Adopt Don't Shop

It's Halloween.  And as I was browsing Facebook and Instagram I saw lots of costumes, decorated homes and store merchandise.  What I didn't yet see was a fun photo of a Dunitz mascot.  Jump into action: Stetson our fearless red doberman. That guy will let me do anything and he doesn't complain. (Then again on this day, the art of photoshop has allowed him to coast easy.)
Stetson was adopted about five years ago. We assume he's now around 7-1/2.  My prior dog (and mascot) was Byron, a cross between a Weimaraner and a Vizsla.  He was so awesome that when the time came after his passing, I looked to adopt a similar animal.  I found Stetson on Petfinder because he was listed as a Doberman/Vizsla cross. Turns out he is pure dobie. He is the easiest, calmest and friendliest dog ever.  He is an ambassador for the Doberman breed.  Since Stetson has become part of my pack, I've become much more involved and supportive of animal rescue. If you want a big dog, little dog, old dog, young dog, puppy, mutt or pure breed - you can find a great dog (and cats too) at shelters and rescues in your area.  Information is readily available online.  I adore Stetson so much, I adopted a second Doberman, Ida. She's now 3. (She didn't wear a pumpkin today ;0.) And she too, is a very good girl.  The lesson from my experience is "Adopt Don't Shop"! Why wouldn't you? - ND

What sells?

Blue. Any shade or tint of blue. Call it anything blue. Navy. Newburyport Blue. Capri. Baby Blue. Sapphire. Whipple Blue. Buxton Blue. Ocean. Sea. Woodlawn Blue. Wedgewood Blue. Stratton Blue.  Covington Blue. Cobalt. Teal. Sky. Blue Horizon. Stream. Creek. River.
Change it up a bit and coordinate "Blue" with grey or brown. Any shade of grey. Any shade of brown.  Years of designing with color have taught me I will always sell more baubles of blue than any other color.
How not to sell blue? When exhibiting a collection, always have Orange :).  Orange sells blue! Yes, orange sells. There are those fashionistas that MUST have an accessory of orange.  I've learned the orange offerings always increase the sales of blue. - ND

Challenge: Wholesale vs Retail client desires

So ShopDunitz launched a few days ago. And I'm thrilled because the site is absolutely beautiful. The feedback has been great. We've even received a few orders.  Not bad since we have our work cut out for us in terms of promoting the site. Not only will we have the challenge of promoting the site, but the challenge of offering designs our customers choose to purchase.
Years ago we used to stage an annual holiday sale.  Friends and family of mine and our staff would drop by the offices to pick up a few gifts. I was always surprised that in a "retail" situation, customers often chose completely different designs and colors than my "wholesale/store owners" did at trade shows.  I never figured out how that could be.  It was never unusual for our 'holiday sale' shoppers to select items I could not place in retail stores.
Step ahead many years.  ShopDunitz is loaded up with goodies. We've offered some of our best sellers (in retail stores) and some things we think are gorgeous and didn't sell well at the wholesale trade shows.  The site has it all!  We're absolutely NOT going to tell you which is which.  What I can say is in the first orders we've received online, we've sold both.
Punchline. You'll love our site.  You'll find items that under other circumstances would not make it to store shelves. And our history shows that this is definitely a good thing. -ND

#ShopDunitz has launched

We've done it. And it was a long time in the making. For years I've received emails and calls from consumers from towns around the US, where Dunitz did not have brick & mortar shops offering our #fairtrade jewelry. We've tried to accommodate our fashionista followers as best we could. The truth is - it's been impossible to do so without a retail website. We've been so busy with our primary business, wholesaling our beaded and fused glass jewelry we couldn't focus on creating a retail site for our fans that can't otherwise find our designs. We knew it was going to be a lot of work creating a tasteful site that featured our goodies in a way that would make us proud. Well, we did it!  Now you can visit and ShopDunitz  - & I know you'll love what you find.  You can even use our store locator function (and possibly find a shop carrying our line in your area).  A big thank you goes out to Ross Sabes, our fearless designer.  He has an impeccable eye and visually communicated our message in a way we don't think could have been done any better.  Go to www.shopdunitz.com & let me know what you think? #shopdunitz #fairtradejewelry #360fairtrade -ND

Do You See or Feel?

When you're looking at models wearing hip clothing and/or jewelry what do you see or feel?  Do you see the items being worn?  Do you capture the "feeling" of any given shot and note the emotions it brings out in you?  Do you long to look like or feel like you think the model feels in the photo?  As a recent photographer of models wearing Dunitz & Company fair trade jewelry, I wonder what I most want to convey to my audience.  What do they want to really see and feel?
Recently I showed some of my photography to an old time Hollywood actor friend of mine.  His initial reaction was to say that I should want people to look at the jewelry and not the models.  He was afraid that models could be too pretty and distracting.  And then I reflected on so many magazine spreads I've enjoyed that seemed to merely evoke emotions - not necessarily pitch a specific item.  What do you think? -ND

Color Color - Blocks of Color

I've always loved colors. I've always loved pairing colors. (Will that brown shirt go with the red striped skirt?)  One of my favorite parts of creating any jewelry collection is mixing and matching colors. I can spend hours and hours creating the perfect combinations.
In recent months, I've noticed trade magazines telling "stories" by color.  Red hot looks. Summer Orange. Ocean Blue.  It only seemed right to create a new group of jewelry - fused glass from "Joanie M" - primarily based on color. Yes - Blocks of colors.  I think this new group will be a hit with our customers.  What do you think? To see more, register and login on the www.dunitz.com wholesale website! -ND

The True Cost

Watch the documentary, The True Cost!

Two small world happenings were the catalysts for my mentioning this film today. First, a friend of mine took her daughter to a screening earlier this week at the Skirball Center in Los Angeles. Second, I was emailing back and forth with an old friend from high school (we have a reunion coming up) and she noticed and was impressed that I had liked this film on Facebook.  It turns out that her son is a childhood friend of the film’s director, Andrew Morgan.  

Do you know where your clothes come from? Have you ever stopped to think about it? Are you typically only concerned about finding the retailer with the lowest prices?  If you answered – no, no, yes to any of these questions, I recommend you watch the documentary film The True Cost.  You might find a screening near you by checking their website. You can also watch it on Netflix or download it using other streaming services. Give them a thumbs up on Facebook.

This film covers and explains the global epidemic of ‘fast fashion’ so well.  It effectively illustrates how first world consumers demanding lower prices and constant availability of new designs catapults profit seeking conglomerates into sourcing production to the lowest bidder.  This results in garment workers working in unsafe conditions and not having the ability to feed or school their families.  The director of this film, Andrew Morgan first delved into this topic after the Rana Plaza garment factory collapse in Bangladesh in 2013 were over 1000 people were killed and many more injured.  I promise you, after you see this film, you will re-think where and how you purchase your clothing.

My business is a member of the Fair Trade Federation.  You can visit FTF website to learn more about fair trade practices.  I always go back to the golden rule. Do onto others as you would have them do onto you.  I urge you to think about how and what you purchase. Think  a little more about where things are made.  We need to carefor all of our world’s citizens. -ND