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Direct from Market: Las Vegas

By Caroline Kennedy -- Gifts and Dec, 2/6/2010 11:05:00 PM

In a city known for its mega-watt energy, the Las Vegas Market generates its own mega-watt energy to charge attendees and make them feel welcome and keep their spirits high. Live music greets them as they enter the campus and entertains them throughout the day as they relax on the plaza between appointments or move from building to building. From the seemingly bottomless barrels of bottled water to the end-of-day cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, the needs of the attendees are attended to in style.

This winter’s Las Vegas Market continued the upbeat mood of other markets around

Keynote speaker Archie Manning

the country. Furniture and home décor showrooms were busy writing orders and the number of buyers attending this market seemed up from last year. Several of the gift vendors reported that things seemed a little slow for them, but it was better than it was last year. The WMCLV is working hard to build up the number of gift exhibitors, which will then attract more gift and home buyers to the market. And many gift exhibitors were hopeful that the Gift + Home Show, now scheduled for August in conjunction with the furniture market and Las Vegas Kids, will entice more gift buyers to Las Vegas.

Nevertheless, many vendors who straddle the gift, home décor and furniture areas reported strong sales, including Franz, Cyan Design, HomeStyle, Lazy Susan, Dillon-Wells and Midwest-CBK.

Bliss Living pairs bright yellow with gray

Eventing We Will Go!

Vietri hosted a bridal registry seminar in the HomeStyle showroom that was attended by a number of interested retailers. Vietri’s sales and marketing coordinator Holli Nelson talked about how registry has changed, how retailers can make one work for their store, and provided suggestions as to how to market the registry to reach out to today’s brides.

On Tuesday evening, Archie Manning, former NFL MVP and father to current NFL pros Peyton and Eli Manning, appeared as the keynote speaker at an invitation-only “Kickoff to 2010” event sponsored by WMCLV and the bedding industry. Sprinkled throughout with personal anecdotes and football jargon and analogies, Manning’s address on leadership was amusing, personal and very motivational. He noted that it is easy to have a winning strategy, a strategy for success, when times are good, but it is even more important to have a strategy for success when times are tough. The key is that we need to learn to lead, he observed, and he then proceeded to outline his ideas for personal success and what it takes to be a leader. Sprinkled throughout the talk, Manning included personal examples from his own career as a professional football player. He provided everyone with food for thought to take back and implement in their businesses.

WyreTree's contemporary take
on a holiday tree

We caught up with retailer Christi Tullis of Ambiance Interiors, who was having a quiet moment between seminar sessions she was holding on behalf of SnapRetail. The new e-marketing service is receiving a lot of interest from retailers who want to learn more about how it works and what it can do for their businesses. Who better to show them, than someone just like them and who knows the day-in, day-out problems they face?

Primary Colors

Turquoise, Pantone’s “Color of 2010” was very much in evidence around the market, as was its complement: orange. Purple also remains a strong décor element. And both purple and orange pair well with turquoise to create different moods. But what may be coming next? The entryway to Cyan

Inspirational sign by Primitives by Kathy

Design was bright with a bright, almost fluorescent, yellow. Carol Lowry, Cyan Design’s international sales manager, noted that they look to fashion to keep moving ahead. “That’s why the yellow; and fluorescent is going to be big in fashion,” she said. “But we are still holding on to turquoise and purple as continuing directions.” The showroom had a “banner day” on Tuesday. Lowry attributes the continuing strong sales to the company’s attention to affordable price points on items with a high perceived value. “Value and price are key, and we have something for everyone’s style,” she noted.

Cyan Design is not the only one who was hinting at the bright, fluorescent yellow. Lazy Susan was actually showing a little of it last fall, and Bliss Living Home showed it paired with gray. We also saw it at Pomeroy in the HomeStyle showroom and at Napa Home & Garden.

Napa’s Firelights were real eye-catchers

IMAX presented four lifestyle collections of decorative accessories. One collection, Vivid, in particular attracted a lot of buyer interest. This indoor/outdoor garden inspired collection includes vases and containers, watering cans and baskets, pillows and tuffets, and more all in bright colors. Turquoise, spring green and orange are key. Labeled “delightful, daring, optimistic,” it is a little boho and a lot bright.

Bright colors for the garden were also notable at Kalalou and Napa Home and Garden. But it was Napa’s Firelights that were really the eye-catchers. The Firelights are ceramic pots in several different sizes that are designed to hold an insert and burn a non-polluting green gel fuel. They are safe for both indoor and outdoor use.

Planika’s smokeless, ethanol biofireplaces also drew interest. Wall-mounted, free-standing or built into a coffee table, these fireplaces have a sleek contemporary style and also burn a plant-based natural fuel that is smokeless.

EcoArt's striking vignette of wall
art handcrafted by Brazilian artists

New to the Market

Wolf Designs, known for its luxury leather jewelry cases and travel accessories, made its return to the gift and home market. The company is branching out into home décor and wall art and introduced four different collections: Fern, Malmo, Coast and Malay, each with a different feel.

Primitives by Kathy also made its Las Vegas debut with a very edited selection of its extensive product lines. The company took a small temporary booth space as a way of gauging its fit in the western marketplace. The company exhibited its new line of inspirational signs, its new seasonal jewelry charms and a selection of its popular Trash Talk line. The signs were especially well received by Vegas buyers.

WyreTree, which made its industry debut in Dallas, is an innovative new idea. It is a six-foot tree or conical shape created from a series of concentric rings on which holiday ornaments can be hung for a very contemporary take on a holiday tree. But beyond the holidays, the tree can be used to decorate other special occasion celebrations.

Adams & Co. celebrated the opening of its first-ever permanent showroom

Debuting in the HomeStyle showroom is the Klaria jewelry line. The necklaces, bracelets, earrings and rings are all delicate handmade knit wirework. Some incorporate cultured pearls. Part of the collection is done in sterling silver or gold-filled wire for a more traditional look, while another part is done in colored wire for a bright fashion-forward more contemporary look.

Adams & Co. celebrated the opening of its first-ever permanent showroom. The seven-year-old company also expanded its offerings by adding a lot more everyday items to its seasonal offerings. Particularly notable is a black-and-white collection of small signs, frames and other accessories.

And speaking of new showrooms … showing its faith in the potential of the Las Vegas Market, Lazy Susan opened its own showroom in Building C. This is in addition to being represented in the Dillon-Wells showroom in Building A. Being in both places, maximizes the company’s exposure to a greater cross-section of buyers, especially with Building C becoming more of a destination for decorative accessories buyers.

Timeworks introduced wall art with vintage postcard images

Decorating the Wall

Wall art is an important category, whether as a stand-alone business or as part of a greater lifestyle collection. Timeworks, known for its creative takes on clocks, introduced wall art with vintage postcard images. They are presented in a triptych format. As part of its smaller gift line, the company also introduced a small desk clock in a steamer trunk like box.

Artisan House's "Cadence" sculpture

Artisan House introduced several new sculptural metal wall pieces. One piece entitled “Electric Storm” has waves of turquoise and blue running through the center of the polished metal background. Another piece by Artisan’s long-time artist BJ Keith, who made a personal appearance at the market last fall, is entitled “Cadence” and features multiples of triangular sail-shaped pieces tumbling around in a rhythmic flow. The company was showing in Las Vegas fresh from the Paris show, Maison & Objet, where it was well received by European buyers. And it will also be exhibiting at Ambiente in Frankfurt, beginning on February 12.

Brazilian exhibitor EcoArts had a very striking vignette of wall art handcrafted by Brazilian artists. The company represents a number of different artists working in different media and producing everything from candleholders to decorative glass.

Sullivan's glass plates and platters

Although not really meant for the wall, but festively displayed there, Sullivans showcased a new collection of glass serving plates and platters for holidays and other special occasions.

And for a little fine whimsy on the wall GodonAmerica presented the artwork of French artist Alain Godon, who creates paintings that “capture the essence of a city” in playful imagery and bright colors. The company offers his work in two collections: godonPrestige is a limited edition 50 glicee prints on canvas; godonEntoiles is a giclee print edition limited to 350.

But if whimsy for the wall is not what your customers are looking for, how about a little retro yard whimsy. Ron Knutson says that SPI’s pink flamingos are a real hit. These are not your kitschy trailer park flamingos of the ’50s; they are updated for the 21st century, but have style with a fun feeling.

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