October 2009

Greetings!

Cooler weather, football season, and new fall fashions are here plus a major event to help kickoff retail's best stretch for sales. We're talking about Halloween and this event is growing every year. To make things even better, Halloween falls on a Saturday night this year and historically Saturday night Halloweens have been the biggest in history for retailers. So in this newsletter we are going to uncover some Halloween accessories that are not only fun, but classy.

Venetian Masks Add Art, Culture, & History to Masquerade

The mention of Venetian masks a few years ago would have left lots of people scratching their heads. Today Venetian masks are not only a household word, but are all over television and sought after for masquerade, Halloween, weddings, quinceaneras, and sweet sixteens. These masks have a rich history that dates back to Venice during The Middle Ages when masking was wide spread. Masks were associated with the Carnival season as well as with The Italian Theatre called The Commedia dell'Arte. Church authorities shortened the season for masking because they felt concealed identity was leading to risqué behavior and then Napoleon's Treaty of Campo Formio transferred Venice to Austrian control that lead to the outlawing of masking.

The revival of Carnival in 1979 saw Venetian artists once again creating superb masks that became associated with the City. The favorite material was paper mache and inspiration often came from the characters of the Commedia dell'Arte. Reality shows on television helped boost the awareness that makes Venetian masks so popular today. And now Halloween is approaching and Venetian style masks are in high demand for costumes and parties.

New designs are providing breath taking beauty that consumers can't resist. Both full face and eye mask styles come with cheerful colors or the rich look of antiquity done with baroque colors and scrollwork. Halloween is only the beginning of the demand. New Years Eve, Mardi Gras, Venetian weddings, and masked proms keep masks in demand all the way to May. Add to that birthday parties, masquerade, quinceaneras, and sweet sixteens and the demand never ends. Test this market now because we can expect a huge Halloween with the event falling on a Saturday. Even if you feel the item doesn't fit your shop's focus, use them for decoration and you will be surprised how many people want to buy them.

Top Quality Halloween Jewelry at Mid-range Prices

So your shop image is a boutique--a step up from cheesy Halloween jewelry of a discount store. Well you can get in the act too because Best Brand produces a super nice line of Halloween pendants, earrings, bracelets, and pins that can give a classy look to pumpkins, ghosts, witches, and black cats. Prices are mid-range in this Halloween jewelry that is not cheap, but also not overly expensive. Most pieces use Best Brands trademark style of dimensional stampings that requires far more labor, but turns out quality the eye immediately recognizes. Stamping changes a thin sheet of steel into a raised dimensional design loaded with unbelievable detail. Then pieces are plated, polished, and often highlighted with epoxy color.

The end result is exceptional Halloween jewelry that you will be more than proud to have in your showcases. Pendants and matching earrings are the lion's share of Best Brands line, but they also do bracelets and the pendants often double as pins. Add some chokers for customers that don't already have one and your Halloween jewelry selection will be as classy as an upscale department store and far more affordable.

One more suggestion for sophisticated Halloween jewelry is include bracelets of glass lampwork beads. This art produced pricey jewelry in the past, but is so reasonable today. How cute those lampwork bead bracelets can be with rows of orange pumpkins or glass beads with colored inclusions that have fused Halloween themes decorating them. This certainly is classy Halloween jewelry that will galvanize customer's attention. Yes, the fun resin jewelry is also included in the Halloween selection on the site, but if you want an entirely classy look for the event, the glass bracelets and Best Brand line are there to give your showcases a look of pure sophistication.

Fedoras, Top Hats, and Period Headwear

The web site has an entire selection of fun hats for Halloween, but some of your customers may be looking for something a cut above. We are talking about quality period headwear to go with a costume- derbies, top hats, boaters, tricorns, godfathers, or fifties fedoras. These are the hats consumers can hardly ever find, but you can be the supplier especially if you are a costume shop.

Granted, costume shops are a narrow segment of the retail business, so other businesses need another outlet to handle hats that otherwise would only sell for Halloween. What about tuxedo shops, hat shops, drama supply, equestrian shops, or gift shops near a racetrack. These are a few of the possibilities for locations that can include some fine period hats that work for Halloween.

A number of other businesses including shops in tourist locations, card shops, and party stores can add fun hats--that crazy segment of headwear that is also called novelty hats. Not exactly sophisticated, this wild headwear is a natural for festivals, Mardi Gras, and shops where spring breakers go--and, of course, Halloween.

Hats have always defined a personality or status and are important to a costume, perhaps most important after the mask. So think seriously about hats for the upcoming Halloween and grab a share of the huge profits this event generates.

Cold weather is coming soon and that makes headwear functional as well as fashionable. Next newsletter explores hats from dressy to casual for every age group covering teens to mature. In addition, we will look at the latest trends in hats and accessories that are surfacing for this fall and winter. With fashion accessories the key to success this season, we want to be ready with the right stuff.

Copyright © 2009 Accessory Wholesale Inc. Feel free to reproduce the newsletter as long as the copyright notice is included and a link to www.awnol.com

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