For retailers seeking a new supplier of incense, they can’t go wrong with a company that started 25 years ago selling it out of a van. “The original owners had a van route, going store to store,” says Suda Kuyt, now manager of North Carolina based River Village. “Eventually, they got so popular they started shipping nationwide, and that’s how the wholesale distributorship started.”
With more than 2,000 different skus in stock, River Village has something for every one of its retailers, whether they’re head shops, new age stores, flea market vendors or others. “Right now our best seller is the Wildberry incense line,” Kuyt says, “and close behind that is anything from Nag Champa.” The Wildberry wholesales for $8 for 100 sticks, and retailers are getting 20 cents per stick, a more than double markup. “The Nag Champa brand wholesales for 78 cents for a box of 15 sticks, and the retail price is usually double that and more as well,” Kuyt notes. With a minimum order of only $35 required, it’s easy for retailers to sample some of River Village’s offerings to see what moves.
“In addition to a strong product lineup, we’ve also got some great POP displays,” Kuyt says. “Wildberry supplies some particularly nice ones, and we also have wire racks for packaged incense, as well as various starter kits.” New customers that order online are given a special code they can use every time they return, for 3 percent off their total order. River Village also has a very generous return policy. “If something arrives broken, we’ll credit customers or replace the item, and if something wasn’t what they expected, they can just pay for the shipping and we’ll take it back,” Kuyt says. “We want to keep everyone happy.”
For More Information:
River Village
P.O. Box 208
Mayodan, NC 27027
Toll Free: 800-242-0115
Website: www.river-village.com