I own a company that manufactures handmade decorative bows (as used to
decorate a Christmas wreath). I am initiating a marketing effort to
reach the following market segments in the US: Garden Centers, Craft
Stores, Party and Paper Goods Stores. I am interested in everything
from single store retailers to chains excluding the mass merchants.
This is a starter list there are more. If I can get a good start
through this process then I will add more to the list in separate
questions.

Here is what I need for information:

Company name, number of stores/outlets, contact/seasonal buyer's name,
email address, headquarters address including city, state and zip,
tel, fax, URL

I want to be able to add this information to my MS Access database so
a digital format would be preferred. Perhaps there are a number of
ways to get this data that you can find for me. An MS Excel format
would work as well.

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Request for Question Clarification by jbf777-ga on 25 Mar 2004 16:02 PST

Hello -

Are you looking for one of us to create a list for you?  There are
plenty of databases with contact information, but getting a hold of
buyer information -- especially a specific buyer -- is much harder to
come by.  To manually assemble this data, it would entail calling
these companies to get specific information.  At $150, I would expect
to be able to find about 20-25 stores.  Does this sound like a number
you're interested in, or were you expecting dozens or hundreds?

jbf

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Request for Question Clarification by jbf777-ga on 25 Mar 2004 16:19 PST

Alternatively, I have found a print resource in the $125 range that
lists state by state department stores and chains, along with key
buyers.  I'm not sure if it's available in electronic form, but if it
isn't, would you be interested in knowing of this resource as an
answer to your question (possibly a lower list price)?

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Request for Question Clarification by jbf777-ga on 25 Mar 2004 16:20 PST

(sorry, that should read: "possibly at a lower list price for your question")

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Clarification of Question by gakiii-ga on 26 Mar 2004 08:48 PST

The fields I want are really a wish list (which, of course, I should
have specified initially). I am looking to review as many resources as
possible that would contain access in one form or other to these
market segments. I realize that we may have to perform some data entry
activity or use printouts of lists for starters.

I am not looking for someone to prepare the lists. I am looking for
sources with a variety of perspectives whether yellow pages, affinity
groups, industry groups, etc, etc.

I am interested in both free lists and lists that are for sale.

Hopefully this clarifies my request. I will be glad to provide further
clarification as needed.

Hello -

Thank you for your question.  If you choose to rate this answer,
please ask for any clarification you may require prior to doing so. 
Thank you.

I have identified four different sources where data can be found.  I
have listed them in order of price:


1. Verizon Superpages
http://yellowpages.superpages.com/yp.advanced.jsp?SRC=&STYPE=AD&CB=&C=&N=&A=&X=&P=&AL=&R=&PS=15&RR=10&E=&T=&S=&Z=&

Price: FREE

This is essentially a national yellow pages.  The link above will take
you directly to the advanced search options.  Here you can do a global
search of the entire country in various categories and sort by
state/city.  At the minimum, this database will yield basic contact
information.  In some cases there are business profiles, e-mail and/or
web sites. There won't be any buyer contact information.  From my
experience, it's possible to call a company and simply ask for a
particular buyer. The advantage to using the Superpages is having
instant access to a very comprehensive, categorized list of companies
all over the country -- for free. You may be able to have one of the
researchers here write a script that could extract the data from this
site and format it into an Excel (or like) spreadsheet.


2. Sheldon's Major Stores & Chains Directory / Phelon's
Discount/Jobbing Trade 
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0942239210/qid=1080321770/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/102-4322364-0417704?v=glance&s=books&n=507846#product-details

Price: FREE or $125/$175

The National Retail Federation informed me of this book, published by
Phelon Sheldon & Marsar, Inc. which lists store and buyer contact
information for a variety of stores across the country.  The publisher
also has a book called Phelon's Discount/jobbing:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0942239180/qid=1080322294/sr=8-9/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i9_xgl14/102-4322364-0417704?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
which  contains wholesalers, jobbers, distributors, and rack and
service merchandisers.  The publisher can be reached at (800)
234-8804.  This cached article at entrepreneur.com says that the books
can be found at many large libraries:
http://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:SHHDtR4FB9wJ:www.entrepreneur.com/article/0,4621,228677-2,00.html+sheldon%27s+phelon%27s+entrepreneur.com&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
Instead of approaching individual stores and chains, finding one or
more distributors that handle multiple stores may be another
formidable method of getting your products into stores.

3. Chain Store Guide - Custom Database
http://www.csgis.com/

Price: $500-$900

I recommend this option as the cleanest, simplest, and most direct
answer to your original question.  I conferred with Larry Joseph, a
representative from Chain Store Guide, on having a custom database
made.  Using the criteria you specify, this company will present to
you a (digital) database that's ready to go (seasonal buyer contact
included).  Larry can be reached at 800-284-6937.


4. Hoovers/D&B
www.hoovers.com

Pro Plus: 1-5 users; $4995/year
Pro: 1-5 users; $2500
Lite: 1 user; $500/year

See the difference between these subsription types here:

http://www.hoovers.com/business-information/--pageid__11024--/global-mktg-join.xhtml

Hoovers, owned by Dunn & Bradstreet (D&B), is arguably the most
well-known company directory resource.  Seasonal buyer information
will most likely not be included.  You might use something like a Lite
subscription in tandem with another option above to key in on company
functions, highlights, financials and related information.  The
Hoovers sales line is: (866) 328-2405.




Search strategy:
  various combinations of these search words:
  retail
  database
  buyers
Made phone contacts to various sources