Time pop-ups this autumn: five of the best creatives working in Dundee

We know how hard it is trying to find unusual gifts in Dundee during autumn and the build-up to Christmas. Shops get full of 3 for 2 box sets and jumbo chocolate bars. We have now hosted over 20 pop-ups and sold hundreds of gifts and we know that one of the best gifts you can give is something that has been lovingly hand-crafted. So, in the next three months are hosting five pop-ups featuring a range of crafts to tempt you and let you see the best of what the local creatives have to offer.

Reward stamps

We are also rewarding those customers that come along to the pop-ups with money to spend at the Christmas rush. For every pop-up you attend you can earn £2 so those attending each pop-up will get £10 to spend at Time on anything you like.

Time autumn pop-ups

Until now the full line-up has been under wraps. Read on to see who is popping up at Time!

Dundee Flower & Food Festival: seven trading lessons I learned and how it will benefit our customers

Spending the weekend at the Dundee Flower & Food Festival at Camperdown Park was a pleasure for me and my helpers. In the first year of trading we have taken the shop to the Dundee Casino, West Fest, a Pop-Up Conference and a Start-Up Business event. This weekend brought a whole new level of event trading.

Since I was a Dundee schoolgirl, Flower and Food Festival has went from a small, special interest event to a key feature in the Scottish outdoor events calendar. This week the fair was set to attract 25,000 people and generate £100,000s for the local economy. Celebrity chefs, expert gardeners and businesses who are the very best at what they do gather every year in the city’s Camperdown Park. I have always enjoyed attending as a visitor but this year I moved over to experience the festival as a trader.

Through the process of preparing for the event, setting up, trading and packing up we have learned a lot that applies to all forms of retail and I have no doubt that the observations we made and the conversations we had will benefit the store, the upcoming website and how we do events in the future.

How to be a business hero in six steps: what I’ve learned in a year of business

Time Lifestyle Boutique celebrated a year in business last week. It felt like a huge accomplishment. We celebrated in typical style – with cake, plenty of fizz and raising money for charity. Our friends and suppliers kindly donated prizes to a raffle which raised over £200 for local charity, Help for Kids. It felt really important to do something helpful for the local community who have been so supportive of my business.  Seeing my customers and suppliers get on board with that made me realise what good souls I have around me.

I was invited to mark the anniversary by chatting to local women’s networking group, Women into Business, about my first year of business. We planned a visit to the shop with discounted shopping and a gathering in the Nilupul Tearoom upstairs. That seemed like a nice way to do networking to me! So we gathered on Wednesday and through the medium of fairy tales, Disney and chick flicks I told my start up story. I hope the ladies found it helpful, I found the opportunity to take stock after a whirlwind year incredibly useful. This is what I have learned.

Guest Blog: The science of giving great gifts.

My goodness… two weeks without a blog post. That was Extremely Naughty! Very bad practice indeed. Since the last post we have been busy with teacher presents, leaving presents, retirement presents, presents for hosts for the holidays, birthday presents and wedding presents. You guys love to buy gifts – and we love helping you.

This week on the blog I am very excited to have a guest blogger who has written about the psychology of gifts and how some signs can help you match the communication preferences of your friends to the perfect gift. It’s a truly scientific gift service.