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The Tip is 'Where They're Proud' I recently saw an ad in our local newspaper for a big box home improvement store. Their newspaper ad had USA made products and American flags all over it. Several weeks later, I checked the ad again and sure enough they were still advertising their American made products. It was obvious they are proud to carry products Made in America. Their competitors made no mention of things Made in America. I have been to this store and asked what products are made in the USA? A clerk told me they primarily carry imports. Obviously they are not proud. I now realize you can buy many Made in the USA building supplies, including tools Made in USA and appliances Made in USA., in stores that are proud to carry brands Made in the USA. Here is another example of a store proudly carrying products Made in the USA. I was shopping for men's shoes in a local department store when I tried on three different pairs of shoes. I couldn't decide which pair I wanted so I went out on a limb and asked the clerk, "Are these shoes imports?" The salesman said "yes they are" so I asked, "Do you have any Made in America shoes like these?". To my surprise he said, with GREAT PRIDE, "yes sir, we have a whole line of Made In USA shoes". He brought me the same color and style with the Made in USA label. These Made in America shoes were less expensive, came with a better warranty, and were more comfortable. Looking for companies that are PROUD is simple and can have a great impact on our country. I encourage you to try this some time- just ask. You will love it when you realize you are making a difference that all of us will benefit from. With your help America will be ours again and that is a good thing. Buying Tip Continued - Read more on Made in America Products by Andreas Beau Andrea has her family to thank for her love of design. Her grandfather (a dress manufacturer), her grandmother (a department store millinery buyer), her father (owner of women's boutiques), and her mother (a former fashion model and noted artist), exposed her to the shoptalk of aesthetics, color and textile trends, fashion houses, and factories. Fairytale princesses in fanciful gossamer gowns, crowns and satin slippers inspired Andrea's first designs. Her mother further encouraged her to appreciate beauty in simple, everyday objects like a vase of daisies, a ballerina's costume, a birthday cake. Later, during her own extensive world travels, she observed marvelous hair decorations on women and girls which, she believes, reflects the universal feminine pleasure in making oneself pretty. Before the brand was conceived, these early influences helped create Andrea's own design aesthetic: adornments, be they garments or hair accessories, should complement but never overshadow one's innate beauty. One day, Andrea walked into a dusty old shop in New York's Garment District. She spotted a rumpled but exquisite roll of French floral ribbon on a shelf. As a new mother to a beautiful, if not virtually bald baby girl, she knew just what to do. She made her first bow out of that ribbon, and as if it were destiny, Andrea's Beau was born. What began as a lark quickly transformed into an all-out hair accessory obsession. Within months, Andrea had designed a girls' collection of handmade casual and special occasion headbands, hair clips, flower girl baskets, ring bearer pillows, dressy gloves, tiaras, and First Communion veils created from refreshingly un-repetitive trims, ribbons and silk flowers unseen in the children's market. Soon after, her women's collection of casual and formal headbands and hairclips materialized as well, which she carted, stored in a hatbox, to buying offices along the east coast. Often without appointments, she learned simply to open the box and let the products sell themselves. Rapidly, they did just that. Over the years, her designs have appeared in Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Nordstrom, and Anthropologie as well as hundreds of small boutiques and online catalogs around the world. Marc-and-Andrea-sitting-in-a-tree.jpg From her Washington, DC studio, with the help of a wonderful staff and inspiration from Marc, Andrea's original beau, she continues to create subtle, elegant and exceptionally well-made hair accessories to delight women and girls, and those who behold them. |
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