Dallas Showroom!!!!

Check out Tickle Toes awesome show room in the Dallas Market Center!

http://www.dallasmarketcenter.com/index.aspx

With a little elbow grease and a ton of wonderful products, our space has really come together.

Stop by and see for yourself!

From NYC to Dallas, Tickle Toes Is On The Move!

The March ENK show officially came to an end Tuesday. It was a much larger show in terms of size than January and an overall success for Tickle Toes. We showcased some wonderful new prints and designs. Hopefully, you were able to stop by and say hello. However, if you were unable to make it to the Javits Center and are travelling to the Dallas market, please stop by.

We have joined Kids World Studio showroom in the Dallas Market Center and have secured a permanent space. Our first show, The Kids World Children’s Apparel & Accessories Market, will run from Thursday March 11th – Sunday March 14th. To inaugurate Tickle Toes’ first ever show with Kids World Studio we are offering an amazing show deal. “What’s the deal?” you ask. I would love to tell you but I don’t want to ruin the surprise, you are going to have to stop by our booth (#8701-55) and find out. Below you will find show details.

Kids World Children’s Apparel & Accessories Market
Thursday March 11 – Sunday March 14
Thursday, Saturday & Sunday 8:30am – 6pm
Friday – 8:30am – 7pm Shop Late Till 7

For additional information please visit - http://www.dallasmarketcenter.com/index.aspx

We are very excited about growing our brand in the southeast and reintroducing Tickle Toes in Dallas. We are making every effort to support our customers in every way, permanent space in the Dallas Market Center will help us greatly in this effort.

If you have any questions about our upcoming shows or would like to suggest a show for us to exhibit in, please email us sales@tickletoes.com.

See you soon!

TradeshowS

Well the ENK Children’s Club show is now officially behind us. This show which ran from Jan 10th-12th is typically smaller in size but we are happy to report that the show was a success for Tickle Toes. We met some great people and got awesome feedback from both new and existing customers. A lot of work goes into preparing for a show (regardless of the show's size) and having a good show makes the hard work well worth it.

Tickle Toes is rolling full steam ahead in 2010 which brings us to the exciting news……. We will be exhibiting at the NYC Baby & Kid’s Fair from Jan 30th – Feb 1st. We are very excited to show off our new offerings and encourage you to stop by. The dates and times for the show are listed below.

NYC Baby & Kids Fair
7 W 34th Street At 5th Ave
11TH FLOOR
New York ,NY 10001

Saturday, January 30: 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
Sunday, January 31: 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
Monday, February 1: 11:00 am – 8:00 pm

We will be in the galleria awaiting your arrival.

Hope to see you there!

Grow! Grow! Grow!

Growing a business is a complicated formula. A “one size fits all” formula for growth does not exist. However, from speaking to many business owners and entrepreneurs we have found that one distinct portion of the equation is necessary regardless of your industry, HARD WORK. It is a requirement for growth and quite frankly cannot be substituted. I think it is safe to say that with the current economic climate, hard work has become a necessity in order to stay competitive.

The entire Tickle Toes teams works very hard to exceed our customers’ needs and will continue to do so. The most recent example of this hard work comes from a member of our tremendous sales team, Amy Hoffman. Last Friday we were expecting her to fax over a last minute rush order. At around 8 pm, as I was on my way out of the office, I glanced over at the fax machine and didn’t see the order. “It’s Friday,” I thought to myself “she’ll send it in the morning.”

The next morning I walked into the office at 8:30 am and sure enough there it was. Out of curiosity, I looked at the time stamp printed across the top of the page, Friday November 20^th 11:24 pm. I was shocked (in a good way) and it actually motivated me. An hour later this same salesperson called to confirm that we had received the order. That kind of hard work and dedication is admirable and impressive.

We are surrounded by individuals who give 100% day in and day out, from our awesome show rooms / sales people to our talented manufacturing team. We are grateful for the team around us and hope that we will be able to grow together.

New Showroom!

Tickle Toes is happy to inform all west coast retailers that Tickle Toes has teamed up with a new showroom in Los Angeles. We are excited to be working with Diana Gonzales in her showroom, Rock Candy Kids, and look forward to a successful future. Diana has been very helpful in these early stages of getting the ball rolling and we are happy to be debuting in the upcoming Spring Market October 16^th- 20^th, we hope to see you there.

Please feel free to stop by Rock Candy Kids awesome showroom at any time and ask about Tickle Toes.

California Market Center
110 E 9th St. Suite A619B
Los Angeles, Ca. 90079

Ask For: Diana Gonzales & Raquel Avila

Phone: (213)623- 1087
Website: http://www.wix.com/rockcandykids/diane

A Casual Saturday

It takes a great deal of hard work and sacrifice to operate a business. To be successful you must dedicate a great deal of time and effort. It is exhausting and you do everything you can to keep your energy and motivation levels at maximum capacity. However, there are days when that third shot of espresso isn’t even working.

We were having one of those days a few Saturdays (see what I mean when I say, “a great deal of time”) ago sitting in the office discussing various projects. The phone rang at about 11am and much to the callers surprise someone actually answered. The caller is a long time customer of Tickle Toes products, in particular Hooded Towels. She started of by explaining that she received her first Tickle Toes Hooded Towels as a gift at her baby shower. Now that baby is 4 years old and still using the towel and they have purchased others since. She simply called to thank us for making a quality Hooded Towel that has remained in tact after many cycles through the wash. We thanked her sincerely for the wonderful feedback and said our goodbyes.

After that phone call we suddenly felt a bit more motivated and energetic. Sometimes something as simple as a 5 minute phone call from a pleased customer can make all the difference. Thank you again to our wonderful caller for making our day!

Anyway, I will be posting shortly about some of the fun and exciting things we have coming up in the next few weeks.

Till next time…..

Made In America

Made In America -even typing those three little words feels a bit strange. We are more used to terms like, Made in China or Assembled in Thailand or Product of Mexico. We as a nation of entrepreneurs and innovators have all but lost our ability to manufacture anything. So many companies have gone the way of importing rather manufacturing. Globalization (in part) has come at the cost of forfeiting our ability to produce products. This may not be a big deal for some industries but for others it has had crippling effects.

In particular the talented men and women who had mastered the art / science of garment working, furniture making, etc. have long since moved on to other occupations. The process of seeking out individuals with this set of skills is difficult to say the least.

Tickle Toes takes great pleasure in stating that we are Made In America and that we will always be Made In America. In addition to offering you the absolute best in children’s and infants accessories, the manufacturing of our products allows talented Americans to use their unique skill sets.

It is an unfortunate fact that most consumers are indifferent to where products are being manufactured and especially now when so many people have been affected by the slowing economy. However, there are companies all across this great nation that despite consumer indifference, continue to manufacture the best products in the world and at the same time support local communities and families.

Clearly supporting our local communities and families would be impossible without you and for that we are eternally grateful.