This week I was interviewed by an Austrian local newspaper called “Wann & Wo” about my life abroad. My university in Austria contacted me and asked if I would be willing to give an interview based on my experience after graduating from university and starting my own business in Hong Kong. I agreed and today the newspaper printed my interview. Here is a link to the page for anyone interested in reading it: Wann&Wo-Interview. Keep in mind, the interview was deducted in German 😉
Today we got a suprise visit from France. A couple rang at our office door and introduced themselves as shopowners from France. I was surprised as I have never heard from them before and they didn’t even announce their visit with a phone call. We invited them in and they told me that they would like to buy my Tenshi Neko bags and wallets. I showed them some Tenshi Neko bags and Tenshi Neko wallets and explained our usual wholesale procedure. They left me their contact details so I can send them my wholesale catalogs.
They were really lucky to meet us because its Chinese New Year and therefore a public holiday. We decided to work today (we are so hard working) and catch up on some work. Lucky them 😉
The writer of the kawaii blog “Kawaii Gazette” was so kind and added our online shop to her link list. In return I would like to mention her blog here. Have a look: Kawaii Gazette
She writes a lot about kawaii items like Hello Kitty, Rilakkuma and other cute characters from Asia. But be aware, she writes in Italian 😉
Yay, we just released the online-wholesale-order opportunity and just received the first order. That’s great, I am sure our wholesale customers will appreciate this great offer and use it often.
We worked very hard on adding this. From now on, our wholesale customers (retail shop owners, online shops, wholesaler etc.) are able to create a wholesale account on our website and then they will be able to login and see our items with wholesale prices. This way, they are able to see our current stock, detailed photos, quantity, prices etc. and can order directly online. It is much more convenient than any other way like catalog orders or by email, fax etc. I wish I could order like this from the manufacturers and other suppliers we have.
Anyone interested in ordering from us in bulk? There is NO minimum order quantity, just a minimum order value of 300 Euro (or 474 USD) per order. More detailed wholesale information can be found here: Wholesale Information
Our items are suitable for shops selling kawaii, Japanese, Asian, Rock, Rockabilly, Emo items and other cute, crazy shops.
The writer of the blog www.cuteboo.com talked about our products in our online shop and recommended them to her readers. Therefore, she deserves a backlink to her blog 😉
Today we had a visit from a french company who is looking for new suppliers for their shops. It is really interesting to meet people from around the world. They are very interested in our skulls fashion items. Let’s see if they will place an oder with us.
I went to the Gifts & Premium Fair the first time today. We were just curious what they are offering there and hoped that we are lucky and find something interesting for our shop. The fair was huge; so many halls. Every time I go to a trade fair I come back home with burning feet and legs. It is SO exhausting. You don’t realize it while you are there because there are so many things to see so you are totally distracted. But after leaving the premises you suddenly realize how many kilometres you must have walked. High Heels are a No-NO, you just wouldn’t make it through countless aisles of booths.
I was really lucky this time as I met a Japanese guy who is the official distributor of San-X. If you don’t know San-X, here is the official website. They have lots of cute kawaii-style characters like Rilakkuma (a cute bear) and Mamegoma (a baby seal). San-X didn’t have a booth there but the factory who is producing their products gave me the contact details. I will definitely contact them. Their items would fit perfectly into our shop.
Rilakkuma, the cute Relax Bear
Mamegoma, a baby seal
We also found a contact for a printing shop here in Hong Kong who could make low quantity of t-shirts for us. The printing quality is really good so that could be a useful contact in the future. We plan to make our own t-shirts soon. And low quantities are always welcomed. There was also a company who could make our prints on stickers, so our customers could iron the designs themselves onto their t-shirts. But I personally think the printing shop is more interesting because the quality is just better.
These weeks many trade fairs are held in Hong Kong. They are just in time for companies ordering for their Christmas business. Alan and I went to a Houseware Fair and we could see lots of Christmas decoration. I must say I LOVE Christmas and seeing all these decorations, Christmas trees, Christmas candles etc. made me really looking forward to this year’s Christmas. Like every year, we will fly to Austria and celebrate Christmas with my family. Can’t wait to see them again and lots of snow and Christmas decoration.
Now, back to what I wanted to write about: We checked out that trade fair because we wanted to see if we can find anything interesting and maybe get a 2nd product range for our business. It is always wise to not just stick to one product range but to extend it and maybe even find a totally different product range for your business. I have a colleague from Germany who is exactly doing this. He is selling ducks (the ones for the bathtub) and he has another online shop selling cherrystones and other natural products.
We found 2 interesting products: One is a factory producing stickers. Stickers aren’t anything special, but they have wall stickers which can be stuck on a wall or any other big surface. It is great to decorate your room. They have designs for children rooms, adult bedrooms, living rooms, kitchen and so on. Some examples of designs: gorgeous flowers, Buddhas, Asian inspired themes and many more.
I also found a factory who makes 3D stickers for decorating bathroom & kitchen tiles, cups, glasses, fridge, MP3 player, PSP, iPhone, iPod, mobile phone and many more. They are really cool because the quality is amazing and after sticking it for example on a tile it looks like it was printed on it, not just a sticker. And the 3D effect is really amazing too. We were totally surprised that a sticker can look like a print. With these stickers it will be easy to change your bathroom, kitchen or any of your decoration within seconds. You don’t need to spend huge amounts of money on new tiles, glasses or whatever anymore. The stickers are even removable, so you can change the design as often as you want. Here is a photo of some examples, unfortunately you can’t see the quality:
I hope we can find a way to produce and sell these products very soon. We can even make custom made designs. So anyone interested, please contact me by e-mail.
I have to admit I couldn’t resist when I saw all these gorgeous candles and ordered some samples for myself. That’s one of the advantages when you have a company, you can order free samples for yourself, but don’t tell anyone. 😉
We are constantly on the lookout for new products. This year I decided to go to all trade fairs in Hong Kong that sound interesting. You never know what you will find. As I live in Hong Kong and there are so many international trade fairs here, I should take this chance and check them out.
Today, Alan and I went to the Gifts & Houseware Fair to look for some new ideas. And we really found some interesting things. Alan is really into ceramic knives and we found 2 factories who could manufacture them for us. I also found some factories for badges, cute fans, plastic accessories (mobile phone straps, bracelets etc.) and factories who produce blankets and doormats for one of my customers. Alan also found a company who makes iPhone skinz but unfortunately, their quality isn’t good enough for his expectations. He is doing a local chinese blog related to iPhone news, software etc. and always looking for new products that could be interesting to blog about.
For my my company modeS4u, the cute, kawaii-style fans and the badges could be interesting to add to our current collection. Here are some pictures of the fans, aren’t they cute?
