UPDATE: Direct from Market: Dallas
Caroline Kennedy and Meredith Schwartz -- Gifts and Dec, 7/1/2010 4:34:13 PM
The Dallas Total Home & Gift Market set the summer gift and home trade show season in motion. The 100-degree temperatures did not deter the buyers from making their way to the Dallas Market Center to see the many new product introductions and get their third and fourth quarter buying lists attended to.
Buyer traffic seemed steady with its constant ebb and flow and showrooms reporting overall good business. The temporary exhibits had their usual hustle and bustle of business on Friday when they opened, and continued to be a destination for buyers making their rounds.
Creating a wave of interest and excitement up on the 12th floor, were the finalists of the third annual Next Big Thing contest. The winner —- Clothes And Go — was announced with great ceremony on Saturday afternoon. The other two finalists were Sand Gone sand-removing powder and Sutton Gourmet Paper baking cups that don't lose their designs.
Also on 12, Anne McGilvray & Company had a renewed presence in the Marketcenter's temps with four out of the 100 lines that the sales organization reps. The booth, displaying Knock Knock, Anne Taintor, Blue Q and DCI, was very busy writing orders. It also served to reinforce awareness of Anne McGilvray's large showroom facility a short distance from the DMC campus where all its lines are showcased extensively
Biz Buzz 
Global Views
just purchased Dallas-based plastic drinkware company CoolCupsandStuff. CoolsCups' Camie Hodges will remain on board to head up the brand.
Cheryl Karpen of Gently Spoken and author of the Eat Your Peas series of inspirational gift books has just signed a book deal with Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Alice Pacthod was in attendance for her first trade show as the new owner and CEO of Rhinestone Ruby. She is looking ahead to expand the line with fresh ideas and designs.
On Trend
Orange joined turquoise as the hot color; the two were shown paired with one another as well as with creamy and white neutrals and other bright mid-tones, especially red and green.
Silver and gold metallics shown in home décor, particularly in home accents such as the striking silver skyline lampshade from Accents de Ville, and in and the Home for the Holidays displays.
Accents de Ville
The steampunk influence in home décor continued, complete with leather dressers that recall steamer trunks, plus gears, keys and mechanisms as decorative elements in lighting and accessories at Global Views and Imax, among others. Combining the keys and green trends was the glam naturale collection's new key motif.
New Lines, Fresh Finds
News at Enesco includes the A Lovely Day line, combining pinks, oranges, greens, flowers and faces in a cheerful spring look, as well as Kitschy Kats, decorated in a variety of playful and abstract schemes.
At Demdaco, finds included Sound Tracks, plushy animal foot slippers that make noise, as well as a collection from new artist Donna Downey, a line of cupcake plates and inspirational blocks both large and small.
For kids, notable introductions included envirosax featuring the iconic Sesame Street muppets, Silly Softs ingenious multi-piece fuzzy seating that stacks into a monsterrific face, from P'kolino, and Emotes, creatures chock full of personality with coordinating 
P'kolino
books who express their emotions and help children do the same. Also cool for kids is Boon's animal bag, a big plush bean-bag style ottoman without the stuffing, so kids can fill it up with storage. The chiquininos line of Spanish children's tees features sayings such as "Chiquita Bonita" and "Hecho en America".
In green goods, two new twists on the water bottle stood out: Bobble, which was introduced at the Housewares Show in March and is already in a number of specialty chains including The Container Store, is a shapely BPA-free, clear plastic bottle featuring a replaceable, colorful filter that cleans as you drink. Vapur, "the anti-bottle," stands like a bottle, but folds, rolls or flattens when empty. Also green was the Spaghetti Scrub from Goodbye Detergent, which (as the name claims) lets dishwashers skip the soap for all but heavy grease.
Vapur
While freestanding firepits have become a staple of deck décor, as well as self-contained indoor fireplaces for the chimney-deprived, this market showcased a number of much smaller, more affordable takes on the stand-alone firepot, suitable as a tabletop centerpiece and retailing for about $100. The rep for the Real Flame said they worked so well they overheated the showroom, and were selling like, pun intended, hot cakes.
In personal care, one clever find was the Nailritz, a stacking wand of coordinating nail polishes each of which have both a brush and a pen end, for an all-in-one decorative nail art kit.
Danielson Designs
Danielson Designs debuted a major new collection featuring large, affordably priced hanging wall décor that includes felt and printed linen as well as the company's signature wood.
Just for Kicks
Only in Dallas: We spotted no less than three different companies making cowboy-shaped rainboots, all bearing colorful and funky designs, including Occasionally Made and Just for Kicks.
It's hard to find anything new left to do in home fragrance, but somehow our creative industry manages. We spotted new Easy Scents from French fragrance firm Lampe Berger, as well as Stonewick diffuser sticks which are literally made out of rock and diffuse water-based scents. Meanwhile Roman entered the candle category with its new enLIGHTen candle line of pillar and votive inspirational and home décor offerings.
We spotted several ingenious problem-solvers at the show. Jamie Raquel offered file totes in feminine colors with a lifestyle look. And ChicBuds offered a keychain speaker for iPod earbuds, allowing consumers to play a song out loud for a friend, while getting ready in a hotel room, or anywhere on the go. The Purse Keyper, a first-time exhibitor, presented a "leash" or "collar" strap for a handbag to enable a lady to secure her 
Plush Pumpkin
handbag (or keys or briefcase) to a shopping cart (or chair). It is available in many bright colors and patterns.
In holiday and seasonal décor, one stand-out was the Plush Pumpkin. Made of luxurious colored velvet and a real pumpkin stem in sizes from petite to plump, they bring a touch of true luxury to autumn centerpieces. Though this was the company's first show, one of its early retailers did a staggering $40,000 a year in them.
Looking ahead to fall fashion and creating quite a stir were new sweater-knit wraps from Top It Off Accessories and the Mad-danna, a versatile accessory that can be used at a hairband, scrunchy, hood, cowl-neck band and more, from Mad by Design. And keeping its focus on summer, Needham Lane, known for its beautifully patterned pjs, has branched out into cotton resortwear — shifts, beachbag totes and tunics.
Top It Off Accessories
In portable lighting, Kichler is making some of its table lamps taller to fill more vertical space in rooms with high ceilings. The company also introduced a line of lamps handcrafted in the U.S.A. The lamp bases are hand-painted and hand-finished pieces of art. LED lighting is making its way into the home and providing greater creative license to lamp designers.
Inner Space
Grace Direct, owner of the Votivo, Bridgewater and Greenleaf candle lines, opened a new showroom in WTC space 205. In addition to the ribbon cutting, the company celebrated the debut of its new Light A Candle, Feed A Child campaign and special edition candle.
The Erik Hahn & Associates showroom moved from its back corridor space in the World Trade Center to a new location, space 1333, in the Trade Mart. Although the space is somewhat smaller than the previous location, Erik Hahn's Kim Duncan noted that they were seeing more traffic due to the better location. Despite the smaller space, they found enough room to add Mudlark into the showroom's mix of stationery gift lines. Mudlark debuted some new ceramic giftwares including salt-and-pepper sets and giant mugs. Duncan reported that Mudlark's new affordably priced magnet portfolios are selling very well.
Kichler Lighting
The Portico Collection expanded its WTC space to give its exhibiting lines a little more elbow room to spread out, according to Stella Martin whose Fine Whines, Noble Initials and Belle Monde lines are in the showroom. Martin's new custom bag program is receiving a lot of interest from customers. She was also taking a lot of orders on a new line of pewter, even though the samples were still en route from India! The showroom's expansion also allowed Portico to add Impex Intl.'s iTrends line of fashion readers.
Another new showroom is shared by several manufacturers — Precious Moments, Ne'Qua, Fenton, Cathedral Art, Dexsa and James Lawrence — in TM 2503. Precious Moments holds the lease on the space. The companies banded together about two years ago to share the same salespeople. The showroom is the next step in the shared sales concept for these manufacturers.
Other new showrooms included Coton Colors opening in TM 2212 and Kalalou in TM 2010, among others.
I was wondering if this show is be good fit for an exhibit house to sell Trade Show Displays?
www.capitalexhibits.com
Fred Jafarzadeh - 2010-07-01 22:36:01 EDT
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