Miss Milly Celebrates First Year in Style, Winning National Award

Starting up a business during a recession takes guts but if it’s in an industry you are familiar with, and passionate about, it can also be a fantastic opportunity. Sarah Watmore of Miss Milly celebrated the company’s first year with industry recognition as she scooped a Highly Commended in the British Travelgoods & Accessories Association Awards in the Fashion Jewellery category at the Autumn Fair.

The panel of judges, from leading retailers including Ernst Jones and H Samuel, were looking for product originality, innovative eye catching design and commercial viability.

“And they loved my Floria Collection,” says Sarah. “I launched Miss Milly on 1 September 2012 in the midst of a double dip recession and after numerous sleepless nights. But it has been a fantastic year, the response to the brand has been incredible and this is an amazing way to end my first 12 months!”

You can view and order Miss Milly jewellery at www.missmilly.co.uk or call the company on 01905 622509 for further information. Sales agents currently cover the South West, North West and North East of England.

The strength of independent retailer collaboration

The retail industry and the struggle it faces in the current economic climate is always in the news, whether it be increases in rates, the rise of out-of-town and online shopping, and the failure of the Portas Pilot towns.

What the retail industry really needs is some good news champions, and that has to be down to the retailers themselves. And as soon as they think of marketing and promotion, many retailers will immediately see £££££ and shy away.

But a carefully thought out plan of action for your local area doesn't need to cost the earth and will cost even less if you can work with other local retailers in a combined effort to regenerate your town.

Rachel Parkin is an independent retailer herself, a strong advocate of collaboration and writes a regular column for Gifts Today. Her column in the June issue gives some great ideas for how to start helping your town. Click Here and flick to page 56 to read it.

July 2013 is Independent Retailer Month so why not use June to plan some activities and contact your local media about what you're doing. And then from 1st to 31st July, shout out about your local indepe4ndent retailers. You'll find more help and support from the Independent Retailer Month website.

Good luck!

Choosing jewellery for next season

I have just come back from an overseas trip to design and source the jewellery collection for Autumn / Winter 2013. Whilst it's the part of the business I love the most, it's also exhausting. I don't expect any pity because for most people, flying out to Asia for a few days 'work' would be heavenly.

The immersion into another culture is always fascinating; the vibrant sights, sounds and smells. The amazing feeling of heat on your skin, the hustle and bustle of a city on the other side of the world. And the pressure of creating the right collection at the right price.

Before going, I research expected trends for the next season, analyse what products have and haven't sold well in the current season, and come up with ideas for new pieces as well as confirming the suppliers I definitely want to see. And then, armed with hand luggage only and dressed for travel comfort, I'm off.

However prepared you are and whatever ideas you have in mind, you always stumble across a new supplier or range of products that somehow you just have to have in the new collection. Cue middle of the night, jet lag fuelled decisions about how to make it work.

This trip's gorgeous new find was a range of crystal and silver-plated bracelets that I couldn't resist. I was keeping an eye out for sparkles for the Christmas party season and happily have succeeded. And the bracelets have gone in to production as I type, ready for launching in August on www.missmilly.co.uk

Miss Milly is a UK jewellery wholesaler offering a wide range of reasonably priced costume jewellery as well as gorgeous designer purses and notebooks.

Pondering over jewellery display

Whether it's for a shop, a trade stand or a showroom, displaying your jewellery for maximum impact is essential.

Over the past 10 years, I have sold jewellery on a festival market stall, on a trade exhibition stand, in two different shops, at home parties, at various small Christmas events, in a wholesale showroom and online. And every situation has its own intricacies to deal with whether it be the lighting, the available space or the cover you put on the pasting table.

The most recent display quandary I faced was the launch of Miss Milly at the Autumn Fair, NEC in September 2012. I decided that what was important for the new business was the jewellery and the brand. Miss Milly was new to market and this needed to be shouted about.

There was not the budget to have an all-singing bespoke trade stand so with my designer's help, we created a wallpaper style covering for the shell scheme in maroon and white. And all the other furniture and display items were matt white. This meant that we created a lifestyle identity for Miss Milly whilst allowing the jewellery to speak for itself hung on plain acrylic stands.

With a lot of colourful jewellery and minimal space, the white acrylic stands give a neutral background, with the 'wallpaper' adding interest and shouting out to show visitors.

For Spring Fair 2013, we upgraded the wallpaper, adding a seasonal lifestyle image, which was a key part of our marketing campaign.

In a shop with enough space, however, it is also possible to create zones with different colours or styles of stands. In my shop, I used, for example, black and red stands with the silver jewellery, and seasonal colours in the window displays. With jewellery being so small, having a mass change of colour in the window really helps to create a different visual effect to catch the eye of passers-by, and all kinds of props (butterflies, flowers, lanterns, etc) can be used to emphasise the season or the latest trends.

Whatever direction you take with your displays, it is crucial to remember that what most of your customers want along with your gorgeous products is clear pricing and the ability to touch and try the jewellery. So don't hide your prices, a great value price in the window can easily entice people in and clinch a sale. And if your jewellery is display in cabinets, be ready to quickly and easily get it out for customers to have a closer look.

Miss Milly is a UK wholesale jewellery supplier based in the Midlands. With a wide range of styles, great prices and an easy-to-use website, why not refresh your collection and give them a try?

Cobalt blue is big this season

Cobalt blue (also known as royal blue) is big news this season and is great for colour blocking. But it hasn't been widely available in jewellery.

Earlier this year, in anticipation of this trend, Miss Milly launched the bright blue colour in its Milly Pearl range featuring a necklace, bracelet and earrings (pictured above), and it's selling well.

Click here to see Millie Mackintosh rocking the cobalt colour block.

The Miss Milly brand supplies a wide range of gorgeous, great value jewellery. Visit www.missmilly.co.uk to see the full range.

Back by popular demand

Whilst exhibiting at the Spring Fair in February, we were asked on at least four separate occasions whether we would be restocking a heart necklace from the Floria Collection that sold out before Christmas 2012.

We love getting feedback, it helps us improve our products and the company as a whole, so we acted on this straight away. Further to re-launching the Starburst necklace, also repeatedly requested by retailers, we have now just uploaded new stock of the pretty heart necklace and matching stud earrings to the website at www.missmilly.co.uk

A new approach

Our latest advert is in the new edition of Gift Focus magazine (March/April 2013), and we've taken a different approach from our usual ads featuring a single product.

The new lifestyle ad features a model wearing one of our most popular Elodie Collection necklaces and exudes a feeling of Spring.

The golden rule of marketing is to never sit still, to always try new methods and to make sure you analyses the results. So we'll wait and see what the new adverts bring...

Miss Milly supplies gorgeous wholesale jewellery and contemporary wholesale purses.