Lillian Vernon online - A more down-home Martha Stewart.
Written: Feb 03 '02
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Lillian Vernon online is a down-to-earth Martha Stewart sort of shop. Actually, I should say it the other way around. Martha Stewart is the Lillian Vernon of the 90s if you have loads of time and loads of money (which I don’t).
Lillian put together her catalog shopping company back in 1951. She was pregnant and wanted to bring in a little money and stay busy. Pregnant women will know all about that. She placed an ad in Seventeen magazine and filled orders in her kitchen.
The company grew rapidly and expanded beyond pocketbooks and belts. Now, Lillian Vernon is a big mail order catalog company with an online site featuring all kinds of home products and cute items for kids. They are still based out of New York, but they have the warehouse out here in my part of the country.
You can find flags for your house or wind socks at LV. I like to pick up different windsocks for the front porch. They are easier to hang than flags. My boys usually change those over. All you do is loop the string on a flowerpot hanger screwed in on the front porch.
Other items include pots, bowls, welcome mats, and holiday decorations. Holiday decorations are really cute, but they are not always practical. They bunny basket holders look great, but kids work out better with the dollar bucket at Wal-Mart for egg hunting at Easter. If you ever dropped your eggs, then you will know what I mean.
Personalized items are what I associate with LV. They have many items (and a specific catalog) with monogram. Caleb and Eli have the karate belt racks with their names on them hanging on the wall. Those are cute for display and keep the belts from getting tangled up and messed up in the dresser drawers.
Prices are decent but on the high side. I would pick Terry’s Village www.terrysvillage.com for cute items at lower prices. The selection is better at LV, and they have the personalized pieces, so I splurge on occasion. I would thumbs up both stores, but I can afford more at Terry’s.
Shipping is fair (goes up depending on dollar amount ordered). Items are packed carefully and mailed on time. Do allow more time for monograms (about a week from my experience).
The site is easy to navigate and well organized. You can look at categories by department or shop with catalog numbers. Since I’ve been buying a long time, I get all the catalogs. You can request those at the site, and I would suggest doing that in the beginning. The sale site click is also worth a look, and catalogs are not always available in the sale category.
My Granny always shopped here by catalog. I shopped catalog and now online. The products are really nice, and the customer service is excellent. The women taking orders or answering questions are always friendly and helpful.
Lillian is still in charge, and you can read about her at the site. I love what she has done with her kitchen company. The only thing I would change would be the recipes. Those are not things I think I would make at home. I can’t even buy some of the cheeses around here, and I know my boys would not eat fancy dishes that are listed. I suspect that she got the recipes from Martha Stewart who sold me pillows that have needle sharp feathers in them.
Recommended:
Yes
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CyndiA
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Member: Cyndi
Location: out in the yard grilling
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Get some sleep and dream of rock 'n roll - Bread.
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