This article was an excerpt, which was published in Souvenirs, Gifts & Novelties January 2011 e-newsletter:

Rick Conway, owner of Squire Boone Village, a New Albany, Ind., company that offers six catalog divisions offering everything from candy to earth science souvenirs to jewelry, carved wood and Bloom Brothers, said creativity is essential to selling products.

“Our best retailers always are creative at visual merchandising,” Conway said. “They know the No. 1 reason consumers buy in their stores is visual appeal.  Most of our best retailers make room in their stores for our merchandising displays that have proven to be effective at presenting our merchandise in ways that attract attention. All our displays are offset with free merchandise.”

Five Tips for Retailing Success

1.) Vendors should appeal to retailers to display merchandise the best visually way possible, including offering display options.

2.) Retailers should seek the best shipping deals possible, which helps with profit margins.

3) It may sound simple, but working harder and longer to appease existing accounts and chasing others should lead to more business.

4.) Too much diversification could hurt the bottom line. Focus on what works best for your company and do it well.

5.) Use your Web site to test products to see if they are worth putting in a catalog and offering to the masses.

Conway also find ways to find higher margins for his retailers, such as offering free shipping programs.

“Squire Boone Village pays all shipping charges for orders of $1,200 or more,” Conway said. “With six divisions and over 10,000 products, our best retailers find it easy to order $1,200 each time they place an order so freight charges they normally have to pay go straight to their bottom line.”

Such practices have allowed Squire Boone to increase profits in 2010.

“Any time a small business can finish a year in an economy experiencing 10 percent unemployment with any kind of increase in sales, they are very fortunate,” Conway said. “We had a 3 percent increase for which we are very grateful. I attribute our increase to our wonderful customers, dedicated team of 150 employees, 110 great sales representatives, commitment to customer satisfaction and the Lord's blessings.”

Conway also predicts further growth in 2011.

“We are thrilled to have had a record breaking show at IGES/SSS in Sevierville, Tennessee (in) November,” he said. “We weren't up just a little, we had an increase of over 25 percent. We use the show in the Smokies each year as a barometer to gauge what the New Year holds in store. Most of the orders written there are for resorts and tourist attractions whose season begins at spring break. So, our increase at IGES is a very positive indicator that 2011 is going to be a great year for all.”

Part of that predicted success will be the continuing growth of Squire Boone’s candy division.

“Our fastest growing and largest division is candy,” Conway said. “We are one of only two manufacturers of Rock Crystal Candy in the U.S.A., and we make Rock Crystal Candy at our factory. Rock Crystal Candy is the core product of our candy division. Our other mainstay products in candy are lollipops, bagged candies with full-color, custom hang tags and wildlife gummy candy kabobs.”

Conway is also excited about a new product: custom, full-color jigsaw puzzles with 160 interlocking pieces.

“The bottom of the puzzle box is printed with descriptive copy about the scene of the attraction printed on the box lid and the puzzle,” Conway explained. “Squire Boone Village manufacturers the puzzles at our factory from start to finish. So the puzzles are made in the U.S.A. Because we manufacture the puzzles in-house, the minimum order quantity is only 72 pieces. Turn around time is two weeks from the time we receive our customers’ photograph and approval of the final layout.”