J.Covington made the 50 Retail Stars List for 2009

Home Accents Today magazine announced its 50 Retail Stars for 2009, and J. Covington of Portsmouth, NH made the list... and I truly agree with the "survivor" quote. We had to shed one location and tighten-up to keep going and focus on our community and the wonderful world of blogging and the internet...its been a long but good year.

This is an excerpt from the article... unfortunately you have to have the magazine to finish it.

"This article recognizes enterprising home accents retailers who are meeting the challenges of an increasingly competitive marketplace with innovative strategies and creative solutions. All 50 Retail Stars are creative in their merchandising, contribute to their communities and distinguish themselves from the competition. They excel at innovative marketing and advertising efforts, head-turning in-store displays and out-of-the-box business ideas. These retailers represent the best and the brightest.

During the course of reviewing nominations for this year’s Retail Stars list, it was suggested by more than one reader that perhaps this year’s list should be renamed to “Retail Survivors.” That’s probably due to the fact that when we announced our call for nominations, America’s retailers were already experiencing the screeching halt of customer traffic brought on by the financial fall-out of the first quarter, coming right on the heels of the ugly last quarter of 2008.

Nonetheless, by mid-April we found ourselves looking at another great stack of nomination forms. And from those we’ve chosen 50 retailers of home accents who demonstrate a knack for merchandising, are vital members of their communities, and/or have managed to distinguish themselves from their competition in order to be successful.

As a group, our Stars have also demonstrated that a Web site is no longer a novelty. Almost every shop is online -- some selling, some even blogging about their businesses. Where more and more appear to be differentiating themselves are through store-branded products, private labels and lots of customization."