Direct from Market: Dallas Total Home & Gift
by Caroline Kennedy -- Gifts and Dec, 7/1/2009 11:58:00 AM
The 100-plus degree heat in Dallas did not deter buyers from making their way from all over Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas and beyond to the Dallas Market Center for the Dallas Total Home & Gift Market. And those buyers were there to buy. A number of vendors commented on steady traffic and order-writing right from the starting gate. And according to DMC’s Cole Daugherty, attendance figures held up to those of a year ago, before the boom began to lower on the economy.
For some of the exhibitors and showrooms featuring more of the higher end merchandise in home décor, gifts and accessories, business was not quite as brisk as in markets past, even though Dallas hasn’t been as affected by the drop in the housing market as other areas. Buyers, being more cautious, were seeking value and style at lower price points. Robert Wang of Creative Co-op noted that his 
business was up 100 percent this market. Buyers are responding to the value and quality of the company’s well-priced lines and the shoppers are responding to the affordable stylishness, he noted.
Mainstreet Collection debuted its new showroom, taking over the showroom space formerly occupied by Waterford Wedgwood in the Dallas Trade Mart. The company having grown by leaps and bounds recently felt it was time to have a permanent home to display its growing offerings.
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Bill Winsor, CEO of Dallas Market Center, announces Next Big Thing winner, Donna Potter, left. |
Awards and Honors
The Dallas Market Center announced its second Next Best Thing winner: Donna Potter for her Freedom Gates. Freedom Gates are designer doggie gates for those times when you need to keep a pet contained in a certain area of the house. They are designed to fit and mount in most regular doorways and add a more decorative element to a home’s décor than standard dog barriers. The gates feature an interchangeable element so that the motifs can be changed out according to season, style or mood. Potter is already working on line extensions. The choice of the winner was based on votes cast online by buyers as well as an evaluation by a judging panel of three industry representatives. Potter won a prize package worth $10,000 including mentoring by industry experts and a free exhibit space for the January 2010 market. The next Next Big Thing contest will take place June 2010.
The other two finalists in the Next Big Thing also presented industry-worthy marketable products that attracted buyer interest. Sabrina and Heath Russell’s BibBaby bib is an oversized shaped bib that protects a child’s clothing from food and drink spills. The bibs come in six fashionable bright patterns that don’t scream “baby.”
The other finalist, EZ Off BBQ, presented grilling tools that were modified for greatly improved ease of use. The EZ Off Pusher Fork has a patented spring-loaded push button system that pushes the meat off the fork, making it easier to turn pieces on the grill or serve them onto the platter with one hand. There are also a set of Skewers with a slider to help push the cooked food off the skewer more easily. Attracting the most interest from retailers was the gift set of seven tools — the four skewers, the pusher fork, tongs and a spatula — with an aluminum carrying case.
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Don McEvoy |
A special presentation was made to long time rep Don McEvoy on Saturday evening by all the companies that he represents. Sande Zatt, the new vice president of sales and marketing for Lampe Berger spoke on behalf of assembled group and thanked him for his 40 years of support, mentoring and friendship. McEvoy’s son John, who works with him in the business, then presented his father with a commemorative plaque.
Lampe Berger has a big presence in the Don McEvoy showroom. As the company that developed the first fragrance lamps more than 100 years ago and brought them to the gift market more than 20 years ago, it is making a big impact reestablishing it premier position in the home fragrancing category. Lampe Berger’s CEO Phillippe Lentz flew in from Paris for the market and the presentation to Don McEvoy.
Home Style
Solo Home presented two styles of decorative lighters in the newly relocated Madeline Wells showroom. One is an elegant lighter with an antique style, serveware style handle and a long tip for lighting the dining room tapers, the gas fireplace or deep pillars. The other style is a compact contemporary design in bright metallic colors and with an extendable tip.
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Lone Elm Studios, div of the Gerson Cos. |
The Gerson Companies introduced a new lifestyle brand — Lone Elm Studios — which consists of totes, journals, magnet boards, ceramic bird houses, decorative accessories and more. It has a soft romantic vintage feel to it that is appealing.
While not new, vinyl peel-and-stick wall décor is continuing to grow and many vendors are introducing different creative takes. DCWV Home presents an interesting and creative use of this medium in its Once Upon a Wall Collection. It offers real working clocks created with vinyl numbers and designs, along with clock mechanisms, that can be stuck directly to the wall.
When it comes to luxury, the Pillow Bar is the Rolls Royce of pillows. The Pillow Bar is a free-standing unit that will custom make a down bedding pillow for a customer right before their very eyes. This is no small investment for a retailer, but for those who cater to that very upscale crowd which is looking for the unique and the luxurious, this is something very different. For retailers who want to be able to offer this custom service without the equipment in the store they can custom order through the company and their order will be shipped within 48 hours. Retailers can also stock non customized pillows. They come in three different styles according to the customer’s sleeping pattern: side sleeper, back sleeper, front sleeper. For the gift retailer, there is a travel-sized pillow that can be personalized for gifting. It’s a great bridal attendant suggestion that is practical as well as thoughtful.
Peacock Park is a line of vintage-y, romantic home and garden items. Of particular note are its bamboo floor mats in several sizes that are printed with antique text or alphabets for a little graphic interest on the floor.
Keeping Up With Kids
Looking for baby plush that offers more than just soft, cuddliness. Cloud B has soft plush that also soothes baby. The Dozy Dolphin is made of soft bamboo fabric and plays soothing sounds to comfort baby. And the Polar Cuddle Cub incorporates a vibration unit in its body that vibrates when the bear is hugged. It's almost like holding a purring cat. The company also has bamboo fabric blankets and wraps.
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Manual Woodworkers' L'il Cow Pokie from the Izzy line. |
Manual Woodworkers’ new Izzy brand attracted a lot of interest from customers. The L’il Cow Pokie collection roped’em right in. It was the number one hit of the line in Dallas. It is a natural for that area of the country.
Dabba Walla presented an adorable line of lightweight neoprene backpacks and lunch bags for kids. The designs have a lot of kid appeal and they are sized just right, not too big.
The Neatnik Saucer keeps baby’s feeding area clean. It’s a large, round high chair cover that provides a larger dining surface that protects the surrounding area from spills and dropped food. It is portable and collapses into a 12” carrying bag for moms-on-the-go.
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The Shoul |
In Fashion
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Bella |
The new affordable fashion accessories line Bella, which debuted at the National Stationery Show in New York, is being well received. New at the Dallas Market is a collection of peel-and-stick embroidered monogram initials to personalize anything in the Bella collection or add a little personal pizzazz to any other tote, bag or accessory a customer wishes.
Switchflops by Lindsay Phillips debuted a new style: ballet flats with changeable decorative brooch elements for the shoe top. Customers can choose a different style for each day of the week. Phillips promotional materials note that she “couldn’t stop with the flop!”
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Jeremie's trinket gifts |
Packaged-to-Go
Notable in the Jeremie line of inspirational gift and home decor are some smaller gift items — gift-boxed trinket gifts, which make great pick up items. Small boxes have a decorative trinket or inspirational token nested inside and are priced to retail under $10.
The Beauchamp Collection has reinvented itself. Long known for its silver accessories, and personal and home accessories, it has updated its offerings with a selection of young fun, gifts-to-go. There are several collections of jewelry, compacts, candles, wine stoppers and more that come gift-packaged and affordably priced. For example, necklaces and bracelets come in their own suede jewelry cases and are gift-packaged as well. All the items in the collection are priced to retail under $30. Some items feature monogram initials, others feature witty or inspirational messages or imagery.
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Fringe Studio's packaged holiday gifts |
Fringe Studio’s holiday collection of packaged ornaments, soaps and accessories were attracting a lot of interest. They are priced right, ready to go gifts.
Novel Ideas
Is the Pet Rock going to make a come back? It will if iStar Entertainment has anything to say about it – only this is a pet rock of another kind. The toy company has created a collection of pet rock characters, each with its own personality and animal-like look. There is a pet rock interactive website and each character has its own Facebook and Twitter pages. They also have a charity tie-in with CAAF Children Affected with Aids Foundation.
A new take on the koozie (those insulating covers for beer and soda cans), is the Woozie, an insulating sleeve for wine glasses. These slip onto the glass up the stem and over the bowl; a drawstring cinches it up around the bowl of the glass. They are customizable and monogrammable. They come in an assortment of colors including jeweltones and neon colors.
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Karoma fragrance lockets for the car from Poo-Pourri |
New from Poo-pourri is the Karoma line of aromatherapy fragrancers for your automobile. Karoma offers four styles of lockets — Love, Hope, Faith and Peace — that hold a scent insert that neutralizes odors and provides the benefits of aromatherapy while you are on the road. Scent inserts come in six different fragrances.
Peel-and-stick stickers move into the bathroom with Toilet Tattoos, stickers for decorating the lid of the commode. They come in both round and elongated styles to fit both toilet lid shapes.
That's all for now from Dallas. Next up … Atlanta.
In the chill of air conditioning or on a plane, ladies sometimes need a little something extra to throw around their shoulders but don’t want to wear a sweater and a shawl or other type of wrap that is difficult to keep in place without having to wrap it around which sometimes limits arm motion. The Shoul is an answer. This is a stylish shaped wrap that drapes easily over the shoulders and stays in place. It is lightweight, warm and soft. It comes in several colors and in three different knit fabrics: a soft cashmere blend, an acrylic and a cotton style. And you don’t have to worry about size.
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