how much literature we should produce… you know, show books, handouts, PowerPoint presentations, etc.

I heard a statistic last week that 95% of show attendees never unpack the literature they take home. I understand how that happens (I've done it myself), but it seems like such a waste. You spend three days collecting stuff only to have it sit in the bag for a year or until you realize that you better throw it out because you're going to the show again next week.

Here are a few things I've done to get the most out of attending and and exhibiting at trade shows:

1. Collect business cards and keep them in a separate location from the brochures, etc., that you pick up.
When you get back to the office, enter your business cards into a database or rolodex. You might even want to send a quick email to new acquaintances letting them know how much you enjoyed meeting them.

2. Bring a notebook with you.
In this notebook, capture any "to do" items as a result of the show (i.e., remember to check out X-Y-Z website, etc.). I find that when I'm out of the office I have more creative ideas, so I dedicate a page in the notebook every show to "out-of-the box" ideas.

3. Take a few minutes when you return home to make a list (in your head or on paper) of the three most valuable things you got out of the show.
It will help you narrow down your list of brainstorming ideas to something more manageable that you can actually prioritize and accomplish.

Last October I decided that it would be really fun to coordinate a makeover contest for a gift shop retailer. So we promoted the contest in our January issue, and after wading through the dozens of entries, we finally chose our lucky winner–Blue Hydrangea based in Wickford, RI, owned by Donna Trottier.

In a few weeks we'll be sending our nationally recognized visual merchandiser Doug Easterwood to do a complete makeover… in two days and with a $500 budget.

$500 you say? Why such a low number? Well for us, the purpose of limiting the budget was to give other retailers an idea of what can be done with minimal resources and some sweat equity.

I'm a big believer in investing time and (a little) money to make a stronger impact and keep things fresh. (I've seen sales increase as much as 300%+ from a simple re-design.)

My editor wasn't thrilled I was planning to post about this today (you're getting insider information here), but it's exciting and I'm really looking forward to this annual event. :)

Last night I made baked ziti for dinner, and our daughter threw a fit… "I'm not eating that, I don't like tomato sauce!".

My husband and I sat there tying to convince her to try it (you know the line our parents used… try it, you might like it, it's tasty, etc.) and it suddenly dawned on me that the principle of trying new things is definitely applicable at work and often forgotten.

It's easy to do the same old, same old and get stuck in a rut. Eat the same thing every day, take the same route on your drive to the store or run your business the same way and never branch out, i.e., sell the same products, in the same way, using the same techniques.

I'm taking on the challenge this week of implementing one new thing that I've never tried before. I encourage you to do the same (test market a new product, try some new signage, create a new special offer or sale…) and then come back here and tell me what you did and how it impacted your business.

In both of our online eNewsletters this week, we included an article about the Webkinz craze, a plush animal manufactured by Ganz, that is literally flying off shelves across the country. To me, this is fascinating on many levels.

First, Ganz implemented a brilliant marketing strategy by creating a Web-based game that children can play to earn their pets food, attention and other rewards. It's so clever! It creates a value-added reason for customers to buy the product, with very little product cost outside of the initial game development expense.

The second fascinating element of this craze is how quickly it spread and by whom… children! My four year old came running home from school a few weeks ago begging me for a Webkinz. When I asked, "Do you know what a Webkinz is?" she responded by saying, "No, but everyone is talking about them."

Third, the limited supply is creating even more demand. They're so hard to find people want them more (remember Beanie Babies?).

And fourth, an entire culture has now formed around the different animals and games (and it's one with money!).

What I hope is that other vendors will learn from this success and launch similar products using the same marketing principles.

Hey, they're an easy sell.. my daughter doesn't even know what they are and she's already convinced me to buy one!