Divining the Future

We all know that the face of retailing in America is changing. What we don't know is what it's changing to, and what it will look like two, three, or five years from now. One barometer we at Gifts & Decorative Accessories use to get a sense of where the specialty retailer is heading is the entries we receive in our annual Retailer Excellence Awards (REA) competition. This year, the competition closed April 16, and our panel of judges sat down to review the materials a week or so later. (The panel included Gifts & Dec's editors, contributing editor Linda Cahan, and George Little Management exhibit designer Matthew Goodman.) The entries were judged in three categories: Store Design, Promotion, and Visual Merchandising.

In the Store Design category, we noticed a number of entries that were opening new or renovated stores in historic or revitalized downtown areas of small and medium-sized cities in California, Illinois, New Jersey, Texas, and Utah. (Although one entry moved out of a historic district in a Kentucky town, not because it wasn't successful, but because it was suffering growing pains and needed more space.) The other point our panel noted was that these stores were very specialized, their owners having very strong concepts of what they wanted to sell, who they wanted to sell to, and the image they wanted to present.

It was in the entries in the Promotion category that we saw connection to community. Besides store events, these retailers partake in a wide range of projects, from raising funds for food banks to presenting the works of area artists. They, and their stores, are very much a part of the local lore.

All the entries were impressive, but the panel had to make decisions and name finalists for the 2004 Retailer Excellence Awards competition. They are: for Store Design, The Burlap Horse, Boerne, TX, and Mikasa, Schaumburg, IL. For Promotion, Details Ink, Minneapolis; Homescapes, Carmel, Carmel, CA; and Nook 'n Cranny, Vermillion, SD. For Visual Merchandising, Artezen, Bloomington, IL.

The Gold and Silver REA Awards will be presented at our annual gala at New York's Plaza hotel, August 15, during the run of the New York International Gift Fair.