Competitive Shopping - Saturday Girl's Day Out

Saturday we all loaded up in my friend Melissa's Ford Escape and headed Uptown to The Southern Women's Show to check out any home decor items that may be selling there.  We made two conclusions upon arrival........

My friends Meghan and Melissa, co-conspirators on this new project, with me at the Southern Women's Show!

1) This is any husband's worst nightmare (as you can see from the amount of women milling around behind our heads in the picture above). Lucky for most, there were very few of them following around their wives as women fawned over free samples, got hair and make-up makeovers, and spent much of their hard-earned money on jewelry, purses, and other female "must-haves".
2) There were not many home decor booths set up and the few that were there did not have much interest. We can now cross the Southern Women's Show off our list for next year as a place to possibly exhibit our new line.

We did find a local candle company based out of Dilworth called Mallory's candles and talked to the owner, Michael, about carrying some of his line.  He gave us some samples of his best selling scents to get feedback from our focus groups at the end of the month.

Sample packs of three would be great hostess gifts!!

After feeling somewhat disappointed, we headed out towards Dilworth to check out Mrs. Howard / Max and Company. This place carries everything that is drool-worthy for a home. One of my seamstresses told me earlier this year that the fabric they use for their window treatments is "better than sex". If I am ever able to have a home that resembles anything like what their store looks like, I would consider myself a very lucky woman. However, none of their decor is "kid friendly", so it would need to wait about 15 years until after my children are grown and not smearing PB and J all over my house!

Meghan checking out the construction of window treatments to perfect her sewing skills!

This cabinet with the antique mirror front would make an awesome focal point in any room!

This is a ceiling in one of the showrooms. What a way to create some unexpected drama!

Pretty embroidered linen pillow at Mrs. Howard

Circa Interiors was another store that we stopped by on the way home and what we found between both high end stores was a lack of color. If there was any color, it was in a muted palette. Grays and neutrals have been the forefront of color palettes in high end homes for the past 5 years and I foresee a shift into more vibrant color stories mixed back to classic neutrals. 

In conclusion, we think our perfect spot to position ourselves is somewhere between the Southern Women's Show consumer and the high end consumer that Mrs. Howard and Max and Company appeal to. There is a lot of buzz about color finally coming back, and by being in the forefront of that will position us well to offer something that is new and exciting to our customers!