Corban & Blair Lifestyle Blog

It's the little things that make all the difference

Being the second week of the new year, it was only a matter of time that we’d receive samples of our new products for our February collection, so we were very excited to see that a box had arrived this morning! What we were even more excited about was to see that the lovely Fifi, who works with us to manufacture offshore, had meticulously wrapped each product, added a note and even made small kraft ribbons and placed them on the outside of each little package. A little surprise that definitely made our day a little brighter and put a smile on our faces! It goes to show that even the smallest of gestures and putting in that little bit more effort really does make all the difference.

Art Meets Matter

Recently Kathy bought herself and her sister two lovely canvas prints from Art Meets Matter, a store based in the UK. Featuring Penguin book classics, we thought these were a neat little idea to give your walls a bit of colour and they make a great gift. The canvas prints come in a variety of classic novels from Great Expectations, Wuthering Heights and The Great Gatsby, are printed on 100% cotton canvas using archival inks and are ready to hang - simple and sweet! Quirky in nature, Art Meets Matter features a variety of quaint products, from mugs, lighting, tea towels and even deck chairs that feature some well known titles!

Christmas shopping? Pop into Stem for some great gift ideas!

After setting up shop in the bustling Darling Street in 2001, Stem has continued to bring designer objects, both local and international to those who seek something special, unique, stylish and full of experience. In keeping with this, owner and buyer, Kate, carefully selects products that she feels have “integrity, longevity and inspire people to touch and connect with them.” With a diverse selection of objects, products range from gifts for children, jewellery and accessories, living and dining and stationery, among others. In preparation for Christmas Kate has extended the stores open hours, so you can make the most of all your pre Christmas gift buying! Make sure to pop on in if you're in the area and have a little bit of a look-see! Better yet, head in this evening from 5pm-8pm (Wed, 7 Dec) for their VIP night and receieve 10% off all your purchases!

Corban & Blair November Sale – Engage your imagination and make gift giving easy.

This year, we invite you to our November Sale, with a difference. As all of you who have ever popped into our Lewisham store would know, we are always there to help you achieve what you are after and our sale is no different. With a few minor changes (for the better of course) we hope our sale this year will be even more rewarding.

Traditionally running from Thursday to Sunday, this November, our sale has picked up a few extra days, meaning, more open hours! In addition, we will also be dedicating a work space especially for all of you who would like to work with us one on one. Our work space will be focusing on photo frames and albums, so be sure to bring in your photos, artwork, images or objects and let us help you create something wonderful and full of meaning!

So come in, have a chat, a sticky beak, ask a few questions and let us make gift giving easy.

Sale Details

Tuesday 15 Nov – 8am – 5pm
Wednesday 16 Nov – 8am – 5pm
Thursday 17 Nov – 8am – 7pm (Drinks and nibbles from 5pm onwards – All welcome!)
Friday 18 Nov – 8am – 7pm
Saturday 19 Nov – 9am – 5pm
Sunday 20 Nov – 10am – 4pm

Be sure to check out our Facebook page for updates and photos from the event!

Corban & Blair and OPUS collaborate to bring you a one stop shop for frames

As part of an exciting collaboration between gift guru Chris from Opus and Corban & Blair, Paddington’s well known and loved Opus store will be your one stop shop in the Eastern suburbs for all your frame needs. Beginning on Monday October 31 and spanning two whole weeks, Opus will be featuring many classic Corban & Blair frames in different sizes, styles and colours. As part of this collaboration we, along with Opus will also be running a special competition that you simply can't miss! Purchase any Corban & Blair Frame from Opus between October 31 - November 14 and go in the draw to WIN a $200 Opus gift voucher and a Corban & Blair wall of frames valued at $170 (a black or white set - you get to pick!). View Competition T&C's here.

So, come in, have a look and a chat and be sure to check out the amazing window display that will be featuring old magazine covers (as featured above), articles and comics in a variety of Corban & Blair frames – something we at Corban & Blair and Chris are very excited about!

Subscribe and be the first to know

Want to be the first to know about our sales, promotions and when we release our new collections? Why not subscribe to our Corban & Blair mailing list!

If you’re looking for something a little individual, perhaps you require a selection of meaningful corporate gifts or would simply like to know what is on offer as part of our custom design services, subscribe to our Corporate mailing list.

The OPUS Experience

A family owned and run business, Opus has been strongly operating for 43 years. Situated on the ever so bustling Oxford Street in Paddington, the shop is full of affordable gifts that are stylish but also quite individual and more often than not, that little bit quirky. What we absolutely love about Opus, apart from their product offerings, is that Chris (pictured above, as seen in House & Garden) and his team are extremely hard working, kind hearted and will always go that extra mile for a customer, making the Opus experience a definite winner!

Corban & Blair collaborates with Bristol & Brooks to bring you two new collections

Corban & Blair have teamed up with Bristol & Brooks to bring you two new collections across two weeks. Visit Bristol & Brooks in the QVB or Chifley Plaza to view our new travel accessories (17 – 21 Oct) and technology covers (24 – 28 Oct) which feature rich accents of colour, straight from the South of France.

As part of our collaboration we will also be offering you a chance to WIN a prize each week. Simply leave your business card with the lovely Bristol & Brooks staff when visiting either store. Winners will be drawn and announced on both our Facebook page and Lifestyle blog on October 21and 28 respectively.

Visit Bristol & Brooks

QVB
Level 2, Shop 21
455 George St
Sydney NSW 2000
Australia
(02) 9267 9996

Chifley Plaza
Shop 8
2 Chifley Square
Sydney NSW 2000
Australia
(02) 9232 8699

Extreme Retailing! Notes from Josh Goldman's talk in Sydney

Back in early July this year I was fortunate enough to attend a small section of a conference in Sydney called Online Retailer.  One presenter, Josh Goldman, talked about how online retailing evolved, the now obvious trends and consumer models that the short history of e-retailing was revealing.  This presentation was truly awe-inspiring!  As an experimenter with all things online I was blown away by this insightful look into online shopping models.  Below is the first of a three part series of Josh Goldman’s presentation. 

 

A few notes on: Extreme Retailing: Disruptive Business Models That May Turn Shopping On Its Head!

The wave of innovation hitting online shopping is know as E-commerce 1.0 and started out in the mid 1990’s.  Sites such as Amazon and eBay were simply catalogues online that allowed you to purchase from them.  This model evolved into on-line auctions and very successful consumer-to-consumer models such as eBay. Millions of people have participated in eBay providing a way to sell personal items to anyone in their country, even in the world, especially if you are a collector. But can you remember what eBay has replaced in Australia?

 

During the late 1990’s we saw the rise of the first real shopping platforms like Yahoo, and the rise of the provision of secure on-line transactions as sceptics worried about hackers getting their credit card details!  A decade on and this concern has not gone away.

The next stage of online retail innovation Goldman has decided to call E-commerce 1.5.  Here he refers to ‘Aggregates’ and ‘Search Engine Models’ that allowed consumers to scrutinise online shopping offers, just as they would if they were walking around a mall, only much faster!  Sites emerged such as NexTag and mySimon. These sites didn’t really impact Australia as they were locally driven.  Along with these came different ways to buy evidenced in the emergence of Coupon Sites. These evolved into very powerful business models, which continue even today.  Have you accessed one of these?

 

This period, from roughly 2000 to 2005, also saw Comparison Shopping Engines, Product Review sites, Merchant Review sites where you can find a merchants location and indication of products they sell.  This latter model is now used in our online phone directories in Australia, or via Whereis?  Once again all of these tools were to support the shopper as they used their fingers ‘to do the walking’ and visual images to help in decision-making. This type of tool has influenced how we actually shop now, giving us more information to make informed decisions, to decide between choices, to examine and compare.

 

The final move in this segment of customer support tools are the Product Recommendation sites. Examples are Epinions.com and Rate it all.  Being able to compare product specifications, prices and delivery costs between stores is well advanced in the UK and the US.  It is yet to be a strong force in Australia, but with our tremendous uptake of mobile phones it can’t be far off as a tool we can call up while in a store on our mobile phone!

 

You might like to search for these models when you are shopping on line. Let me know if you find anything different or if you have a different opinion.

 

Next time I’ll report on the big stores using online and what is developing in 2005 to 2010! See you then!

Share your shopping experience on-line!

For several years now the web has provided us a new, fast and efficient way to shop, to view products, to find product availability locally or world wide, to familiarise ourselves with brands, what’s behind the brand and what direction they are taking and so on.  It has become a very handy resource!

More recently a growing opportunity exists to share YOUR shopping experience on-line!  Here are some sites to check out.  You might just like to participate and enjoy this whole new way to talk about your own shopping experience!

 

 

Shopping Haul

Type this into the search engine and you will find a list of options.  One of these is a series of Youtube videos people have put together about their own shopping experiences.  Take your chances here!

Another site to look at is www.shoppinghaul.net  Go there – take a peek!  If you want to get started try this: shoppinghaul.net/tag/shoes/

After you have survived several videos why not share your shopping trip with others?  Get out the video camera and tell us about it.  If you went with a friend, why not put the two of you on the video showing off your latest purchases?

This greatly interactive activity is fun and gives us all a way of telling everyone about what we are buying!

 

Gotryiton.com

This site is listed on Google as “Get honest advice on your look…Go try it on!’

www.gotryiton.com

Are you never sure what to wear with what?  Or just can’t decide what you look best in?  Then don’t worry, you can get opinions from anywhere in the world by putting your photo on this site.

This simple site has two options – GET AND OPINION or GIVE AN OPINION.

It is fun giving an opinion – but please, try to be supportive!  And if you are brave go try on the clothes you aren’t sure actually work for you and put your photos on the site. Why not ask your friends to comment? All this feed-back just might help you get better at choosing what other people think you look terrific in – or it just might not too!