Martin Meyer Imports West

Changes at Meyer Imports - Update

We've received alot of questions about the recent changes to our site, our "new home" page and what our plans our for our existing dealers. While we do not have all our plans fully worked out, we are moving in a very specific direction and will have the new site launched  by July.

First, the site you see at Meyer Imports is not our final site, it is simply a standard template we are using while we rebuild the "back end" of the store with new features and functions. I know it is ugly, but as it is really, really temporary, I did not worry about that  too much. However, we have received alot of email on it! (It's a good sign! You are watching us!!)

If you click on the image above you can see a "sneak peak" at our redesigned site. This is not final, but will give you a better idea of where the site is headed. This is the "look" of the site that should be up and running by the end of the month.

Another concern we have heard from many customers is about dealer pricing. Our plan (open to comment) is to display list "retail" prices on all items and to offer our existing dealers or wholesale accounts steep discounts from retail. We will continue to remain very flexible on "qualifying" wholesale accounts: so if you are wholesale now, you will remain a wholesale customer in the future.

Other details: We have dropped out $50 minimum order to $10, at $50 it was too high for many of our dealers who just needed a pound of glitter (or what not).

We are also dropping the "minimum quantity" on most items. You will no longer need to order 100 pieces of something if you only need a dozen. (Of course you can still order 100, or 1000 and save!)

Another part of the plan is to allow Retail customers to purchase from us, at full retail.

To become a dealer in the future, California residents MUST have a resale lincese, out ofstate customers must have a store (brick &  mortar, or website), Etsy stores, or ebay stores (not just auction sites) will qualify as well.  If you have a blog, that will be a plus as well. We are not going to limit dealers to just the "big brands" (even those are great too), we feel we cater to both large customers and small designers and retailers. All are welcome.

We will continue to guard who is and who is not a wholesale account very carefully, while we want to open up our store to all, we want to continue to give our wholesale accounts a real edge with our pricing.

Another change is that we are going to continue to expand with new products, both in our traditional German Miniatures, but also with Dollhouse and other "scale" miniatures for modelers.

Do we have this all figured out, NO WAY! Do we want your comments, YES!

We are trying to build a business that is sustainable, but also (first and foremost) serves your needs.  So give your input, ideas and comments,  as now is the time to really influence how we roll this out!

Big Changes Coming at Martin Meyer Imports

It's been about three years since we took over from the (original) Martin Meyer and recreated the business as part of our craft and miniature operation.

Over the last few years, we have invested huge amounts of money, time and effort to create a company that offered unique products from very small boutique manufacturers in Europe. So far, the results have not been stellar.....

Our original plan was to keep the business in same format as what Edith and Martin had, wholesale only, limited customer base, focused on selling to retailers, craft stores and designers. Well, maybe our strategy was flawed, maybe we did not execute our strategy correctly, or maybe we just flubbed the transition, but if we are to stay in business and grow the company, now it is time to try something new. 

So, this posting is a bit of a preview of some massive changes you will be seeing from our company.

Here is the short list of what it in the works:
 

• Launch of a new Retail Brand: Doris Dotz Craft Supplies

• Retail Packaged Miniatures - available at Meyer-Imports

• Complete Redesigned Website

• New product groupings, products, and pricing models

• New Dealer Pricing

• Very easy to understand dealer requirements and discounts

• New Products:

• Glass Deco Balls, Dollhouse Miniature, Railroad Miniatures, plus more

In future postings, I will go into alot more detail on what we have planned, plus some of the background on how our team, including designers and programmers in Europe and Australia, have pulled this all together.
Our customers and your input is very important to us, I am trying to go public with these changes now, to try to get your feedback as we roll out this new strategy over the next few months.

We look forward to your input and support as we recreate our business and really hope you might share your reactions to this posting and any suggestions for what you would like to see in the future.

Announcing World Blends - Unique Glitter Blends

World Blends - Unique Glitter Blends

One of things we have discovered with our Glitter is that it's uniqueness takes on new dimensions as it is blended with other colors. In working with this product, we could not help but notice the striking beauty and originality of some of "one time" blends we were creating.

These very creative mixes are really stunning, something that we just had to offer to our customers as our new "World Blends". Of course, you can do the same in your own studio by blending colors to come up with your own unique shades.

However, to get you started,  our "Master Blender" (Kathy) has created some very interesting color aspects to get you started. Each World Blend will be of varying colors (some contain up to six different shades) and no two will be alike. Add originality and elegance in your projects with these one of a kind glitter mixes.

This is the same high quality glitter we provide in our single shades only in a much more creative touch! So, play with your glitter and see what blends you can create! And then let us know what you have created!

Glitter Cards are now available!

We are very happy to announce that we now have created the first four of our Glitter Cards.

From day one, our customers have asked us for a sample of all the colors to aid in both color selection and  as a design tool for future projects.

Those who have followed this blog know that we have struggled with the production aspects of creating these cards, in quantity, at a cost efficient manner.

So, with this background, I have very happy to announce that we have created a reasonable approach that I think will work for "limited" quantity production of these cards.

Each card includes a 1" square sample of our German Glass Glitter (not a picture, but rather the real product) and there are 8 colors per card. At this point we have 4 cards (three cards are pictured) for a total of 32 colors. We are using our 90 grit glitter on these cards, but could create versions with our extra fine, or chunky glitter if you request it!

Additional cards will be created in the future to showcase our new colors and blends that we currently have in the planning stage.

These cards can be order at our website ($10.00 per set). Just go to the Meyer Imports West Home page

( http://www.meyer-imports.com) and follow the link in the left hand column.

~The many shades of Valentines Day~

Just in time for Valentine Day, a very special kit of Red Glitter!

  Martin Meyer Imports Vintage German Glass Glitter is from the finest German glass foundry, in production for over 100 years. This Glitter is created from a real silver base on plate glass, and then colored and ground to a soft "sand like" powder. Produced in Europe by our old world glass artisans.

The shimmer, luster, shine is second to none. Artists, designers and craftspeople have found that this glitter is by far the best product on the market.

This set includes Four 1.5 ounce bottles on these great colors: Old Rose, Red, Deep Red and Rose Pastel in our most popular medium grit size! Only $12.95 for the whole set!

This is a great opportunity to try four different colors! Add this set to your next order!

Cheers! John   ~Martin Meyer Imports West!~

Happy, Happy Man! (I am, I am!)

My Dad was a minister. My Grandfather was a minister. I peddle imported craft products, but that is another story. But one thing my dad and grandfather taught me is that is was ok to ask questions, to ask for help and to be thankful when others, who know more than you, answer your pleas.

This is the case with my little "pass the chips" post. I was stuck with no where to turn, so I turned to you and you answered. Boy did you answer! While I only got a couple comments to the blog, I got a great response via email! I learned all about  red liner tape sheets, the Xyron sticker machine, clear contact paper, diamond glaze glue and more. I am so happy! SO very happy!
One of the things I learned today, was that a company called Pennywise Arts carried a whole product line of double sided sheets, tapes and more.

I sent them a note, asked them to ponder my problem and they came back with a solution, that still will be a lot of work, but less than the sticky pads, and far cheaper. I'm not "off to the races" quite yet, but made great progress in one day!

So, I am happy! So very happy! Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond! I'll post some pictures of the cards as soon as we get them off the design table!

PS: Pennywise Arts, should really carry our glitter! If you glitter lovers want to send them a note to stress this point, you will REALLY see me smile!

Cheers!

john

Please Pass the Chips - Sticky Little Squares of Glitter

www.meyer-imports.com

I need your help! As a guy who has the artistic skills of a caveman, I need your input!

One of our best selling products is our German Glass Glitter.  Our customers love  the glimmer, shine, colors, sparkle and the fact it will tarnish over time. But this is not a commercial for our glitter.

It is a cry for help. For the last 6 months, we have been trying to develop an easy way to create a color chart that will have Real Glitter "Chips" of each of the glitter colors in an easy to view format which will allow us to quickly be able to send out "samples" to anyone who wants to see the colors (our pictures are good, but do not do the product justice)!

The problem we are dealing with is purely a production problem. Take roughly 40 colors and four grits, times a couple hundred color cards and we need to figure out how to make 16,000 glitter chips! Then we would need to mount the chips to a "color card" with part numbers, descriptions, etc. No small task!

So far we have tried:

1) Glue Dots (small dots of glue that we sprinkled with glitter).

Result: Small ill formed blobs of glitter that looked like mutant shiny glass aliens.

2) Double Sided Tape

Result: A large wadded up mess of glittery tape and a child who still has glitter tape stuck to his shoe.

3) Little Clear Plastic Pill Containers

Result: Very, Very sore arms and hands as I tried to fill each pill's compartment with one little tiny teaspoon full of glitter. 30 minutes per card did not seem like a good use of my time.

4) Glue we placed on Stickers, which were then covered with glitter, that were then mounted onto a card.

Result: Looked "ok", but really a pain in the rear rumpess to "paint" glue onto each sticker to try to make a nice square "glitter chips".

So Far: The winner! Double sided 3M Foam Sticky Pads 

One side of the double sided sticky foam gets covered in glitter, the other sticky side get stuck onto the card.

Results: Looks good, but expensive, Nice and Square, Easier than Gluing, time Consuming (but that why a family business has teenage kids to help!)

But I have to ask you, my loyal and much smarter customers! WWYD? (What would you do?)

If anyone has a better idea on how we should try to create all these Glitter Chips so that we can get our color cards in "production" PLEASE talk to us!

The winner with the best idea will get a free set of glitter cards and public acknowledgment as the Creator of the Glitter Chip!

And if you do not win, you still get a set of Glitter Cards, when they are ready. In fact, the reason we are doing this is so everyone gets a set of glitter cards, which I guess, means, everybody wins!

Especially us! Because we are really stuck and need your help!!!

Feel free to post a comment here in the Blog or send your ideas by email.

Check out our Store at Meyer Imports West!

Free Shipping for the whole month of January!

We want to start the year off with a bang, with a HUGE Thank You to all our great customers! So our world famous FREE SHIPPING offer is back! (Yes, there are a few rules - see below for the details....)

Just to put this offer into perspective, one of our best selling products is our German Glass Glitter, which as you know is heavy and expensive to ship! So, to be able to order all you need without any shipping fees is huge! OK, here are the details:

• The offer is only good until the January 31, 2008
• Free shipping is good for any orders shipped to domestic USA addresses. (very sorry international customers, but you are already getting a great price break due to the low value of the dollar....)
• Any and all Martin Meyer Imports West products are included in this offer.
• There are probably other rules that I should be listing, but this seems good for now.
• So order away, make my postal office happy!
• If you have already placed a order with us this month, we will be refunding your postage! (Yes, we are that good!)

Now for Something New for 2008.

We've been quiet for a while. Lots of planning and changes meant a bit less outward messaging to our customers. This is going to change. Stay tuned, we have some big things brewing!

But for now, have a great New Year Holiday!

Four Great Fall Specials! Big Savings!

Great Fall Specials!
Buy a little or Stock UP Big Time!

This is your opportunity to explore our full product line  and try some of our great products at great discounts! This is a limited time offer, so place your order before November 30, 2007 to receive your discounts! Please note: The prices on our website do not reflect this discount!  Your discount will be processed after we receive your order. The discount will clearly show up on your receipt and your total charge!  So don’t delay!  Click, Call, Email, or Fax your order today!