InnStyle would like to introduce its newest team member, Audra Hull. She has been with InnStyle for about a year. Many of you have had the opportunity to work with her as she fills your orders and answers your hospitality product questions. Audra is a kind-hearted, caring, funny, and intelligent person. InnStyle wants to share more about her and how she got started here.
Chuck and CarolynGeoffrey Chaucer once said “All good things must come to an end”, and here at InnStyle that saying has gained a new meaning for us. This July, we had to say farewell to our beloved general manager Chuck Roller, who has been such an integral part of InnStyle for over 45 years. He started with the company fresh out of Delaware Valley University in May of 1974 and has been committed to its success ever since.
InnStyle’s parent company, County Linen, opened its doors in 1952. That’s a long, long time. Not many businesses can say they have survived for that long.
Like the name suggests, InnStyle started as a linen store, a small family business run by Jack Sternthal. As time went on, Jack’s sons graduated from college and joined the family business. The company eventually had three locations, with the main store moving to a 30,000-sq. foot building where they provided linens, furniture, accessories, flooring, custom window treatments, and bedding.
InnStyle was launched in 1988. Starting with a catalog, they began providing bed and breakfast properties with quality bed linens and other items for their rooms.
InnStyle began with customers who owned bed and breakfast properties in tourist destinations like New Hope, PA, and Lambertville, N.J., coming to shop at their store in Doylestown.
But it eventually morphed into an internet shopping experience, as their innkeepers began to put their businesses online. Visitors to their site can now find wholesale and retail shopping carts.
So why are they talking about all this?
Every year around this time, the team at InnStyle rolls up its sleeves and starts prepping for the annual AIHP conference. InnStyle is a charter founding member and allied partner of AIHP.
This year, the staff at InnStyle, will be headed to Long Beach, CA, where the AIHP (Association of Independent Hospitality Professionals) will hold the InnSpire Conference and Knowledge Sharing Summit & Marketplace.
Scheduled for January 29 through February 1 aboard the Queen Mary, the retired ocean liner turned hotel and tourist destination. This year, the AIHP is working with Select Registry and the California Association of Boutique and Breakfast Inns to host the event.
For some people, one of the most memorable parts of a trip – whether that’s at a hotel, bed and breakfast, or vacation rental property – is the room where they stayed.
And many innkeepers are taking advantage of this idea – and thus creating more revenue – by essentially setting up a gift shop. But rather than selling, say, t-shirts and postcards, these gift shops allow guests to purchase the sheets, towels, robes, and other amenities they enjoyed during their stay.
If this sounds familiar, it is. It’s a topic we addressed earlier this year. But with December – and the gift-giving season – just around the corner, we thought we’d bring up this idea of a gift shop again.
InnStyle is heading west next month for the 2016 VRMA Conference in Arizona.
The VRMA—Vacation Rental Managers Association—gathers each year to discuss the state of the industry. This year’s conference is scheduled for Oct. 16-19 at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass in Chandler, just outside Phoenix.
“With more than 50 educational sessions and a vendor showcase boasting more than 70 industry-leading vendors, the national conference dives deeper into the ‘why’ of vacation rental management, providing in-depth insight on business strategy, industry trends and sales/marketing,” the VRMA says on its website.
The conference includes talks on issues such as reaching millennial travelers, working with realtors to market your properties, and dealing with restrictive municipal regulations.
InnStyle think that it’s a great opportunity. It gives their team a chance to learn more about the industry and to share their products with vacation rental property owners and managers from all over the country.