Market Report – Atlanta
Caroline Kennedy and Bessie Nestoras -- Gifts and Dec, 7/19/2006 8:09:00 AM
July 18, 2006 — This summer’s Atlanta market was somewhat uneven, with most exhibitors agreeing that traffic was down from last year. We noticed it ourselves when it was easier to get on elevators and escalators, and make our way down the aisles, even stopping to have lengthy conversations with exhibitors.
Some chalked it up to custom, as traffic is always down in the summer. Others remarked, “Traffic is slow, but my orders are good.” Still others, including several exhibitors in the High Design area, lamented that there were “no bodies and no orders.” Pamela Barsky of Pamela Barsky Designs said her business was off, and reported that a fellow exhibitor in a different building (exhibitor Rock Scissor Paper in Building 3) had also written very little in the way of orders.
But there are always enthusiastic exhibitors. April of A.I. Paper Designs, a creative line of handmade frames, memo boards and wall art, said she had a great show. “Customers give us such great feedback on the new designs. The really like the pet stuff with the sayings that are more humorous. But price points are a big concern, so we introduced some smaller items that can sell for less but still be handmade.”
Nevertheless, getting harder to read the market, and with fewer exciting introductions and new trends to drive business, we may be see a pattern toward a big once-a-year (in winter) push to bring out new product, along with smaller shows later in the year for reorders
Cum Laude
Despite reports of slower traffic on the show floor, the second semester of AmericasMart University continued the momentum created in January with course offerings well-attended by buyers eager to improve their business skills. The program includes core business courses in marketing, accounting and inventory management, as well as electives in a variety of areas including product trends and visual merchandising. The program is asuccess, and according to AmericasMart, the January 2007 show may even see the University’s first graduates.
Midwest Differentiation
Speaking of January 2007, big things are afoot for next year, with many sources with hinting at fabulous introductions, line expansions, corporate refocusing and new showrooms to add excitement and growth to the industry.
At Midwest, new general manager Rick Contino has had a busy first six months on the job. To better understand the company’s core business (as well as that of sister company Colonial Candles) and develop a plan to move forward, Contino has been spending time in the field, visiting and working in the showrooms, and traveling with salespeople to meet find out what’s on customers’ minds. “What we’ve learned is this,” said Contino, “Whether you’re in retail or wholesale, you are successful if you have differentiation. You need to do all that you can to set yourself apart. Some of our businesses go way out of their way, doing what’s necessary to find that different [item] for their customers. Our role is to make our retailers successful. Going forward, our plan is to be even more customer-centric, providing them with new marketing initiatives and merchandising support and other value-added services to work with our retailers.”
As part of this new focus, Midwest has introduced a CD for retailers detailing how to recreate some of the great display ideas Midwest’s showrooms are known for. The company is also refocusing its River House property to act as a retail “Petri dish.” It will be set up as a test store with more of a retail focus, rather than a lifestyle design. River House will provide a more realistic idea of how product can be merchandised in smaller retail stores.
As for product lines, Contino noted that the move back to more traditional styling in holiday decor has been very successful, and has been enthusiastically received by buyers. He even related one customer’s unsolicited description: “You are on the cutting-edge of tradition!” For spring, the ceramic eggs, bunnies and tableware of the Garden Patches line offer a touch of that “cutting-edge tradition” and are attracting a lot of interest. Also garnering acclaim is Spring Day, a line developed from the popular Christmas line of Santas and other decorative accents made with newsprint.
At Colonial Candles, the new Metropolitan line has a sophisticated, urban look, with distinctive shapes and a modern edge. But it’s a look that is not too unconventional; it blends well with Garden themes in the company’s Seasons lines. Candles come in three colors: black, white and a soft green.
Franz: Speaking Through Beauty
Franz Porcelain founder and CEO Francis Chen was on hand in the Werner Frank showroom for the debut of Franz’ new Kathy Ireland licensed line of porcelain accessories. (See July 14 Direct from Market at www.giftsanddec.com.) The new collection is an exquisite interpretation of a peacock, designed by Franz artist Johnny Ho with input from Ireland, and representing the fashion icon’s elegance and style. This soft launch of the collection was received enthusiastically in both Atlanta and Dallas; a larger launch is planned for January.
We were able to chat with Chen, who briefly outlined the personal philosophy behind his company, which was established in 2001. Inspired by the aesthetic of ancient Chinese porcelains, Chen presents a contemporary take on tradition. “We speak to ourselves through the beauty of things,” he said. “I talk to myself through music and other artistic things. We put our hearts into the style when we are designing, and our designs give the ‘idea’ of the natural element. We don’t need to show a true representation of a flower, butterfly or peacock to have the beauty of its essence speak to us.”
Speaking of Franz’ jewelry line, Chen went on, “The jewelry is a natural extension of porcelain decorative accessories. Home accessories bring beauty to the home, but when a woman goes out, she can take the beauty with her through the jewelry.”
As we were viewing the line, we met retailers Betsy and Mary Lou Danahar, of Ashley Avery’s in Brandon, FL, both enthusiastic supporters of Franz Porcelain. “We have 16 running feet displayed in our store,” noted Betsy. “We’ve carried it since the beginning. In fact, we bought it from the first catalog, before we even saw it in person. It’s one of our growth lines. This is a good company to work with; it listens and responds to it customers; it supports its retailers. We just had a signing in the store.”
Beyond Holiday Merchandising
At Wellspring, Trip van Roden was thrilled with buyers’ reaction to the company’s introduction of a holiday selection of the popular Wiggle Pens, which come in the bright holiday red, green and white. “We listened and learned from our customers,” noted van Roden. “They immediately saw how, if [the pens] don’t sell out during the holidays, they can be sold afterwards. The red and white can be re-merchandised for Valentine’s Day, and the green and white ones can be sold for St. Patrick’s Day.” Wellspring also introduced more fashion colors in the popular Flip Notes line, perfect for fall in deeper jewel tones. But the company’s best sellers are magnetic dog pads.
Mary Meyer’s new holiday plush animals come outfitted in sweaters and other wardrobe pieces that give them sell-through beyond the holidays. Although seasonal pieces, these products do not scream, “Holiday!” Rather, they say fall, winter and everyday. So should retailers have leftover pieces, they’ll still sell. The company’s new baby line has also attracted a lot of interest with sweet chenille animals, rattles and cuddle blankets that come in soft pastels. The Taggies pieces incorporate smooth satin ribbon tags that babies like to rub on their faces or fingers to self-comfort.
Midwest’s Rick Contino also noted that “it helps to have some product that is not so holiday-specific, so that when the holiday is over it can be re-merchandised in other ways.” He pointed out Serenity gift sets, which are geared to certain multi-functional themes; the “Mother” gift set is perfect for Mother’s Day, but has meaning and sell-through year-round.
Heart-Warmers
If there’s one thing that relieves the exhaustion of going to market, it’s the people. The gift industry is a “people” business in every way; our businesses are all about relationships.
One of the first people we ever met at AmericasMart was Ruby Oakley, the longtime hostess of the press room. Ruby has always represented the best that AmericasMart has to offer in warmth and hospitality. This year, after many years of riding herd over we journalists, and becoming a dear friend along the way, Ruby retired from her post. But Keri Arroll (public relations director for AmericasMart) and the rest of the press corps could not let Ruby go without letting her know how cherished she is. So Ruby and her husband Frank, who we all got to know through Ruby’s stories, returned to the mart for a special luncheon in her honor. All of her press friends took time out from their respective schedules to pay her tribute. We’ll miss you Ruby, and thanks for the memories.
It was also good to see New Orleans-based companies Grandmother’s Buttons and Wearable Vegetables doing business in Atlanta, almost as if Hurricane Katrina had never happened. Both companies and their people suffered terribly through the storm, and are still suffering. But their enduring spirit and upbeat attitudes are marvelous. Wearable Vegetables’ Gay Sperling told us, “We could have taken our FEMA money and walked away. But our customers and their customers wouldn’t let us. We had all of our fourth quarter orders ready to ship when the hurricane hit. Everything was destroyed, along with our records and everything else. But we managed to refill almost everything in time and we were back here exhibiting in January.”
And who would have thought that a cookbook could come out of the hurricane? But there it was in the Grandmother’s Buttons booth: Hurricane Recipes, a book inspired one of the author’s few surviving cherished possessions, a hand-written family recipe. Richly illustrated with photos of the area and the devastation, the book is an inspiration to anyone who has come through hardship.
New and Notable
Quite often at market, there’s at least one product or line that stops you dead in your tracks — and this Atlanta market was no different. Crossing one of the bridges from Building 3 to Building 2, we encountered Lappers owner Ashley Hatcher strolling along carrying one of her dining trays. This is one of those “why didn’t I think of that” ideas that is just fabulous! The contemporary, molded plastic trays are designed so that plates and cups won’t slip and slide when you’re carrying the tray. Each Lappers tray has wells for the plate and cup to sit down in, and each well has a brightly colored, removable, silicone mat that keeps the tableware in place. Trays currently come in brown, turquoise and green; interchangeable mats are available in the variety of colors.
Memory Makers, the “scrapbook” photo charm bracelet company, continues to expand and grow, and personalization is the trend that’s driving growth. “You make it. You give it. It is unique. It has your photo. It is jewelry. It is personalized sentiment, noted owner Brandon Rapport. New to the line are cell phone charms and four-strand beaded themed charm bracelets; pet themed pieces are drawing lots of attention.
Venerable Italian ceramic manufacturer Deruta was a major presence at the Italian Pavilion in the Europe’s Finest section of the Atlanta show. Buyers strolled under a tented area that took up an entire aisle, viewing table settings of mixed patterns. The entire display gave the feeling of an elegant garden party setting. This major presentation of lush handmade ceramic patterns — a Deruta trademark — was an eye-catching traffic-stopper.
Making its debut in the gift market is Z Becky Brown, a line of clear resin, box-shaped handbags with interchangeable patterned inserts. The look of the bag can be changed to match season, ensemble or mood, giving customers you many creative options. We met owner Carolyn Whiting last year ago at the Craft and Hobby Association show in Atlanta, when she presented her first prototype bag to the scrapbooking crowd. Then she felt that the clear resin box-bag was a perfect medium for scrapbookers to create their own look, putting a personal stamp on a personal accessory. The line, shown for the first time to gift buyers in the Wolf Company showroom, was well received at he gift market.
MjZoom is bringing the novelty and fun back
into the stationery category with its new magnetic pencil holders in funny face shapes. These great little holders are an easy way to keep an ordinary pen or pencil handy on the fridge or any metal surface. They recall the once popular pencil toppers of the ‘80s.
Three Cheers for Girls (3C4G) is having a very successful year, reports [who is he] Jason Butts. “We hit last year’s numbers by June.” 3C4G continues to expand its teen/tween girls lines, and this year leather-look, metallic finishes are a big item on journals. More solids and sparkles are another big look, and a new heavy duty backpack is receiving a lot of attention. Christmas stockings — done in girly colors with a hint of holiday feeling — are a popular surprise.
The Little MissMatched line is growing up. This line for little girls started as a mismatched sock line; now it’s branched out with gloves, flip flops, PJs and throw pillows, all with the same bright color combinations, polka dots, stripes, and other unmatched elements.
Crazy Mountain introduced the new Jo Moulton line for CM Home, tabletop and home decor with a warm feeling of country style and an updated, almost contemporary, appeal. The floral designs on the brown-glazed base make a strikingly casual look. Coffee, a new licensed line by Angela Anderson also got rave reviews.
Zodax expanded its showroom space, there is now just about 2,000 square feet of product. Owner John Amiri tells us that customers are now able to see product in a new light, and that has helped to boost sales. “August order size has almost doubled since the showroom expanded,” he said. This market, the company decided to expand its textile collection with an assortment of decorative pillows in bronze, gold and copper hues. The pillows have a retro feel, taking you back to the heady disco days of the 1970s. There is also a selection of pillows that take their inspiration from the Indian subcontinent.
New at Toland are Bulb kits that come in two varieties of vases. While flags seemed to be waning in popularity the past couple of years, owner Jill Sands tells us that they’re making a comeback. Toland has changed the look of its flags by adding dimension to their designs. For example, a football flag features a blown-up football in the center.
Also Seen…
The baby and children’s market continues to be a hot category in the industry. The Baby Bunch found in the Peas & Honey showroom is a bouquet made up of onesies, hats, bibs and socks. Show attendees seemed to take quite a liking to the product, as it was difficult to even get someone to talk to us about them! They come in small and large arrangements and are gift boxed.
Over at Metal Morphosis Bib clips were getting quite a response, according to company owner Kaycee Binns, and Elegant Baby continues to have success with its Squirties — a line of squirt toys in five designs including three new ones: Ducks, Veggies and City.
Meanwhile, Maura Daniel is taking on a more modern look. Best known for its feminine lamps and accessories, the company introduced a collection of contemporary lamps with porcelain bases and simpler shades to top them off, as well as a selection of sleek chandeliers.
Demdaco introduced a line of men’s accessories with an Art Deco feel. The line includes magnets, mugs, paperweights, clocks and more. The company’s bookmarks are one of the top sellers this market according to Katrina Stevenson.
One of the more unique items found at the show were Batik stamps from Elements by Angsana. These iron stamps were used to imprint fabrics and feature ornate images of frogs, butterflies and more. The company is now selling them as an accessory for the table; we also suggest using them as a pullback for drapes.
Brand new to the gift market is Elements by Angsana featuring Asian accessories, furnishings and candles. Owner Kara Stieffel said they are having a good show and pleased with buyer reaction to the product line.
Checking Back
And did you think that we’d forgotten about checking back with our fellow travelers from the plane? No indeed. Once we were able to get over to the temporary exhibits, we went to visit Christian and Christine Treney of RBI Designs, a plush toy and puppet manufacturer. Their hand and finger puppets outfitted with sound were drawing buyer interest. The animal sounds set them apart from all the other plain plush.
That’s all from Atlanta. Next up: the Chicago market.
We would love your feedback!
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