Here to make friends in Niles

My Friends & I, a 14-dealer co-op on Niles Boulevard in Fremont, CA is going the extra mile, marketing-wise, by having a gift basket drawing every month. You get a chance to win with any purchase. Gift baskets are a popular drawing prize, and the prospect of winning one assures that shoppers coming to the well-known Niles Boulevard antique row will likely include My Friends & I in their stops. 

Another marketing tool that takes a little effort but potentially could help attract more clientele is the blog that Carol, the store owner, maintains at www.myfriendsandiniles.blogspot.com. Blogspot is a free blog hosting site, and she posts anything from photos of newly-arrived items to open house sales like the one they held a couple of weeks ago, to uplifting quotes or even photos of special dishes being served at nearby restaurants...shoppers have to eat too, you know.

Here's a photo of the gift basket for the drawing in April.

Three Bloggers from Niles

The homely pickle never looked so good as when enthroned in one of these spectacular ruby glass pickle castors, at Les Belles in Niles, CA

Fellow bloggers in the antique world are starting turn up one at a time, and I'm adding them to my bloglist. Today I hit the jackpot! Three in the same town, Fremont, California where an antique row is situated on Niles Boulevard, a historic railroad center.

This morning one of the owners of Les Belles called asking me to add her blog address to her listing in the new Collector's Guide we're working on now, and mentioned that two others in town are blogging too: My Friends and I, and Lealind's (one of the "friends" of My Friends).

A selection of pressed glass, milk glass, footed glass bowls, salt and peppers, and a pretty handpainted bowl at My Friends & I, a multi-dealer shop in Niles

Everything you need for an elegant, old-fashioned ice cream social, in Lealind's Gifts, a space at My Friends & I

Another link on each of these blogs takes you to the Niles Main Street Association, which is gearing up for their annual antique bash, the Niles Antique Faire and Flea Market, August 31.

Just to give you a taste of what these stores have to offer, I'm sharing photos from their blogs, but click on over for a better look at their selection. What a great way to preview a store, and see if your tastes coincide!