Rise In Confidence Boosts Buying At Seattle Gift Show

Furniture World Magazine

POST-SHOW REPORT San Francisco: The 149th semi-annual Seattle Gift Show, the Northwest’s largest gift and accessories market, experienced strong buying on the exhibit floor at the January 29-February 2, 2005 show. Nearly 13,000 attendees shopped 819 booths and 95 permanent showrooms of the Seattle Gift Center to replenish their inventory after the holiday season. Exhibitors reported strong buying patterns throughout the week and were encouraged by a recovering economy in this region. “The buying was strong throughout the week. We were pleased that many of the large stores from Alaska and Canada were in attendance placing significant orders with the vendors at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center. The winter market specifically targets the stores in the Northwest resort areas, and storeowners from these regions often complete their buying for a year,” stated Mike Dean, President and Show Manager, Western Exhibitors, LLC. Post Show Statistics Number of Exhibiting Companies: 819 Number of Booths: 1,383 Net Square Footage: 128,644 Retail Stores: 7,388 Buyer Attendance: 12,825 New Stores: 555 New Buyers: 1,455 Exhibitor Feedback “This is a great show! It has been building for our company, and we see many reorders as well as new leads each market.” Callahan McVay, Callahan, Inc.—Clinton, Washington “I have always done The Seattle Gift Show—exhibiting here has taught me a lot about how to develop my business.” Carolyn Teague, Mountain Creek Candle Company—Brightwood, Oregon Buyer Feedback “I’ve been in the gift business for many years, and The Seattle Gift Show is where I can find everything for my store. I do not need to travel to other markets—I get it all done here!” Patrick Learned, Marverick Gifts—Lakewood, Washington “I am so excited about the fresh, new merchandise at the Seattle market. This is the best show yet, and I started writing orders the minute I walked through the door!” Patt Roche, Roche Gallery—Port Townsend, Washington Booth Awards Best Booth At Home: Southwest Interiors Best Booth GardenStyle: Blue Handworks Best Booth Gift & Collectibles: International Accents Best Booth Handmade®: Otter Studios Best Booth Northwest Directions: Tweetie & Storter Marketing Best Booth Personal Style: Servello Best Booth Gift/Stationery & Trend: Snookus Best Booth Multi-Line Rep: Jack & En-May Mangels Show Management Awards: Wildcat Lake Pottery The Seattle Gift Show Rewards Buyers for Attending the January 2005 Market The management team of The Seattle Gift Show® continued to promote the popular Buyer Rewards Program during the winter 2005 market. The purpose of this promotion is to encourage retailers to increase their buying dollars while shopping the temporary exhibits as well as to bring added excitement to the show atmosphere. Many of those that participated in the Buyer Rewards program commented that they placed additional orders to redeem better prizes. Prizes ranged from a box of mints and exhibitor prizes, to cash back for orders placed at the show. In addition, buyers reaching specific buying pinnacles were eligible for several grand prize drawings, which included significant cash rebates for orders and hotel stays at luxury properties for the 2005 summer market. The grand prize winners are as follows: $500 Cash Rebate Mary Jo McNally, Fly Away Fly Shop—Sitka, Alaska $1,000 Cash Rebate Neil Hahn, Painted Cottage—Lethbridge, Alberta (CANADA) $2,500 Cash Rebate Marilyn Josephson, Chilkoot Gardens, Haines, Alaska 3 Nights in a Luxury Hotel Pamela Olivero, Something Old Something New—St. Helens, Oregon Future Market Dates The 150th semi-annual Seattle Gift Show will take place August 27-31, 2005 at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center and will be held in cooperation with the permanent showrooms of the Seattle Gift Center. Coming In August • 12 Product Divisions—including the juried divisions At Home, Handmade® and Personal Style. -Expanded FoodFocus Division—a tantalizing array of specialty foods, candies and confections, coffees and teas, oils and vinegars as well as complimentary items packaged and designed for the gift retailer will expand on the 6th Floor of the Washington State Convention & Trade Center. -All new seminar programs—all new educational programs have been developed for the winter 2005 market to assist retailers with increasing their profit margins. -Demonstration Theater— eight new demonstrations will be featured on the exhibit floor featuring products that will help retailers with holiday gift wrapping, bow making, gift baskets and much more. -Special events for buyers/exhibitors—great new events will be held during the market in August—buyers and exhibitors can look forward to free wine tasting featuring vineyards from Washington as well as other on-site receptions. Markets Represented General giftware; tabletop; housewares; decorative and personal accessories; contemporary, traditional, home furnishings; handcrafted Northwest crafts; floral and garden; juvenile products; toys and games; antiques and found objects; pre-packaged gourmet food items; stationery; souvenir/resort products; personal care items; fine and fashion jewelry. Profile of Attendees Specialty and department stores; gift shops; jewelry and clothing boutiques; galleries; craft retailers; gourmet shops; juvenile stores; nurseries; mail order catalogs; interior and garden designers; importers; and distributors. Exhibitor and Attendee Information For exhibitor information about The Seattle Gift Show®, please contact Western Exhibitors, LLC, 2181 Greenwich Street, San Francisco, CA 94123. Telephone 415.346.6666. Fax 415.346.4965. E-mail: showinfo@weshows.com. Additional information may be obtained on-line at www.seattlegift.com. For Handmade® exhibitor information, contact Andrea Casanova, divisional manager by e-mail at andrea_casanova@glmshows.com. For Personal Style exhibitor information, contact Sonia Mansfield, divisional manager, by e-mail at sonia_mansfield@glmshows.com. George Little Management, LLC, 888 South Figueroa Street, Suite 600, Los Angeles, CA 90017. Telephone 213.362.5640. Fax 213.362.5660. Additional information is available online at www.seattlegift.com. For buyer information, contact Western Exhibitors, LLC, 2181 Greenwich Street, San Francisco, CA 94123. Phone: 800.346.1212 (outside of the Bay Area) or 415.346.0168 (within the San Francisco Bay Area). Fax 415.346.4965. E-mail: showinfo@weshows.com. Additional information may be obtained on-line at www.seattlegift.com. Management Information The Seattle Gift Show is managed and produced by Western Exhibitors, LLC of San Francisco. Handmade® and Personal Style are managed by George Little Management, LLC of White Plains, New York. The Seattle Gift Show, and The Jewelry Vaultsm are registered trademarks of Western Exhibitors, LLC, San Francisco, California, USA. Handmade® is a registered trademark of George Little Management, LLC.