GurglePot is one of the top five revenue-producing product lines sold year after year at Mix it Up Home, says Beth Rich, shown here with Matt Ellison, the owner and designer. (Photo courtesy of Beth Rich)
By Beth Rich
One of the first questions customers ask me after walking through Mix It Up Home is, “How do you decide what to buy?”
It’s a fair question. When you’re a retailer, buying is both a dream and a dilemma. You have what feels like millions of choices — an abundance of opportunity, but also an overwhelming responsibility. Every decision ultimately shapes the story your store tells. And in my case, those decisions represent hundreds of showrooms, thousands of products and millions of dollars in purchasing choices each year.
But the truth is, deciding what to buy starts long before I ever step foot into a showroom in Dallas, Atlanta, Las Vegas, New York or High Point. Buying for a store is a year-round process shaped by research, trend analysis, conversation, curiosity and most importantly, connection.
Research: Learning From the Best
In retail, imitation truly is a form of flattery — and education. I study the retailers who are leading the industry in the very things I’m striving to do. Fortunately, Home Accents Today and Gifts & Decorative Accessories make this easy for us.
Every May, Home Accents Today announces its Top 50 Retail Stars. This is a cover-to-cover read for me. I follow all 50 retailers on social media to observe the lines they carry, how they merchandise their stores, and what products earn valuable real estate in their feeds. I take notes. I look for patterns. I look for gold.
Gifts & Decorative Accessories does the same in their November issue with their Top 25 Gifted Retailers, and I devour that list as well. I’ve even created an Excel spreadsheet to track how often certain holiday vendors are mentioned among the top 25. If the industry’s best are consistently buying holiday décor from a particular source … you better believe I’m shopping there, too.
I’ve only been in business seven years, and I’m honored to have been featured on both lists. That didn’t happen by chance. It’s the direct result of doing the homework and seeking wisdom from those who have been paving the way.
Vendor Partnerships: The Curators Behind the Curtain
Another essential part of decision-making is leaning into the expertise of vendors and manufacturers. These teams spend their lives traveling the world and analyzing product performance to bring forward what they believe will resonate in the marketplace.
When I trust a vendor’s eye — their curation, their taste, their understanding of trends — it dramatically improves my ability to make good decisions. Strong vendor relationships are one of the greatest assets a retailer can have. They help narrow an impossibly large field of options into something thoughtful, directional and aligned with my customer.
The Customer: The True North
And then there’s the most important voice in the room: the customer.
If I don’t buy what they want to buy, nothing else matters.
I learn the most by being in my stores — listening, watching, asking questions and paying attention to what people pick up, respond to and walk out the door with. But I also rely heavily on analytics. Reports help me understand what truly performed versus what I simply thought performed.
Was one color stronger than another? Did a particular style hit harder? What surprised me? What underperformed? Customers can be fickle — what sells this year doesn’t guarantee success next year — but the data still guides the conversation.
So… how do I decide what to buy?
It’s complicated. It’s part education, part intuition and part calculated risk. It’s long nights of research and long days on market floors. It’s conversation, collaboration, observation and sometimes a little bit of luck.
Buying is a craft — one that blends strategy and creativity with a deep understanding of who you serve. The more informed I am, the more connected I am to my customers, and the more I lean into trusted vendor relationships, the better chance I have at building that “winning hand” of merchandise that tells a story, delights the eye and keeps people coming back.
And as I prepare to walk into hundreds of showrooms this January, I carry all of that with me — the work, the wisdom, the community and the customers who make every decision worth it.
Beth Rich is the owner of Mix it Up Home and Mix it Up Gift in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
