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Direct from Market: National Stationery Show

By Caroline Kennedy -- Gifts and Dec, 5/22/2009 8:58:00 AM

Even with many exhibitors nervously coming into the National Stationery Show not knowing what to expect, the mood of the show was upbeat. From one side of the show floor to the other, vendor after vendor told Gifts & Decorative Accessories that they had few or no expectations, and were very pleasantly surprised and happy at the outcome. Buyers were there and they were writing orders.

“We had someone waiting for us at 9:01 [a.m.],” George White, president of Up With Paper, told us on Sunday opening day, “and we’ve been writing ever since.” He later reported that they had opened a number of new accounts and overall had a good show with positive response to the introduction of two new lines and meeting with key accounts.

Shel Lesher and Steve Kahn of Ivy Lane were enthusiastic about the show, “This is the best show of our experience. We came in not know what to expect.” They noted that the synergies of their two brands, Jamie Lynn and the recently acquired Beverly Clark Collection, contributed to the positive reception.

“We’ve had a great show!” enthused Glory Graham of Xonex. “I didn’t know what to expect, especially since our January show here wasn’t that great. But we’ve done really well.”

Many commented on the smaller size of the show. And indeed, many key vendors were notable for their absence for varying reasons. Some of those company principals made individual appearances in the aisles and at the Greeting Card Assn.’s Louie Awards presentation on Monday evening.

Overall, even accounting for those who opted not to exhibit, the reduced physical size of the show can be attributed to the fact that many exhibitors chose to exhibit in smaller booths to reduce their costs. This created certain freshness to displays as the companies had to rethink their presentation. The smaller size of the show also made it more intimate, which was regarded as a positive, something that created a palpable energy across the floor. There definitely was buzz.

Glen Biely of Madison Park Greetings noted that the feeling of the show was “nice and solid. There is an understanding and openness between manufacturers and retailers. I don’t think that anyone is trying to up-sell.” There is a new respect for the boundaries of when a retailer says the order is complete. “Everyone understands that [retailers] are being smart and careful about [their open-to-buy.]”

Best New Products Humming
Understandably, the number of buyers was down somewhat as well. On Sunday morning, vendors waited nervously as traffic was slow to filter into the aisles. However, the Best Product Display was a hive of activity as attendees spent time taking notes and viewing the newest offerings from vendors before making their way into the show floor.

If traffic was “off,” exhibitors were not complaining because those who buyers who were there, were there to write orders, even if those orders may have been a little more conservative than in other years.

The Best New Products judging seemed more difficult this year as the quality of the entries made it difficult to separate the leaders from the pack. This year’s Best New Product Awards went to:
Desk Accessories: Woodessen Inc. for Stylton Pen Holder & Memo Holder Set made of inlaid wood.
Lifestyle/Specialty Gift:Kookie Stationery for its jumbo sized iced cookies that come with a food safe pen, to write a message of love or humor.
Luxury:'Designers' Fine Press, design by Margot Madison for Garden Ornament Wedding Suite, a collection of letterpressed pieces.
Paper Craft/Scrapbooking: Simply Renee Inc. for the Ribbon Organizer.
Party:ThemeNaps for its innovative napkins folded into creataive shapes
Social Stationery:C.R. Gibson for the uniquely embellished Pocket Gift Card Mailers
Think Green:jacki paper for recycled fortune teller greeting cards made from 100 percent recycled paper, printed with 100 percent wind power credits and packed in a biodegradable cello sleeve.

Grassroots Murmurings
The National Stationery Show, along with its co-located shows the International Contemporary Furniture Fair and Surtex, has always been an incubator for trends and talent. This year it also fertilized the maturing seedlings of two strong grassroots movements that resonate with the retail community: the 3/50 Project and Hope Is In the Cards. Always Upward retail coach, Cinda Baxter of RetailSpeaks and founder of the 3/50 Project discussed the 3/50 to a standing room only audience and attracted national media attention for the idea of “Buy Local” idea supporting all independent local retailers — not just gift and stationery retailers.

Russ Haan explains Hope Is In the Cards to an interested buyer.

Hope Is In the Cards is another grassroots effort being spearheaded by Russ Haan. The basic tenet is to get people to feel better, feel hope, by sending a message of hope — not electronically or using analog means—but by simply sending a greeting card with a positive message. “Sending a card makes a difference,” Haan notes. Part of the idea behind the movement is to promote card sales and written meaningful communication, but more to the point is the get people connecting and sending positive messages rather than buy into the negative messages so prevalent in the media today. Haan spent considerable time explaining to retailers about the project, passing out kits with promotion ideas and how it they might create events in their store and community to send Hope.

Anna Griffin (l) chats with "Real Housewife" "Dina" Manzo (r)

Seen and Heard
“Real Housewives of New Jersey” celebrity Claudine “Dina” Manzo was walking the show on Sunday. Described by the local gossip columns as the “Alpha blonde, Manzo crusied through the Anna Griffin booth while Gifts & Decorative Accessories was there. A recent newlywed, apparently Manzo sent out Griffin invitations for her nuptials.

Kathy Davis

Artist Kathy Davis was in the American Greetings booth to sign her book, Scatter Joy, promote its related social networking web site – www.scatterjoy.com – and to introduce the collection of cards, gift wrapping and stationery. The former art teacher left teaching to pursue her own art and stay true to herself. Her latest work is all about “joy and pulling in joy all around you.” The book is a story of her own personal journey to finding and creating the joy in her life. Flowers are a key element in her art and symbolic of how, like flowers scatter their seeds to grow and bloom, people can scatter the seeds of joy to grow and bloom in our lives.

We are used to customers having a good time and laughing while they are reading greeting cards, but how often do you hear people laughing over napkin packs? Well, if you bring in such lines as Shannon Martin’s beverage napkins or Inviting Company's licensed Naughty Betty collection of napkins and party accessories, be prepared for the giggles and guffaws. Buyers were having a good time reading the quips and quotes on these lines.

Company News
Russsel + Hazel, known for it chic, minimalist style home office and organization accessories was recently acquired by Gartner Studios.

Delphine is entering the retail side of the business. Erika Firm is launching Green Paperie www.greenpaperie.com an online stationery boutique. Lionel Flax has joined Delphine and Green Paperie to work on sales and marketing. Flax is a member of New York’s Sam Flax retail store family.

Product Standouts

Miquel-rius

New doesn’t always mean starting from scratch to come up with something new. Menus & Music released a line of greeting cards that include a recipe card, notecard and a one-song download. Sharon O'Connor is repurposing the recipe cards and music from her line of entertaining boxed gift sets of mood music CDs and themed recipes for greater reach at a good price point.

Miquel-rius debuted a collection by American designer Joshua Davis. The collection includes notes and journals, as well as messenger bags, backpacks and more. The designs are bright, sophisticated and contemporary.

Alicia Klein introduced Kindle cases with bright decorative covers to give these new electronic devices a fashion look, while protecting them at the same times. One new design will feature the artwork from old Nancy Drew Mysteries. The covers are available in three styles: book, notebook and sleeve.

The product of debuting company Revolver stopped me in my tracks. The firm presented an unusual notebook/journal that works like a magic trick. Its design allows it to be turned inside out to reveal a second folio.

Timeworks, known for its large scale decorative wall clocks, has entered the greeting gift market with the line PopArt by Timeworks. Vintage images on a hard board are combined with a clock mechanism and a sentiment. It’s an occasion greeting and a decorative accessory in one.

Felt party and gift accessories from Twinkle

Twinkle's fun felt items

Eieio introduced a pad of giftwrap; 18 sheets of wrapping paper are bound like a wallpaper book or presentation pad. It can hang on the wall from a silver cord and be decorative when not in use. The company also introduced a collection of sturdy, decorative boxes that can also be used for storage and re-gifting.

Seed paper is going to the birds at Cast Paper Art. The company offers cast paper ornaments embedded with bird seed. Birds eat the seeds and reuse the paper cotton to line their nests.

Wool felt accessories from Twinkle dress up the party table and gifts. There are fun centerpieces that resemble cakes, gift tag/napkin rings with chalkboard leaves that can used in place of placecards or gift enclosures and felt flower bows among the offerings..

S E Hagarman

S.E. Hagarman, another new company, presented a striking collection of upscale hand-embellished cards and notecards featuring the artwork of Stacey Hagarman. There are several different collections including bug motifs, florals and fashion icons.

Compendium

Compendium introduced a children’s book, Tickle Monster. It comes with a pair of plush “tickle monster” gloves for parental fun and interaction with their child.

New and Notable
Madison Park Greetings has partnered to represent several new lines including Prentiss Douthit and WhoMi. New from Prentiss Douthit are boxed Any Occasion Greetings that you just “add a greeting or sign and send.” WhoMi has added the “How Do I Do It” pad list organizer

Meri Meri

Boxed notes in reusable trinket boxes seems to be a value-added direction in notecards. These were seen at C.R. Gibson’s iota brand and at Vera Bradley. And Meri Meri introduced a very creative line of reusable packaging. There are currently five styles: two geared to encouraging kids to write more and three for more mature customers. The two children’s notesets are delightful: a pirate ship for boys and a pink castle for girls. They are filled with notecards, postcards, writing sheets and stickers.

Notes & Queries brought in 12 new companies from Europe including Colcards a line of beautiful foil-stamped greetings. Many of the cards feature stained glass like looks, Art Nouveau and Arts & Crafts style imagery. A fun item from N&Q is a line of lenticular bookmarks. N&Q is merchandising them on a swinging stand so that customers can get a better sense of the changing image. And for the small impulse gift item, N&Q introduced Miss Tweezies fashionable cosmetic tweezers and decorated Glass Nail files that are available alone or in a coordinating case.

Licensed to Sell
Calypso Cards introduced the “Porn for Women” line of cards based on the popular books from Chronicle. The line was generating a lot of interest from buyers, noted Calypso sales manager Nicki Burton.

C.R. Gibson introduced a number of new collections. The Cucina kitchen collection includes recipe binders, file boxes, etc. all done in earthtones. The design has a more contemporary look and features spot varnish for a touch of shine. New in its Anna Griffin license is Georgette, a wedding collection of albums, photo books and guest books done in a delicate robin’s egg blue with ivory flocking or a lace pattern. Gibson has a new licensed Lolita holiday collection; the napkins feature fun cocktail recipes. The company also introduced a new size gift bag in its Lolita line; the bags are sized specifically to hold the Santa Barbara packaging for the Lolita drinkware.

Crane is marking the 250th wedding anniversary of George and Martha Washington with a licensed collection from Mt. Vernon. The collection offers notecards featuring an icon of Martha’s writing desk, a Washington quotation and the Washington family crest. There is also a line of holiday cards. Crane’s latest sales figures show that its notecard featuring a playful monkey design has taken over the top spot held for so long by its classic plain ivory note.

Lifeguard Press added a new license in addition to its bright Lilly Pulitzer line. Lifeguard is now working with Susan Branch and introduced a desk calendar on an easel frame and a desk calendar blotter, and showed prototypes of a dry erase board and other items being developed. Another major licensing deal may be in the works for 2010. Stay tuned …

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