Many home decor shops and kitchen stores sell a variety of tableware and dinnerware. Often tableware sets coordinate with the themes of the shop and offer the customer something he or she may not be able to find in a large box or department store. Finding items of quality that are still unique enough to fill the decorating niche is doable, but takes some thought.

If you are an interior decorator or shop owner and are looking into tableware, you have many options. You can provide handmade tableware or mass produced tableware, and you can also offer coordinating silverware and accessories in a variety of styles and colors.

How then to choose? When selecting tableware styles for your clients, consider the following:

1. Find dinnerware and tableware that is in keeping with your customers' tastes and needs.
2. When possible, buy your unique dinnerware and tableware from wholesale dinnerware distributors.
3. Offer complimentary cutlery styles.
4. For a total look, offer accessories and other coordinating tableware items.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Offer tableware that is in keeping with your customers' needs

Color trends change seasonally, yet quality tableware can last a long, long time. Handmade dinnerware pairs practicality with what's aesthetically beautiful in lines that will often hold up over time.

I recommend: For handmade dinnerware created in the United States, try Bravo Original Ceramic Designs out of the Hudson Valley area. For a Mexican feel, try Mexican Connexion, which imports beautifully handmade tableware from Mexico. For more of a Mediterranean feel, try CeramicaDirect.com, which imports dinnerware from Italy, as does Intrada.

Consider buying dinnerware from wholesalers

If you want to carry mass-produced dinnerware, wholesale distributors can save you time and money, by offering a variety of popular products at discounted prices.

I recommend: American Discount China features over twenty-five patterns of wholesale dinnerware for stores as well as restaurants and hotels. Mega China, another wholesaler who also sells tableware products, works strictly with businesses.

Offer coordinating cutlery styles, complete tableware sets, and accessories

Consider offering a line of silverware and cutlery styles that coordinates with your tableware products. Customers will also want to be able to restock single tableware items as well as buy accessories for their existing tableware sets.

I recommend: For true silverware sets, try As You Like It Silver Shop. For stainless silverware, Gourmet Settings Inc. sells a variety of styles. For sophisticated dinnerware, flatware, and even a small baby line, try Nambe. For an assortment of tableware and related accessories, try European Tableware.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  One way of bringing in new customers is by offering a gift registry. New customers will come in to pick out the tableware products they want to give.