Wholesale Furniture Brokers has signed a lease for a warehouse in Langley, BC to offer Canadians quicker delivery and lower prices on more stocked products. The lower mainland warehouse provides increased warehousing capacity to expand Wholesale Furniture Brokers' container importing program.
Vancouver, BC (PRWEB) June 22, 2012
Wholesale Furniture Brokers has signed a lease agreement for a new warehouse in Langley, BC. The location of the warehouse will reduce transit times and lower prices for stocked products to more markets across Canada. The increased warehouse capacity will allow Wholesale Furniture Brokers to serve Canada with more furniture during the fall and winter shopping seasons. "Stock shortages will be reduced and we'll be able to deliver orders quicker from Vancouver compared to Kamloops," says Matt Holmes, Wholesale Furniture Brokers' Marketing Manager. "The expansion will allow us to improve our services to all of Canada, mainly in Western Canada including the lower mainland and Vancouver Island."The Vancouver furniture warehouse will not have a showroom with furniture on display. It will be used for deliveries and pickups by customers. Customers in Vancouver will be able to directly call the Langley warehouse to place orders.
A warehouse manager is currently being hired. Wholesale Furniture Brokers plans on hiring part-time employees for unloading and loading deliveries at the Langley warehouse. "We're planning on having the warehouse operational by August 1," states Holmes.
About Wholesale Furniture Brokers
Wholesale Furniture Brokers offers price leading furniture with free shipping to online customers direct from the manufacturers in the USA and Canada. World-class customer service is provided to customers by telephone, email, and chat. Shoppers can choose from a growing collection of traditional, modern, and contemporary furniture styles for inside and outside of the home at Wholesale Furniture Brokers. Consumers do not need to pay a membership fee to buy from Wholesale Furniture Brokers.
Matt Holmes
Wholesale Furniture Brokers
(250) 377-3669
Email Information
UPDATE 1-Bain to pay $1.3 bln for half Japan TV shopping channel-source - Reuters
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.
Attention shoppers! Katie Holmes and Suri Cruise turn heads on grocery run - Daily Mail
By Sarah Fitzmaurice, Nadia Mendoza and Daily Mail Reporter
|
She has all the help in the world at her fingertips.
But Katie Holmes, 33, showed she would rather play the role of regular mother as she took her daughter Suri out for a shopping trip.
The actress and wife of Tom Cruise was seen carting around the couple's adorable six-year-old through the aisles of Whole Foods in New York City.
Just like mum: Katie Holmes and Suri Cruise wore matching ponytails as the strolled through the aisles of a Whole Foods in New York City today
While she looked rather frumpy in a blue and white cloth dress, her hair swept back in a ponytail, Katie seemed refreshingly more concerned about her daughter rather than whether or not she was making a fashion statement.
Dressed in a layered grey and hot pink skirt twinned with a pink and black top and ballet flats, Katie's little girl was the spitting image of her mum - their brunette locks styled just alike - as they strolled through the store.
Mother and daughter took turns pushing the cart as they stacked it full of groceries.
Fishy fishy: Suri is intrigued by the fresh fish counter in the store
Shortly after making their exit, however, it seemed the youngster was ready for a nap.
The actress was seen sweeping Suri off her feet and carrying her down the street as she clung to her doll.
The mother-of-one - known for taking a backseat in fashion with her preference for 'safe' options - had, for two days running, appeared to have developed a flair for trend.
Time for bed: Katie was seen carrying Suri home to bed late on Thursday night
Earlier in the day, she was seen exiting her home in a playful summer outfit that involved colour blocking with a floor-length purple pleat skirt and a strapped green and cream top that suggested she was braless.
The brunette is no stranger to dabbling with designs, so she should be adventurous in the field.
In 2009, she teamed up with stylist Jeanne Yang to launch their collection Holmes & Yang.
Hand-in-hand: Suri was the spitting image of her mother; but Katie looked a bit frumpier than normal in a blue and white striped cloth dress
Doting mum: Katie swept her little girl up into her arms shortly after leaving the store
At the time Katie said: 'I've been nervous all day, but I'm really excited. We just wanted to do comfortable clothes that you can wear going from a meeting to being a mum to going on a date.'
The 36-year-old has a close bond with singer-turned-designer Victoria Beckham.
Last Christmas, Katie told Elle US: 'We go to the same events, and we'll call each other and ask, "What color are you wearing?"
'I'm always interested in what [Victoria] is liking for the season.'
Happy-go-lucky: Katie Holmes seems to have been more experimental with her wardrobe of late, with the actress colour blocking her outfit as she left her home in New York
Leggy lady: The 33-year-old looked effortless in yesterday's ensemble which showed off her toned legs
Yesterday, it wasn't only the actress that looked eye-catching, but her daughter too.
Katie was dressed in a bright printed dress with floral detail while little Suri looked positively angelic in a tiered white frock.
Who would have thought that this was the same little girl, in the same dress no less, who threw a tantrum over an ice-cream earlier in the week.
While Katie teamed her dress with a pair of strappy black heels, Suri - who is known for having a controversial penchant for heeled shoes - opted for a pair of silver ballet pumps.
Stylish ladies: Katie and Suri put their best fashion feet forward as they headed out yesterday
Both of Tom Cruise's girls wore their straight brown hair, which is exactly the same hue, down and around their shoulders.
Katie appeared in great spirits as she smiled to fans waiting outside her home, and Suri also appeared to be in good mood as she decided to break into a skip while leaving the apartment.
The Ohio-born star is set to grace the silver screen in a rom-com alongside Chace Crawford.
Responsible Adults tells the story of a man who finds himself in love with his old babysitter.
Changing looks: Katie rocked a pair of jeans this week while playing it safe
Showbiz Roundup: 'Snooki TV'! Mischa's Undies and Kim on Kanye...
Changing from retailer to wholesaler brings challenges - Globe and Mail
THE CHALLENGE
April MacKinnon looked at the 2011 financials for her personal care products business, Sackville, N.B.-based Anointment Natural Skin Care Inc., and realized that the bottom line did not look good.
Ms. MacKinnon had a number of years of experience running a successful and profitable natural personal care products business, as well as experience in online commerce. Both of these experiences were in the retail sphere and, as she looked into the financials, she realized the huge effect that scale has on the profitability of a wholesale operation as compared to a retail business.
Not willing to decrease costs by substituting more economical raw materials, Ms.MacKinnon realized that, if she wanted to succeed in the wholesale market, she had to find the economies of scale that would allow her to erase the red ink. Scaling up meant finding more outlets to carry her product line. The challenge was how to accomplish this.
THE BACKGROUND
Ms. MacKinnon was born and raised in Sackville, and graduated from Mount Allison University in 1998 with a certificate in engineering. She completed a civil engineering degree at Dalhousie University in Halifax in 2001 and, after graduation, worked for six years in the engineering field in Halifax.
She became interested in natural personal care products around the time her first child was born. Later, at the end of her maternity leave and to spend more time with her newborn daughter, she decided to quit work and set up an online retail business selling natural personal care products.
This venture soon led to the opening of a retail outlet called Nurtured in Halifax. Building on her strength of making personal connections with her customers, she was able to grow the retail business. To complement the product lines sold at Nurtured, Ms. MacKinnon acquired Anointment Natural Skin Care in 2009 and continued to supply a small number of wholesale clients.
Although both businesses were doing well, Ms. MacKinnon realized that she was overstretching herself and unable to find the work-life balance she desired. With a third baby on the way, she knew that finding that elusive balance would mean making some tough decisions.
Despite living in Halifax for many years, she still had a strong sense of belonging in Sackville and wanted to move back to raise her family if an opportunity presented itself. That came in the form of a job transfer to Moncton for her husband. In 2011, she sold the retail business and moved to Sackville with a plan to take Anointment from a retail store concept to a wholesale operation.
THE SOLUTION
To get sound advice, Ms. MacKinnon turned to her connections with other wholesale businesses in the region that advised her to scale up the business to allow her to take advantage of economies of scale.
To do that, she ramped up her marketing efforts by sending out brochures and samples to retailers around Canada, as well as boosting her online presence via social media outlets.
She analyzed her extensive product line and focused on volume leaders that could allow for the best scale-up opportunities in the short run. She knew that the new facilities in Sackville would allow her to easily scale up to the next level without any additional infrastructure costs except increased inventory and operating costs. Building on her personal communication strengths, she was able to make strong connections with new wholesale buyers and educate and advise them about her product line.
THE RESULT
As of this month, the business has surpassed last year’s sales and is headed in the right direction. Her marketing efforts and a strong online presence through social media have resulted in several stores approaching her to sell the Anointment line.
Despite the success, there are new challenges that need to be taken care of, including completely revamping product packaging materials to better accommodate long-distance shipping and boutique merchandising.
Ms. MacKinnon is planning to produce short videos on YouTube to train customers as well as attend specialized wholesale trade shows to boost her marketing efforts.
Special to The Globe and Mail
Nauman Farooqi is a professor and head of the department of commerce in the Ron Joyce Centre for Business Studies of Mount Allison University.
This is the latest in a regular series of case studies by a rotating group of business professors from across the country. They appear every Friday on the Report on Small Business website.
Join The Globe’s Small Business LinkedIn group to network with other entrepreneurs and to discuss topical issues: http://linkd.in/jWWdzT
Does this child never go to school?
- Orla, Belfast, 22/6/2012 13:45
Report abuse