At-Home Trunk Shows Are Huge Moneymakers. I Attend One To Find Out Why

On a Wednesday evening in April, I find myself in a well-appointed home in Brookline, a wealthy Boston suburb, sipping wine and eating macarons with a dozen oncologists from the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Sitting around a coffee table displaying Asian art and colorful books about design, the women—colleagues from the same medical research group, aged between 40 and 60—aren’t talking about their work. “Oh, you never wear bright colors, but that red looks so good on you,” says one to the other. “I keep buying these pants every season, because they fit so well,” another says. “They are perfect for hiding problem areas on your tummy.” I’ve joined these women for a trunk show run by Cabi, a social shopping brand that operates in the U.S., the U.K., and Canada. It was founded in 2001 by Kimberly Inskeep, a finance executive looking for a flexible career after her kids were born, and Carol Anderson, a fashion designer in need of a new way to market her products. Together with ten of their friends, they launched Carol Anderson by Invitation (hence, Cabi), a line of clothing that they would sell in their homes in a party-like setting. In the brand’s parlance, they were creating “alternative stores.” Over the last 15 years, the company has steadily grown, and its team of 3,500 salespeople around the world generate more than $250 million in revenue a year. The concept of selling directly to your friends has been around since the 1950s Tupperware party. But direct selling... Continue reading at 'Fast Company'

[ Fast Company | 2017-05-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #bottom line

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Penguin USA sets up home in BookCountry for slush-pile

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Wed, 27/04/2011 - 08:40 Penguin USA is to launch a community website for genre writers called Book Country (bookcountry.com). The site began a public beta test this week and describes itself as "a place where readers and writers of genre fiction... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BEA 2011: It's Personal: A Show Overview

"The value of personal interaction still trumps all" is a firm belief of Steve Rosato, BEA show manager, who is all fired up for BEA 2011, the second under his command. And while the event's main focus is books and authors, technology and the digital revolution is also at the epicenter of this... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tindal Street signs festival find

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 07/04/2011 - 08:59 Tindal Street Press has acquired a debut novel after discovering the author at a writing festival. Editor Luke Brown bought world rights to Robyn directly from author Deborah Morgan. He discovered her work when judging a... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Finding love in bookstores: an eyewitness account.

Several years ago, when I was not a bookstore employee but merely a regular customer, I wrote up BookCourt, an independent bookstore in Brooklyn, for the Village Voice's Best of New York. My entry posited, though I had no evidence to support it, that single people claimed the bookstore was good... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2011-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #independent bookstore #finding love #village voice


Rebuck bullish on digital after "show-stopping" Xmas

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 29/03/2011 - 08:55 Random House c.e.o. Gail Rebuck has said she expects digital to become a "significant" part of its business in 2011 and hailed a "show-stopping" Christmas, as parent company Bertelsmann announced its full-year results to... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Changing copyright laws could "stifle" literature, report finds

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 11/03/2011 - 08:50 Changing copyright laws in the UK could strike a blow to investment in literature, a report has found. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) has produced the document for the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA), which reveals that out... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Record attendance for IPG

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 08/03/2011 - 08:49 The Independent Publishers Guild Conference will be attended by 265 delegates this year, more than any other year previously, and marking an 18% rise in attendance on last year. The conference runs from tomorrow [9th... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Anova takes home Harry Hill knitting book

Written By: Laura Richards Publication Date: Fri, 25/02/2011 - 11:39 A sketch from "Harry Hill's TV Burp" is to be the subject of a knitting book acquired by Anova. Katie Cowan, publisher for Anova's Collins & Brown imprint, bought world English-language rights for The K Factor from Avalon... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Export sales growth outstripping home sales

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 24/02/2011 - 15:36 Scottish publishers have been encouraged to adopt a more global outlook as the UK economic climate continues to suffer, with figures presented by Book Marketing Limited highlighting the growing value of export sales.... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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New Android market shows the future is in device-agnostic app stores

By Tim Conneally, Betanews Google on Thursday finally launched a renewed web-based Android Market that integrates with a user's Google account and lets him shop for applications and send them to the various Android-powered devices linked to the account. This new shop marks the industry-wide... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2011-02-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google shows off the graphical power of Android 3.0 Honeycomb

By Tim Conneally, Betanews At a special event in Mountain View, California Wednesday, search leader Google gave the first in-depth look at "Honeycomb," the tablet-specific version of the Android operating system. This is the biggest overhaul the platform has gotten since it debuted in 2008. The... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2011-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jamie back on top as Costa winner shows mutability

Written By: Philip stone Jamie Oliver's Jamie's 30-minute Meals (Michael Joseph) has returned to the summit of the Official UK Top 50 after a three-week hiatus. The bestselling hardback non-fiction book since records began sold 37,407 copies in the seven days to 29th January, up 77%... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sphere buys tie-in to new Billy Connolly show

Written By: Charlotte Williams Sphere has acquired the tie-in title to comedian Billy Connolly's forthcoming "Route 66" ITV show. Non-fiction publishing director Adam Strange bought world rights from Maverick Television to Billy Connolly's Route 66, winning a four-way auction. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-01-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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