Page 195 - One Thousand Ways to Make $1000

gives her new ideas on displays and gift items. Then there is, of course, the
semi-annual exhibit of giftwares in the city, which she attends regularly.
Magazines such as House Beautiful, Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue are looked over
carefully for suggestions which may be incorporated in displays or window
arrangements. When talking to customers she makes a point of mentioning
such and such an item or display as being similar to that shown in the current
issue of House Beautiful or Vogue, or other magazine from which it happens
to have been culled. This plan always succeeds in creating interest in a new
display and at the same time helps to sell the customer.

After the first few weeks people began to take notice of this shop. They found
that it wasn’t just a place where you might find what you wanted; it was a
shop that would have just what you wanted. This ability to create confidence
in her selection of merchandise began to build up a nice clientele almost
immediately. By the end of the first year, Mrs. Barclay had to hire an
assistant and to add two new sections to her shop—a greeting card section
and a “knitting corner.” The assistant was an expert with the knitting needles
and being also a young woman with ideas and a pleasing personality, she
soon helped Mrs. Barclay build up a nice yarn business in the “knitting
corner.”

It is possible, of course, to start a gift shop with less money than Mrs. Barclay
invested. If your home is one of the old-fashioned, comfortable residences
built in the nineties, part of the space can be used for your shop. The room
selected should be easily accessible to the passer-by and have suitable
windows for display. The walls and woodwork should be painted a
harmonious color if they are not appropriate in their present condition for the
display of merchandise. If the room has a fireplace, so much the better. While
some shelving will be necessary for the display of merchandise, particularly
as the amount of stock is increased, many of the gifts can be displayed as part
of the furnishings of the room. The mantel offers a suggestion for the display
of vases, china figurines, pictures, mirrors, etc., and the display should be
changed daily in order to make the most of this central feature. One or two
gate-leg tables, a Pembroke table, a tilt-top, and a coffee table will aid in the
display of gifts and a chest of drawers will hold much of the more fragile
merchandise. A study of the types of interiors featured in the current