Hot Sellers for the Home

The Home Décor Gift Picture at Boutiques

Home décor is a hot-selling item for giving and receiving these days, according to gift boutique owners and staff. All across the United States, with so many people staying home to work and play due to the pandemic, it’s no wonder; top buying choices vary but the interest in reshaping and revamping home environments is clear.

At PopCycle in Tucson, Ariz., Store Manager Libby Tobey related that among the store’s top home décor sellers are some that are made inhouse. “The founders of the store make these incredible vintage Tucson postcard-style images on old, reclaimed cabinet doors. They’re made right here, and they are one of our most popular items. We carry a total of over 95 local artists here in all, and we have all kinds of wonderful décor things. People are buying a lot of prints, coat racks, key racks, things like that. There’s also a real emphasis on finding locally made or hand-crafted items for the home,” she said.

She observed certain changes in how people are beautifying their homes and why. “What we’re seeing is that people are actively seeking more locally sourced home gifts, and that is especially true of things that are creature comforts. We are also seeing a lot more people buying gifts for others in that same vein. There has been a lot of interest in nesting and improving the look of your nest. It started when COVID-19 first happened, and it’s continued on.” She added, “People were finally buying that interesting lampshade to replace the old shade that they never really liked but hadn’t thought that much about until they had to see it every day. They’ve been finishing up their homes, adding small gallery touches like the handmade key racks. That is a big purchase these days.” She stressed that everything people buy is home-related in one way another, whether it is one of the prints the shop has available for hanging from over 10 local artists, or a little inhome spa kit.

Heading north to Once in a Blue Moose, in Anchorage, Alaska, company President Vernon Cates said the shop’s top-selling home décor items are wall hangings of all kinds, from original works to art prints. “We have vendors who make beautiful prints, but a lot of our items are locally-made, which has a lot of appeal to buyers. Many of the art works are made from metal.” He said he is seeing a locally oriented shift in terms of home beautification. “We’ve noticed that people have really increased their purchasing of Alaskan-made items.” According to Cates, “I think a lot of what drives that interest is the fact that we are seeing more local shoppers than those from out of town, and they want to support the community. The kinds of items they buy are about the same, but where they’ve been made is what’s different.” Cates presides over nine different shops, which range in size from 600 square feet up to 2,500 square feet.

At The Old Flamingo in Salt Lake City, Utah, Sharleigh Conti is one of nine vendors at a cooperative space filled with eclectic goods. Each vendor rents out an approximately 100-to-200-square-foot area within the store. While dressers, desks, and other large furniture items, particularly vintage items repainted and refinished by artisans, do well throughout the shop, Conti herself is doing very well with 17 different art pieces created by a local artist. “For me, personally, I carry a lot of different wall hangings. What I have right now are some spiritual pieces, some very cool images of bugs, a buffalo, things like that. I’m always carrying a lot of local artwork that people will purchase to decorate their homes.”

She said there is no question at all that people are focused more on home improvement these days. “More and more people are buying items to improve their personal space. I think that people are also gravitating to small businesses to buy those items, certainly they’ve been really great about supporting us here.” She stressed, “When people are home all day, they see their walls and they want to look at something on those walls that’s a little different, something cool and interesting. We have a very different vibe coming into our spaces here, and we have always had a more art-interested crowd than in other parts of town.”

To draw this crowd, the vendors in the store, herself included, have increased use of social media, particularly for larger items. This is an enhancement she led. “We really all had to turn to this when things shut down, to use Instagram, to use Venmo, to offer curbside pick-up. It was something I really helped the others here with doing. And, we keep our price points quite reasonable as well.”

For Jason Shelby , owner and buyer for the 2,000-square-foot Now or Never in downtown Phoenix, Ariz., the top sellers in home décor are ceramics and candles. “We focus on uniqueness in the items we carry from all over the world. These do well for us because we try to offer spe-

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Hot Sellers (From page 49) cial items that are just not found elsewhere.” Like other gift shop owners and staff members, Shelby also sees changes in the ways in which people are buying for their homes. “They’re more interested in home décor overall, of course. We weren’t doing as well with those kinds of items - in fact we had toned down what we carried in home décor before the pandemic. But afterwards, we saw sales go up in everything from textiles to kitchenware, on any good quality practical item as well as beautiful, special items for the home. Home fragrance is something else that has a lot of appeal to our customers now, and it’s big for us –Japanese incense, palo santo, scented candles.”

Angelika Krinner-Croteau, owner of the Arctic Travelers Gift Shop in Fairbanks, Alaska. Home décor is not a large category for the store, but Krinner-Croteau does offer decorative wood boxes, candles, picture frames, and other types of items for the home.

In Fairbanks, Alaska, Angelika Krinner-Croteau , owner of the Arctic Travelers Gift Shop, said that while she may not carry a large number of home décor items in her shop, the pieces she does stock in the 3,000-squre-foot store are doing well. “Primarily I have decorative wooden boxes, candles, picture frames, and a lot of art and craft items, such as carvings, made by local native people. I also have pictures of the North- ern Lights, since we are the land known for that.” The reason her customers are interested in these types of items is their distinctive nature, she said. These are not, she said, pieces that can be purchased anywhere else. “I do see that more people want to improve the look of their homes. In part, that is, because I have a lot more local shoppers this year, compared to other years when I would say most of our business came from those traveling. Now, local people want to support mom and pop stores like me, so they come and shop here. That has helped me to recover from the summer months, when I had no tourists at all. But because they are local, they have less interest in souvenir-type items, and are more interested in buying things they can keep in their homes.”

From Alaska to Phoenix, the trend is the same: home décor items are growing in popularity at boutique gift shops, and while the most popular pieces may vary, the desire to improve the look and feel of a home is universal. ❖

Top Tips to Display Home Décor Items

Asked for their top tips on displaying home décor items, gift store owners and staff members offered a variety of replies.

At PopCycle in Tucson, Ariz., Store Manager Libby Tobey related that the shop keeps a lot of like-items together and also does color theme displays, both of which are very attention-getting for the shop. “We often keep the individual artist or artisan’s work together as much as possible, and we focus on making the pieces look the most appealing,” she said, from spacing to lighting.

Heading north to Once in a Blue Moose, in Anchorage, Alaska, company President Vernon Cates said, “We believe location is the most important thing when it comes to display. If an item is visible from a good spot in the store, then people are going to be drawn to it. We hang a lot of things on the walls in this home décor category.”

In Fairbanks, Alaska, Angelika Krinner-Croteau, owner of the Arctic Travelers Gift Shop, said her tip is to cross merchandise most décor items. “Others, however, we have to keep in a display case under lock and key, because they are quite valuable. Things such as locally carved ivory are in that category.”

At The Old Flamingo in Salt Lake City, Utah, Vendor Sharleigh Conti said, “We arrange things, group things, within one little area for photos. When items are displayed in that way it’s probably the way that customers who come into the store, as well as viewing items online, can best see them. Since we are made up of different vendors, we are probably not as cohesive as a regular store with one owner, so that is the technique that works best.”

Jason Shelby, owner and buyer for Now or Never in Phoenix, Ariz., described his well-organized display style. “We have our store set up into three areas, fashion with clothing, shoes, and accessories; furniture; and our marketplace which has a 20-foot wall of shelves and large marble cubes for display. Each shelf or cube has a different brand on each. There’s a combination of items within those areas, some are divided by theme or brands, with the biggest selling brands getting their own display and section.” ❖