Russ Berrie to Receive Industry Award
Staff -- Gifts & Decorative Accessories, 4/1/2003
Gifts & Decorative Accessories named Russell Berrie its Industry Achievement Award honoree for 2003. Russ, who passed away suddenly last Christmas Day, was one of the gift industry's modern day pioneers, whose success was based on his innate ability to develop relationships within the industry. Over the course of 40 years, he built Russ Berrie & Company from its beginnings in a rented garage into a global giant in the giftware industry, and was responsible for the huge popularity of such products as Fuzzy Wuzzies, the Bupkis Family, SilliSculpts, Trolls, and Bears From the Past. In 2002, Russ Berrie & Co., whose shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange, had sales in excess of $320 million. Russ Berrie was told about the Industry Achievement Award honor shortly before his death. His wife, Angelica Berrie, will accept the award in his honor during Gifts & Dec's annual Retailer Excellence Award gala dinner at the Plaza hotel, August 10, 2003, during the run of the New York International Gift Fair.
