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Ugly Duckling Day and Other November Dates to Ensure a Fairy-Tale Ending to 2023

Small Business Saturday is also your chance to play Cinderella.

Published

2 years ago

October 16, 2023

INSTORE Staff Instore October 2023 Issue

Ugly Duckling Day and Other November Dates to Ensure a Fairy-Tale Ending to 2023

1 Prep your red ribbon bracelets and blue circle earrings. November is National AIDS Awareness Month and National Diabetes Month. See if there is a role you can play in a local event or host your own. Then, with a tank full of community goodwill, you can get down to the commercial nitty-gritty of the holiday sales season.

11 The 180th Anniversary of the Publishing of Hans Christian Andersen’s Ugly Duckling is the perfect peg for a makeover contest. J + L Jewelry in Long Beach, CA, did one a few years ago with great success. “Boy, did we ever see some really horrible looking rings. It was hard to judge,” recalls owner Janis Krantz, adding the owner of the “ugliest duckling” got a $500 store gift certificate to redesign her ring.

25 Ever had the feeling that someone forgot to invite your store to the Black Friday ball? OK, Cinderella, this is your day: Small Business Saturday, which is held to remind consumers that there is more to holiday shopping than national chains. Get involved! (There’s a bunch of free tools at smallbusinesssaturday. com to help.)

25 On Shopping Reminder Day, launch a holiday countdown, employing a ticker on the home page of your website. Highlight a “gift of the day.”

Honoring a Legacy: How Smith & Son Jewelers Exceeded Every Goal With Wilkerson

When Andrew Smith decided to close the Springfield, Massachusetts location of Smith & Son Jewelers, the decision came down to family. His father was retiring after 72 years in the business, and Andrew wanted to spend more time with his children and soon-to-arrive grandchildren. For this fourth-generation jeweler whose great-grandfather founded the company in 1918, closing the 107-year-old Springfield location required the right partner. Smith chose Wilkerson, and the experience exceeded expectations from start to finish. "Everything they told me was 100% true," Smith says. "The ease and use of all their tools was wonderful." The consultants' knowledge and expertise proved invaluable. Smith and his father set their own financial goal, but Wilkerson proposed three more ambitious targets. "We thought we would never make it," Smith explains. "We were dead wrong. We hit our first goal, second goal and third goal. It was amazing." Smith's recommendation is emphatic: "I would never be able to do what they did by myself."