Stephen's Diary

The barely coherent ramblings of our MD

Here in the Midlands, the anticipated floods and storms that had been threatened by the forecasters never materialised. The only floods we had to endure here was of the 'stock' variety. Valentines Day and Mothers Day business had exceeded all our expectations, and we had to place substantial orders to replenish what we's sold.

Being a lazy so-and-so, I usually manage to arrange for deliveries to arrive on my day off. Today I got what I deserved - 29 giant cartons full to the brim with Willow Tree Figures, Lilliput Lane Cottages, Border Fine Arts, Country Artists, Willow Tree Angels and Lladro. All this and our staff busy with customers. So - you can guess who had to unload the vehicle and carry the boxes upstairs to the warehouse.

Perhaps it's the first sign of spring calling us outdoors, but the best selling piece is the Voyager Compass from Dalvey, selling at £45. Several customers have taken advantage of our same-day engraving idea, and the Free Worldwide Postage just makes their day.

Monday - Another day, another back breaking delivery. This morning's lorry load was from our friends at Myth and Magic - the enchanting collection of pewter-style figurines featuring a frankly scary array of wizards and dragons. Myth & Magic have shown wonderful growth for us this year. Part of their appeal is that they're so tactile and are really 'weighty'. In fact, if Myth and Legend weren't so attractive as decorative ornaments, we'd consider promoting them as Myth and Magic doorstops. Ah well - a long hot bath should ease that aching back.

Well it just has to be the Halcyon Days 2008 Easter Egg. This beautiful enamel memento makes the perfect Easter gift. It's surprising how people realise the amount of hand-painting that goes into the making of a Halcyon Days enamel. Every colour is individually applied, so what you finish up with is a genuine hand-painted one-off. With Easter being so close, we sold our last three Halcyon Days 2008 Easter Eggs today, which means I must make a note ..... in 2009, order more.

This Week's hot news in the world of Collectables (or is it Collectibles? Reading and writing were never my strong points) is the announcement from Swarovski Crystal that the Walt Disney Mickey Mouse Collection is to be discontinued in April. These have been in tremendous demand (Minnie Mouse more than Mickey Mouse, interestingly) since the launch only a couple of years ago, so it's a surprise that Swarovski have decided to retire these pieces so soon. My guess it'll be something to do with the Disney license, but what do I know? Anyway - the good news is that I've been able to put in a couple of phone calls to Swarovski Crystal and we've got good stocks of Walt Disney Minnie Mouse, Mickey Mouse, Pluto and Goofy on their way to us as I write.

My First Communion from Nao. Just today - 3 of these figurines sold online and two in the shop. It's just as well that our stocks are healthy. With early summer being the 'season' for confirmations, it must be customers planning well ahead. It's interesting - we always sell more of the little girl Nao figurine than the one of the little boy.

All I ever seem to write about are the deliveries that come in through our front door. Surprisingly enough, we do have the occasional customer too. Today's delivery, however, was interesting. It was from Steiff. These are the world's oldest, greatest and most original Teddy Bears. This morning we received three massive cartons, which we assumed would be stuffed full of big, furry, Steiff Teddy Bears. How wrong we were. The giant cartons contained nothing but boxes - albeit very beautiful boxes. And the reason? Steiff have changed their 'branding' and have now produced these magnificent, top quality presentation boxes. The only problem is - they don't come flat-packed. They take up tons of space, which is why I'm being threatened with evacuation from my tiny office, so that there's somewhere to keep our Steiff boxes.

Although the day is still young - OK it's 5.00 pm and the shop will be closing soon, but most of our internet sales come in during the evening, it would appear that today's favourite is a Willow Tree piece. No surprsies there - Willow Tree is one of our top brands, and so far today the demand for The Willow Tree Together figurine is top of the pile. This and the Promise Figure always seem to rival each other fo the top spot. One look and you can see why. Susan Lordi, the designer of the Demdaco Willow Tree Collection, has this amazing knack of capturing to a tee, the sentiments of affection and commitment.

There seems to be no slow-up in the demand for gifts this week. Willow Tree Ornaments are leading the way - we're used to that, but there's definitely a move towards some of our other ornaments such as Lladro figurines. It's interesting how the figurine market has changed in recent years. Although there is still a demand for the traditional china figurines of 'crinoline' ladies, the more contemporary styling certainly seems to be on the up. Finally - just a quick note of a 'boost' we've received at the end of the day - a lovely email from Pam parker from Beverley in Yorkshire ... "Hello, I'm a first time customer and would just like to say thank you very much for a lovely shopping experience. I cannot beliueve how quickly you delivered my order, with free p & p as well! I will definitely be returning to shop with you again and will tell everyone I know how excellent your service was. Pam Parker." I phoned Pam to ask if we could quote her and she was more than happy. Thanks Pam.

Yet again, it seems as though Willow Tree is winning the day. Yesterday's winner, Together, has been overtaken today by Willow Tree Promise, for the past few years, this has been the number one of the entire Willow Tree Collection.

This time last year, we were basking in unseasonally warm weather. But this year, we're subjected to an arctic blast of real winter. This didn't stop us from travelling down to Surrey to meet up with our daughter's boyfriend's family. They were most hospitable but of course, I couldn't help noticing their wonderful collection of Moorcroft Pottery - from miniature vases to magnificent Moorcroft Lamps. Let's hope they take a look at the range of Moorcroft we have to offer. Maybe we'll get lucky!

Some days, there's a clear winner in terms of best sellers. Other days, it's difficult to pick one out from the mass of orders. This weekend was one of those occasions when we were inexplicably inundated with orders for a particular collection, specifically Franz Porcelain. This is a fascinating collection. Its style recalls the heady days of the nineteen twenties, the decade when flappers flourished and the order of the day was extravagance and embellishment. This is perfectly reflected in the style of Franz Porcelain. You might not wish to fill your home with this exotic collection, but if you want to add a touch of style and fun, Franz Porcelain is well worth a look.

Today was the first time in ages that I've been asked by a customer where a collectable product is made. Until fifteen or so years ago, there was usually the assumption that everything we sold was made in the UK. Collectibles in those days almost always originated in Stoke-on-Trent, the home of the potteries. These days China is the origin of much of what we sell. Does it matter? Well, this is certainly not the place for me to get political, but what isn't in doubt is that our collectable figurines that are made in the Far East are always immaculately made. There is no doubt the chinese do possess an inherent skill for the finer skills of hand-decorating.

We first started stocking Lladro figurines around 40 years ago. Since then, they've proved to be amongst our consistently most successful collections. One of the great things about Lladro isn't just the quality and variety of the collection. It's also that the company really seems to value its relationship with both the collectors and the retailers. The people at Lladro really understand the importance of listening to their customers. Anyway - what makes Lladro so special this week? Well, Lladro seems to be a real Credit Crunch buster. It's a classic example of how, when times are tough for many people, there's still a demand for real quality. In recent months, we've noticed a steady increase in demand for the higher end of Lladro, culminating this week in the sale of Romantic Feelings, (shown on the left). This is one of the our largest and most complex Lladro pieces, introduced only last year. It belongs to the new Lladro Utopia collection, whereby a selection of the most historically popular pieces has been re-modelled in a more contemporary fashion.

Being Bank Holiday Monday, the shop and the office are closed. I just pray that we're not losing business by leaving the phones unmanned. It should be OK - our customers are usually happy to leave a message. Last week began quietly in the shop but soon picked up as the warmer weather kicked in towards the end of the week. Our internet business seems to be fairly 'weather proof' and has been as hectic as usual. never content with standing still, we're expanding the website with new ranges almost every week. This week was no exception, as we launched our range of Dartington Crystal. It's a wonderful collection. As the demand for contemporary clear, uncut crystal grows, so does the success of Dartington Glass. There is so much to choose from - not just the usual wine glasses and champagne flutes, but also the weird and whacky - what a great gift the yard of ale on the left makes. There are of course dozens of dartington vases and bowls to choose from too.

We've had a great new success this week - and that's Waterford Crystal. The world's biggest name for quality cut glass, Waterford Crystal has been a favourite of ours for over fifty years. Much of it is still made in Ireland. Some Waterford is made in eastern Europe, but this is not to frowned at. The skills of the master cutter originated in that part of the world. In fact, when Waterford Crystal started up again after the Second World War, the production director and many of the crftsmen were shipped over from Czechoslovakia. So, it's been a great week for Waterford Crystal, which is almost certainly because we're running a promotion on it - 10% off the entire collection. It'll only be going for a few days longer, so now's your chance.