Colour blocking spring trend

Fashion designers have been injecting colour into Spring 2009 clothes, and not in a shy and subtle way - more in a yeehawww its Spring kind of a way !

Check out the pink outfits, in wickedly bright colour blocks. There's two distinct looks going on here - Mixing fondant tones and vibrant brights in large colour blocks. Colour blocking with strong brights of hot pinks, orange, mango, tangerine and lime are popular. You will also see other brights such as lapis, blue, lemon yellow, lime, orange and aqua jade tones.

In conclusion, expect bright colours that pop, shock and electrify to cheer in the Spring - think daffodils, greens and yellows primarily. So, there's lots of new colours and shapes to get excited about for the Spring Season.

New colours and shapes are going to need some new jewellery to accessorise - Trends so far indicated are big, bold and contrasting, big textural rings, stacked bangles -thin or thick. Huge rings and necklaces, the statement jewellery trend continues unabated !

Cyber Lyly site goes live !

Good morning everyone ! Cyber Lyly now has her own site, yes we know its taken ages - who knew it could take this long, but the good news is that we've learn't lots along the way, so next time it will be easier !

Anyway, the site is now up, you'll need the password to log in, which went out on an email mailer last night, but if you don't have one, please call us and we'll let you know them : tel 08452 600 925.

The site is designed to be an updated catalogue, so only the items we physically have in stock will appear on the site, everything thats on its way, won't appear until its here with us in our office.

Please browse the site and let us have your feedback :-) Be gentle with us !

Have a great day !

Displaying jewellery : 5 common mistakes !

our new e-book on jewellery display is now live on our sister site www.retailrehab.co.uk Its all about how to make a wicked jewellery display that gets your product noticed !

Better still its got the five most common mistakes we make when displaying jewellery, so you can know what they are and avoid them !

Just click on the picture to go straight there, you'll have to log in, but its free and once you're subscribed you get access to a brilliant resource of ideas and best practice for independent retailers....

so hop over today ...

Don't be a fluster bunny this Mother's day -Follow our cheeky checklist for a fuss free day !

Don’t get into a panic this mother’s day, follow our 8 simple steps to have a relaxed day with your mum:

1. Buy your card in advance, or if you’re making one, start it early enough for the glue to be dry ! Make sure everyone’s signed it.

2. Flowers sell out really fast around Mother’s day, so buy them a day or two in advance, or pre-order them, so you don’t end up at the garage…. Mum’s notice these things !

3. If you’re buying a present online, do it soon, and allow for delivery times. Wrap your present in advance so you’re not rushing around trying to do it as your mum walks in…

4. If you’re going out for dinner, make sure you have a reservation. Restaurants are really really full on Mother’s day. Make your reservation at least a week in advance (more would be better)

5. If you’re going out for the day, buy tickets in advance if possible

6. If staying at home and you’re cooking, make sure you’ve got everything you’ll need !

7. Make sure everyone knows what’s happening, so no-one gets left out and gets upset

8. Check your camera – make sure your batteries are charged

Relax and have some fun !

Red nose day

It's extraordinary to think that Comic relief was launched in 1985 !

The idea was so simple - Comic Relief would make the public laugh while they raised money to help people in desperate need. So far there's been eleven Red Nose Days that've raised more than £420m.

Now thats more than funny - that's astounding !

Do something funny for money this comic relief day

Go on, have a laugh !

The Lipstick effect

The Lipstick effect + how you can add value in a recession...?

Hmmm, what's that all about then? For those of you who haven't yet checked our sister site that's making lots of waves in the retail world, jump over now to read our breaking news blog about all thats fine and wicked in the wonderful world of retail.

Looking for some answers, or just got some questions - this is the place to post them...! and best of all its FREE ! But don't let that fool you into thinking there's no value - you couldn't be more wrong !

We're doing our bit to support independent retailers in the current economic challenges. See we think if we all work together, it'll be better for all of us.

It seems to be a novel concept, but we like it, so pop on over, and subscribe today to get the latest news, profit generating strategies and downloads... www.retailrehab.co.uk or click on the lipstick picture.

Have a great day !

Slumdog millionaire - Don't miss it !

As someone who goes to India pretty often, I was really curious to see if they'd be able to get across the assault on your senses that is India.

From the territorial dogs in the street, the chai wallah's, the amazing rail system that works beyond all reason and logic, because it really shouldn't. The beggars and the slum shanty towns, the rickshaws (Indian helicopter !) and the love affair with the man that is Amitabh Bachan ! Didn't see any roaming cows though, and not so many of my favourites, the ambassador taxis, but i think Danny did a great job !

Slumdog millionarire's got the lot, punch and pizzazz: a strong, clear, instantly graspable storyline and fabulous cinematography. It's definitely got that quirky-underdog twinkle and the awards are well deserved. How he managed to film a movie in the slums and in the street without a million onlookers is quite simply a feat in itself, and the other thing you don't get to see from the movie, is how flippin hot it is, noisy, or crowded...

The movie, differs from the book, which i really enjoyed, but i guess that at 2hrs, they just couldn't fit any more in. Its a brilliant feelgood movie, of indomitable spirit overcoming and of course - getting the beautiful girl !

Give yourself a treat and suspend your cares for a couple of hours - You'll be glad you did ..!

Balagan jewellery in Showgirls fashion photoshoot

The lingerie buyer magazine recently used a selection of our jewellery for their
"Showgirls" photoshoot.

We think the results are pretty amazing, so here's one of them for you to see here !

We've put them up on our website under the press page, along with the coverage from Cosmo bride which is also really really pretty ! So a good week on the press front all in all

Here's to March sunshine and happier times...

Le Journal de Lola Spring 2009 catalogue now live

The Miss Hattie B catalogue and the Spring update catalogue for Le Journal de Lola are now live on the site under the downloads button.

They are downloadable pdf's so you can save them to your desktop or print them out as you prefer.

The log in details were sent out as part of the March newsletter, but if you haven't received yours, please let us know and we'll get it to you immediately.

All the updated Spring catalogues are now live on the site. That's Gallery, Studio, Steam, Le Journal de Lola, Rocks and Miss Hattie B. Sukie Lau will follow shortly.

If you have any questions about this new way of receiving the updated catalogues then please do let us know....

In the meantime, welcome to March, here's to Spring time, lambs, daffodils and sunshine...!

The world definately looks a much brigher place for some sunshine and going home in daylight :-)

Have a great week !

Backwards in high heels, the impossible art of being female !

I don't want to alienate our male readers, but bearing in mind we're a jewellery company, and many readers of this blog will be women, I've just got to tell you about this new book I just got " Backwards in High Heels" I love this book! It's one of those rare books that you want to earmark, scribble in and rush out and buy for all your girlfriends, its absolutely fabulous !

Its title comes from the old saying, that Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, only backwards and in high heels ! Its a book for everywoman struggling to make sense of the contradictory demands of living in the 21st century, and it tells it exactly how it is.

Within its pages is everything an intelligent woman might want to know about the nuances of every conceivable topic: big subjects, such as love, motherhood, feminism, politics, grief, ageing, as well as the “shallower” stuff. Except, in this book, as in most women's heads, and their lives, the demarcation between the deep and the shallow is so slight that its barely noticeable.

There isn't a patronising sentence in the book. It assumes that its readers will be adult women who are au fait with life's complexities, know how to live and how to think, but would like a little reinforcement every now and then. Or a little shaking out of worn mental grooves.

This is not an advert, its more of an extollation, buy this for your mum, your wife, your sister, your best friend or your cousin - It's a rare book that delivers what it promises on the cover and she will thank you for it !

Spring Summer catalogue updates now on our site !

We've just posted some of our Spring / Summer catalogue updates on our balagan site under the catalogue download banner.

So far, Gallery, Rocks, Steam and Studio are up there. Today we'll be finalising Le Journal de Lola and Miss Hattie B, so they should be up there by tonight.

Obviously they're password protected, so please email or call us for the password, which you can then use indefinately.

We've been trying to save paper and help the environment, which is why we're trialing this new method - Please give us any feedback you have...

If you're not a lover of the technology, please give us a call on 08452 600 925 and we can send you out a disc with them on, or a paper copy if you'd prefer? Just let us know.

Our monthly newsletter will be out Friday night with all the passcodes, top tips, and a host of new features to tickle your little grey cells...

Happy a great day !

Refreshed and ready for Monday !

The good news is that we're all ready for Monday, we have so much going on here, it's never boring, the week goes faster than Micheal J Fox in his time travelling Delorian ! (for those of you too young to remember that, trust me, its really fast!)

Ok, we haven't done one for a while, so here's our business tip of the week spot:

Business tip of the week

Hard work maketh the man, (or wo-man)

I think we’re all clear that there are lots of challenges in retail sales, notably long hours, the need for daily self-motivation, seasonal shifts in customers, trends and the need to make every customer experience a great one. No pressure there then !

Do you have a selection of opening gambits to initiate conversation with your customers, or do you rely on the old favourite “can I help you?” to which the answer is, as we all know, “Hmm no thanks, I’m just looking” and you retreat to your counter wounded and feeling a bit useless.

So today, why not try a new selection of opening lines, how about any of the following:

Did you find everything you were looking for today in our shop?

What do you think of our new xxxxxxxx range? (fill in the blank) We’re so excited about it because xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (fill in the blank)

What brought you in here today?

Or Hi, can I just take two seconds of your time to tell you about xxxxxxxxxx

At the very least you’ll have had a conversation, introduced some products and lifted the ambience of the shop, at the best, you’ll have created sales !

If you have some time this week, make a cup of tea/coffee and download our new e-book from our sister site www.retailrehab.co.uk its free and it should give you some food for thought !

Have fun with selling !

Check our our other 28 sales tips on our website - they're FREE !

Let's hear it for Friday !

Finally, Friday has swung around.

Its been a manic week here at Balagan HQ, with orders from the show flying out, as well as lots of interest in our new retailrehab campaign!

Our first forray into publishing, our e-book on USP's is now LIVE and on the retailrehab site available as a FREE download. Don't miss it, its filled with valuable information to help you make your busines stand out in these challenging times.

Pop over to our sistersite on www.retailrehab.co.uk to check it out !

We're just finishing off our Spring Catalogues which we'll post (password protected of course) on our site as downloadable pdf's - We're working on being kind to the environment. Of course, for those of you who are still resisting the computer age, we can send you an original out in the post - just call and let us know :-)

Have a fabulous weekend, with wicked sales !

xx

Snow business !

Ok, so we're finally back from the NEC and Pure, and yes it was very snowy at the Spring Fair....! Thanks to all of you who braved the wicked weather to come and see us, it was surprisingly busy which we're taking as a very good sign !

We have lots of new things in the pipeline, Quite a lot of our projects just couldn't be ready in time for the shows, so we'll be sending you updates on our new products in a couple of weeks, once we get it all photographed and catalogued.

Retailrehab caused quite a stir, so you'll be reading about this in most of the post show publications. For those of you who haven't logged on, please do so as we'll be updating it weekly with ideas to generate publicity for your shops and businesses...

So now we're off to clear the snow from the car park... Ooooh the glamorous life we lead !