Bluestem Studio Nominated for NICHE Magazine’s 2009 Top Retailer Awards April 2009 Bluestem studio of Allentown, Pennsylvania, has been selected as a nominee in NICHE magazine’s 2009 Top Retailer Awards. Bluestem studio has been nominated for an award in the following categories: Best Web site Best Customer Newsletter (print or electronic) Best Advertising/Direct Mail Campaign Sponsored by NICHE magazine, the exclusive trade publication for progressive retailers of fine craft, the 2009 NICHE Top Retailer Awards program recognizes the nation’s best craft retailers, arts non-profits, museums and guilds for growing and strengthening the American craft community. The Top Retailer Award program annually recognizes 24 retailers and gallery owners as Top Retailers and one Retailer of the Year, and gives awards in 10 other categories. NICHE magazine polled thousands of professional craft artists throughout the United States and Canada who nominated nearly 600 galleries, retail stores, arts non-profits, museum stores and guilds for the 2009 TOP Retailer Awards. Criteria for the nomination were based on NICHE magazines Retailers’ Guide to Best Practices, which details the characteristics of craft retailers who are committed to fair business practices and to growing and strengthening the North American craft community. Award winners will be announced at a ceremony on Sunday, August 2, 2009, during the Philadelphia Buyers Market of American Craft at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, August 1-3. Winners in each category will be published in the Autumn 2009 issue of NICHE magazine and posted online at AmericanCraft.com. Bluestem studio was founded in November 2006 as an online jewelry gallery and now features the work of 25 regional artists. The gallery can be found at www.bluestemstudio.biz. Visit NICHE magazine site