February’s Merchandising Plans & Treasury Tips

Tag from CN teammie's shop luvs2create2

Love is in the air!  Well, at least until the 14th of February and then things will probably go back to normal.  Winkie, wink!  Here are the targeted merchandising points for the month of February - straight from Etsy’s Merchandising Desk. These specifics are what Etsy will be looking to showcase on the front page. It’s a great guideline to use to create items for your shop or for the vintage shops to be on the hunt for. When you curate Treasuries using these merchandising tips, remember to tag them with these words and themes as well.

February’s birthstone:  Amethyst
Astrological signs: Aquarius: January 21 - February 19.  And, Pisces: February 20 - March 20: Pisces

Chinese (Lunar) New Year in February, the year of the rabbit in 2011.

COLORS: bright pops of color in pinks, turquoise, yellows, avocado, peach, and oranges. Earth tones and neutral palettes remain strong with the incorporation of rusts, deep greens, and brown.
FASHION: Spring and fall fashion: New York Fashion Week is February 10th.  On the runway: avant-garde, emerging designs, and new interpretations of classic staples. If you deal in vintage fashion, list your designer labels by name, brand, season and era. 

VACATION: International vacations and resort wear, destination vacations in exotic settings. Travel gear, packing essentials, luggage, carryalls, photography, preservation of memories, foreign languages and seasonal style. Swimwear, cover-ups, formal dinner fashions and accessories.
HOME: functional, hands on, DIY projects, large vintage finds repurposed into statement storage solutions, writable surfaces.
WEDDINGS & CELEBRATIONS: February - - the season of engagements. Think in terms of newly engaged couples planning ahead for spring and summer weddings from ring shopping all the way through the honeymoon — how can your unique point of view be threaded throughout an entire affair?
VALENTINE’S DAY: Colors, decor, hearts (classic and anatomical), love, text, gag gifts, anti-valentines, paper goods, lingerie, engagement rings 

NATURAL HISTORY & WOODLAND FOREST THEMES: Natural history and woodland forest themes and animals, namely birds, owls, squirrels, hedgehogs, chipmunks, bunnies, butterflies, feathers, nests, eggs, acorns, leaves, trees, branches, woodgrain, and natural colors. 

SUPERBOWL SUNDAY: football, team pride, parties, party food, half time, and those favorite game day commercials

seasonality of the northern hemisphere = cold

seasonality of the southern hemisphere = summer

honey bees, honeycomb, and hives

Safari: Animal prints, expedition gear, exotic colors, neutral canvas

Nautical: anchors, sea creatures, mermaids, fairytales, voyage, ships, sailing, ropes, canvas, stripes,

classic colors and lines

Food trends: year of the homemade pie, whoopie pie, and macaroon (Ohh, crikies, they had me at ‘food’!)

Writable surfaces: chalkboard, whiteboard, fingerprints

Gardening: accessories, planters, indoor options, organic growing, vintage buckets, tools, watering solutions

Personalization: monograms, initials, text, numbers, zodiacs, constellations, portraits, custom labels, stamps, fingerprints and family trees

lockets

secret hiding places

vintage letterpress blocks

skeleton keys

feathers

arrows

diamonds

geometric shapes and patterns

 paper cuts

 silhouettes

fortune cookies

wishbones

fortune tellers

farmhouse references

vintage industrial décor

vintage cameras

letterpress drawers

typewriters

brass and cast iron animals

EVENTS IN FEBRUARY:Black History Month and American Heart Month

Feb 2: Groundhog Day

Feb 3: Chinese/Lunar New Year: Rabbit

Feb 6: Superbowl Sunday

Feb 6: Waitangi Day (New Zealand) 

Feb 10 - 17: NYC Fashion Week

Waitandi Day

February 13: 53rd Grammy Awards Show

Feb 14: Valentine's Day

Feb 15: Mawlid

Feb 21: President's Day

Feb 27: The Oscars

Here’s the link to read the entire post:
http://www.etsy.com/storque/seller-handbook/from-etsys-merchandising-desk-february-woos-11550/