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A Family Affair

By Caroline Kennedy, Editor-in-Chief -- Gifts and Dec, 9/1/2008 12:00:00 AM

Caroline Kennedy

One of the things that I have loved about this industry is that it is, for the most part, a large community made up of smaller, family-owned businesses — retailers, manufacturers, rep groups, show managements or publications. And even when many of those businesses have grown into larger companies or been acquired by a corporation, they still hold true to the family roots.

Gifts & Decorative Accessories is one such business. When I first joined the magazine, it was owned by Geyer-McAllister Publications, a small family-owned publishing company. The family was very involved — one of our own staff editors at that time was an owner. But although Gifts & Decorative Accessories is now a part of a larger corporate whole, a sense of family is still an important part of who we are. We, as a staff, are like a small, close-knit family (see photo on page 8). And it is that sense of family that helps to keep us tapped into what this industry is all about: celebrating and caring about those people who are important to us and creating a beautiful and comfortable “family nest.”

We often draw upon our own families — mostly for inspiration, but sometimes for help. This month’s cover story takes a look at a growing category in personal care products, products that address the needs of a special group who are the core of the family unit — moms and babies. When we started planning this month’s cover, our art director Miguel Bravo sketched out the concept. But where to find the models?

In the spirit of family, we looked to our own. Gracing this month’s cover are my niece, Cathy, and her daughter Madeline, my grand-niece. For me, Madeline has been tied to the gift industry since the day she was born; I received the news of her birth as I was “dancing in the aisles” of the Javits Center during the New York International Gift Fair this past February. After receiving the news, instead of dancing in the aisles, I was dancing on air the rest of the day.

And speaking of family … I wish to congratulate the Retailer Excellence Awards Gold Award winners: The Hearst Castle Gift Shop, San Simeon, CA; The Healdsburg Retailers, Healdsburg, CA; The Umstead Hotel Gift Shop, Cary, NC, and ShopAtMoxie.com, DeKalb, IL. They and the other finalists join G&DA’s family roster of illustrious award-winning retailers who set an example and provide inspiration to others.

In case you missed them, some pictures from the REA Awards Gala appear on page 6, and you can log on to GiftsandDec.com for more. I hope that you retailers out there reading this will enter your store in the next Awards competition and become more a part of our family. Start planning your entries now and look for the rules and entry forms coming online in December.

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