Mother’s Day 2008 is two weeks away: day of last-minute flowers, candy and Mom Bling jewelry.

Dollar Stores and merchandise resellers already took shipment of their Mother’s Day gift inventory. Online search advertisers – Keyworded Mother’s Day; Mom’s Day; Jewelry for Mom; Flowers for Mom – are just launching their mid-May holiday Mom-marketing campaigns.

Here are some online and in-store merchandising/display tips:

Cross-Reference Mom Stuff. It is good enuf for specialty retailers, like Jo-Ann Fabrics; Cook Books headlined in Barnes & Noble or Borders emailings; and local Scrapbooking and Crafts groups featured on Meet-Up, Gather and other social link-up sites. Then, it is good enuf for Dollar Stores and general merchandise retailers to copy, too.

• Put themed Mother’s Day displays, banners and signs over categories of merchandise: Crafts and Handicraft Items; Scrapbooks and Miniatures; Glue Guns and Glitters; Remaindered Cook Books; Specialty Cookware (cake decorating utensils; piping bags; nonpareils and silver “Jimmies”); Party Favors, Paperware, Festive Holiday Cupcake Liners and Cake Molds.

• Post See Also :: Mom Also Likes cross-reference signage and web links to: Beach Totes, Flip Flops, Sun Parasols and Beach Reading Paperback Books. To Grapevine Wreaths, Wicker Baskets and Artificial Flower aisles. And to In-Home Spa Products such as Body Wash, Bubble Bath, Scrubs, Moisturizers, Nature Sprays, Manicure Sets, Nail Polishes, Nail Transfers or Charms, Candles and Incense, and Personal Care Products.

Leave a Breadcrumb Trail to Mom Gifts. Whether you are looking to pull online clicks to a web site or eyeballs to a brick-and-mortar display, make a trail to the Mom Merchandise easy to follow.

· Use the same icon, colors, posters and headlines for Mother’s Day Gift Suggestions … whatever the category or aisle. (See above.)

· Then “silo” on the web site, or stock on the shelves, all Mom-targeted gift items. Count on serendipity: Searchers and shoppers may have an idea of what they want to buy for Mom; but seeing other suggested gift items nearby may help them refine their gift. It also helps cross-sell and up-sell higher revenue sales … like personalized, homemade gift baskets.

Make Mom a Headliner. All the Mother’s Day-themed greeting cards, helium party balloons, singing eCards, party banners, gift wrapping and flowers (fresh and fake) rotate to the front of the inventory, or top of the web landing page. And help out The Indecisive Shopper: If you sell Gift Cards, offer Mother’s Day themed or wrapped Gift Cards to give Mom freedom of choice.

So, a few months ago, I promised Shawn Saba from US Style, Inc. that we would consider letting him write a guest post here and sharing his knowledge with all our readers. I never got around to posting it and he called me today saying I’d better put this up before he and Sam came down to San Diego and kick my butt back to Connecticut. Just kidding…I think I can take them anyways so their threats were falling on deaf ears But seriously, ApparelUS.com is one of the leading online resources for great deals on wholesale fashion and we welcome the knowledge of experts like Shawn any day. Shawn, I should have gotten this up back in Feb. but thanks for your work.

Shawn writes:

Every four years we add one extra day in the month of February in order to
re-synchronize our calendar with the seasons. This year, 2008, is a leap
year, which makes it the perfect opportunity to re-synchronize your clothing
collection with current fashion sense. Because fashions are sometimes as
fickle as the changing weather patterns, it‚s important to update your
clothing inventory periodically. There‚s no better or more economical way to
do that than by shopping wholesale online.

Wholesale clothing shopping online allows you to shop for and buy the
hottest new fashion designs at a fraction of their retail price. Shopping at
online wholesalers cuts out the middlemen, which allows you can spend as
little as possible. The less you pay wholesale, the more you profit in the
end. Another great thing about wholesale clothing shopping is that the
fashions are constantly being updated, so you can always choose from the
most contemporary styles.

When you purchase wholesale clothing, you can afford to completely redo your
clothing collection to fit with the modern fashion landscape. Many of the
newest fashion trends can be found at Apparelus.com, the best source for
wholesale clothing and accessories on the Internet. They offer their
customers a wide range of top-quality clothing and accessories at steeply
discounted prices. With exclusive contracts from many of the hottest
designers and manufacturers in the market, Apparelus.com always has the best
wholesale prices.

Apparelus.com has thousands of different clothing pieces you can choose
from. Their departments include tops, pants, dresses, skirts, jackets and
more. They even have hundreds of accessories like shoes, handbags,
sunglasses, belts and jewelry. No matter what style of clothing or
accessories you‚re after, you‚ll probably find it for pennies on the dollar
in their extensive collection. You‚ll be amazed to see that the unit prices
for most of their clothing items are just several dollars when they could
easily be sold for 5 times more. So, visit Apparelus.com to take advantage
of this once in a leap year opportunity to do yourself a big favor and give
your clothing collection a total overhaul. Your bottom line will thank you.