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Market Information
Today’s Marketplace
Online
Catalogs, Magazines,
and Trade Publications
by
The Transparency Center
Consumer markets
in the United States are very dynamic and may change frequently.
Fortunately, you can see what is selling in the marketplace right
now through the Internet. The below collection of online catalogs,
magazines and trade journals provides links to well-known US
retailers who sell a variety of gifts, accessories and apparel at a
range of prices. While some artisans and producers may not currently
be in a position to sell to these retailers, the websites may be a
useful source of ideas and convenient way to better understand the
US market.
Online Catalogs
Martha
Stewart: http://www.marthastewart.com/
Martha Stewart has created a media empire dedicated to modern
style and good taste. Through books, magazines, the Internet,
television, and radio, Stewart expertly dispenses information about
gardening, home decorating, cooking, and crafts. Her website sells a
variety of products in the categories of tableware, bed and bath,
lighting, kids, pets, holidays, gardening, and crafts.
Williams-Sonoma: http://www.williams-sonoma.com/
This
upscale home-centered specialty retailer operates stores across the
United States and sells goods via their direct-mail catalog. The
website caters to cooks and primarily offers cookware, bakeware,
table linens, dinnerware, housewares, and holiday products.
Crate & Barrel: http://www.crateandbarrel.com/
This
home furnishings retailer sells functional and affordable items for
the home. Their website includes items for the kitchen and home,
including dinnerware, cooking utensils, pillows, rugs, table linens,
baskets, and furniture.
Smith & Hawkin: http://www.smith-hawken.com/
This
website sells everything for the garden, including flowerpots and
vases, tools, and decorations. and also offers items for the home
such as furniture, decorations, doormats, baskets, and even personal
accessories like clothing.
Eziba: http://www.eziba.com/
From
handwoven bags from Ecuador to a carving set from South Africa, this
website sells a wide variety of handcrafted goods from around the
world, including tableware, wood carvings, furniture, baskets,
artwork, clothing, jewelry, and pottery.
Sundance: http://www.sundancecatalog.com/
This
website/catalog sells a variety of handcrafted items, including home
decor, jewelry, clothing, and holiday items. The site includes a
link to request a paper catalog, or write to: Sundance Catalog
Company, Customer Service Center, 3865 West 2400 South, Salt Lake
City, Utah, 84120, United States.
JC Penney: http://www.jcpenney.com/
This
long-established company is one of the largest retailers in the
United States. The company sells affordable clothing, accessories,
and home furnishings through department stores, catalogs, and their
website. They target young families as well as more established
middle-class families. This is one of the few companies that will
mail their catalog to international destinations. See the Request a
Catalog tab, and follow the steps to buy the catalog.
Kmart: http://www.kmart.com/
One of the
largest discount retailers in the United States, Kmart has stores in
every state of the United States. Serving lower-income and
middle-income families, this website, although not as extensive as
some of the others listed, represents goods in one of the lower
price points of the American market.
UncommonGoods.com: http://www.uncommongoods.com/
An
online marketplace offering an exciting collection of products made
by some of the world’s most creative designers and artisans.
UncommonGoods combines the treasures of a specialty boutique, the
great finds of a craft show, discoveries from a faraway bazaar,
along with some enduring classics.
Magazines and Trade
Publications
Better Homes & Gardens: http://www.bhg.com/
If you are
interested in learning about homes in the United States, this
monthly online magazine is a good starting point. Articles cover a
variety of topics, from home decorating ideas for the living room,
bedroom, and bathroom, to home crafts and gardening tips. The
website includes subscription information for persons outside the
United States.
Giftware News Online: http://207.7.62.48/
This online
version of Giftware News contains information on the giftware
industry, including a comprehensive list of trade
shows.
Home Furnishing News: http://www.hfnmag.com/
Home
Furnishings News is the leading weekly news magazine serving the
home products industry with “need to know” news about furniture,
housewares, textiles, consumer electronics, and computers.
Women’s Wear Daily: http://www.wwd.com/
Women’s Wear
Daily covers all aspects of fashion: business issues, fashion
trends, retailing developments, international ready-to-wear, couture
presentations, and market overviews. As the premier news authority
in fashion, this site is an important daily news source for
executives, buyers, designers, financial analysts, educators, and
merchandising managers to the press and anyone else associated with
the business of fashion.
Fairchild Books: http://www.fairchildbooks.com
Fairchild
Books (FB) is an educational publisher of books in fashion,
clothing, textiles, and apparel design since the 1940s. Books are
published in the following categories: textiles; fashion design
(including illustration, construction, patternmaking, draping, and
grading); fashion merchandising, marketing, visual merchandising,
and retailing; costume history; social, psychological, cultural, and
aesthetic aspects of dress; and color theory. In the late 1990s,
they started a line of interior design texts. They publish
pedagogically sound and commercially successful texts to assist
students assuming leadership positions in fashion and interior
design. Catalog available.
Fashion Information: http://www.fashioninformation.com/
This
Internet site is dedicated to reporting the current fashion trends
and forecasting what will popular or “hot” in the near future. It is
aimed at the most elite or “high fashion” apparel markets in Paris,
New York and other major cosmopolitan centers.
Design
Intelligence: http://www.adiginfo.com/axiom/whatsnew.htm
This is the online fashion industry newsletter from Design
Intelligence (A.D.I.G.). It provides information and direction from
around the world on fashion trends and influences, color, textiles,
graphics, packaging, visual merchandising and retail trends.
Color Marketing: http://www.colormarketing.org/
Color Marketing is a 35 year-old nonprofit international
association of color designers that forecasts colors for
manufactured products, giving color and design professionals the
competitive marketing edge. Parts of the website are only accessible
to members of Color Marketing Group (CMG). Information about how to
become a member of the CMG is available online.
FirstView: http://www.firstview.com/
A
place to view recent apparel lines from the most famous designers in
the world. You need to pay to see the latest designs, however
previous lines are free. If you must view the latest collections,
you can buy a one-hour password from FirstView for US$
5.95.
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