More Monkeez Pleaze!

Midwest-CBK's wildly popular Genuine Monkeez took the Las Vegas market by storm! Gifts & Dec Direct from Las Vegas featured our playful display of new Monkeez in our Las Vegas showroom.

Yes, our best-selling Genuine Monkeez family is growing again! Joining our adorable sock monkey and zoo pal designs, Midwest-CBK introduces new springtime characters including Fritz and Freddy frog, Pearl and Percy pig and Ruby and Reggie rabbit, all featuring magnetic hands and feet and available in two sizes each including 14" and 21" plus 4.5" backpack clips. New baby clothing is also available, including baby onesies with embroidered monkey face design available in red or green and coordinating bibs in red, green, blue or orange. New bunny ear baby hat and booties available in green or purple are also available. Suggested retail prices range from $4 to $28.

And here's a super easy, fast and fun Monkeez display idea: Who can resist a Radio Flyer filled with the cutest new critters for spring? Put on a parade of Genuine Monkeez and friends! Pack a wagon full of characters that speak to any child, mom, grandma or aunt. This fun display on wheels is easy to move around the shop wherever you need to grab attention - and easy for children to play with while moms shop.

Marvelous Metallics

Everyone loves a little sparkle, right? And now we have even more in our Colonial Candle collection: we're excited to introduce a new line of metallic candles, available in a multitude of shimmery shapes and colors, and proudly made in the U.S.A.!

These beauties make a dramatic statement lit or unlit during the holiday season or anytime, and feature clean burning for a better experience than most other metallic candle imports of inferior quality on the market today.

Our new metallics are made in Colonial’s U.S. facility in Elkin, North Carolina, recognized for it’s green manufacturing, and using the same high quality materials as our fragrance collection. Our new metallics feature three different formats including 12 inch handipt tapers, pillars in 3 x 4 inches and 3 x 6 inches, and 1.5 and 2.8 inch ball candles. Colors available include silver, gold, red, green and platinum. Suggested retail prices range from $4 for 1.5 inch ball candle to $12 for the 3 x 6 inch pillar.

The metallics were a hit during the summer markets, and were recently featured in Gifts and Dec.

If you missed our new metallics during the shows, it's not too late: contact your Midwest-CBK account manager, or call us at 800-394-4225 or view them online.

New Colonial Candle Fragrances - Yum!

Thank you to everyone who visited our Chicago digs - we're happy to report a strong market in the heartland!

We've covered some of our new home decor and spring/Easter collections, but now let's turn our attention to . . . candles! Under our Colonial Candle brand, we've introduced three new holiday and fall candle collections featuring eight new and exclusive fragrances, and two new gift candle accessory collections including Balsam Forest and Peppermint Swirl, just in time to boost fourth quarter sales.

Colonial’s eight new fall and holiday fragrances are inspired by Americans’ favorite scents of the season and holiday traditions. And all new fragranced candles are made in Colonial’s U.S. facility recognized for its green manufacturing. New fragrances include:

• Balsam Wreath: Notes of iced Douglas fir, spruce and rich balsam radiate with woodland sage, earthy thyme and a touch of fresh felled oak.

• Joyful Noel: A festive and elegant fragrance with the feel of glacial air and sparkling green freshness.

• Fireside: Enjoy the cozy allure of a fireside glow with warming accents of crackling woods, lush oakmoss, soothing violet and a touch of amber.

• Mountain Birch: Capture the silver birch blending coriander and cypress with fig tree leaves, vanilla and fresh woods.

• Caramel Apple: A delightful fall classic of crisp, juicy apple notes with drizzles of caramelized brown sugar, sweet smooth vanilla and a touch of maple.

• Crème Brulee: A tempting rendition of creamy eggnog blended with sweet vanilla custard, grated nutmeg, spicy clove and caramelized sugar.

• Warm Gingerbread: Holiday indulgence of warm spices and rich molasses infused with warm milk for a delightful and tempting aroma.

• Spiced Pumpkin: A delightful blend of creamy pumpkin swirled with spicy cinnamon, golden nutmeg, brown sugar, chestnuts and warm vanilla.

Is your mouth watering? :-) Good!

If you haven't had a chance to check out our new fragrances yet, give your Midwest-CBK account manager a shout and he or she can stop by with delicious-smelling samples for you to try. If you don't have an account manager yet, we invite you to call 800-394-4225 to request a visit.

Thank you in Atlanta - Off to Chicago!

Thank you to everyone who visited Midwest-CBK in Atlanta! Our showroom was hopping and your response to and feedback on our new home decor, gift and fall and holiday Colonial Candle collections was outstanding. Thank you!

As the Atlanta market comes to a close, we'll leave you with another creative display idea that drew attention over the past week in our Atlanta showroom.

Our visual display team created a sweet, inviting garden party display by using a series of trellises embellished with stems and vines from our new Spring Elegance collection. They added tables from our home decor line, set with tabletop pieces from Spring Elegance. We added chandeliers to the trellises for add another elegant, romantic touch. This look is very simple to create, yet establishes a dramatic display that draws customers in to shop and become a part of the story.

Thanks again to our friends, guests and team in Atlanta. We look forward to seeing you in Chicago this week!

Daisy Do Display

If you can't make it to the Atlanta market, we'll bring it to you. Here's a quick snapshot of one of our most popular displays: Daisy Do! Daisy Do is a fun, new tabletop, kitchen and hostess gift collection featuring bright, bold colors and lots and lots of - you guessed it - daisies! We created the cutest kitchen display known to man (or woman) prominently featuring daisies (of course), along with a whimsical flower and utensils "chandelier." Our savvy visual display team used a grid suspended from the ceiling, added thin plastic cording to match and tied the utensils at different lengths. The daisies are simply crimped to form a hook and fastened right to the grid. It's a super simple way to create a look that demands attention. Happy pickin'!