Day 1: First Stop at the Gift Market

Today we drove through some serious rain in Oklahoma to finally see sun about the time we got to Stringtown and the prison.  We were on our way to the Dallas Market.  The rain slowed us down a bit but we were only late to our 4:00 p.m. appointment by 15 minutes.
Our first stop was the Anne McGilvray showroom which is the only showroom we visit which isn't in the World Trade Center.
It is in a renovated warehouse which houses a ton of merchandise lines.  We only made it through 4 manufacturers before 7:00 p.m. when the showroom closed.
Our first stop:  Hobbs and Dobbs and our friend Barry who owns that company out of Beverly Hills.  We love Barry because he is always on the edge of the newest candy and is totally honest about which candies we should buy.  If he doesn't think it will sell, Barry tells us and that means a lot to us.  Our tradition for the last few years is to bring Barry a t-shirt with an Oklahoma or Tulsa logo.  This time we brought a red t-shirt which says "Someone in Tulsa loves you." Barry wears t-shirts all the time and occasionally gets a great comment about the shirts we give him.
Barry did say that his wife doesn't like to wash his red shirts...the dye bleeds on other clothes.  So apparently she saves up the red shirts until they make a laundry load.  I told him about Color Catcher...if you don't know about it, let me know.
We also visited with Ari from Unemployed Philosophers.  Ari's concern is that we buy items which will sell and if they don't, he'll take them back as credit against other merchandise.
What does Unemployed Philosophers sell?  Those terrific disappearing mugs, the Sticky Notes themed just like you'd think a philosopher would create.  We have ordered some great new pieces which you will find in our store about end of July.  And the display of watches coming in November will knock your socks off.  Think about Dr. Who, Freud, Charlie Chaplin, aand more.
We also found out that Ari is about to propose to his sweetheart....we even got a description of the gorgeous ring he had designed for her.
Tomorrow we are off to the Trade Mart.  We have 3 appointments in showrooms and we will walk the rest of the Trade Mart.  We hope to meet up with Erin Smith....love her greeting cards,mugs, totes....
Watch for our next blog.