Los Angeles
Sheila M. Lehman -- Gifts & Decorative Accessories, 10/1/2000
Trapp Private Gardens offers scented candles and room sprays in its new showroom, space 165 of the L.A. Mart (LAM). The 2-oz. votives, larger candles in glass containers, and 9-oz. room sprays are available in 16 fragrances. Each is saturated with as much premium-quality fragrance as possible-"a bottle of perfume in every candle." Scents include Tuberose, Orange/Vanilla, Mediterranean Fig, Rosemary, and Summer Flowers. Retail is from $3.50 to $18.50.
Golden Mor International/GMI, LAM 655, is a new showroom that features an extensive collection of well priced decorative tabletop and desk accessories, florals, frames, and boxes. New designs are introduced twice a year, and there are many seasonal and Christmas designs. The products are grouped into fun, colorful collections, from bright retro pastels to animal prints and antique gold and silver.
Kathy Weverka, a new showroom in LAM 660, presents tabletop accessories such as platters, chargers, cake plates, candleholders, trays, and bowls, as well as frames, wall shelves, and small desks and furniture pieces that are hand-painted with floral and fruit designs, goldleaf, crackle and faux finishes, retailing from $75 to $1,200. Some of the newest products are painted silk pillows and lampshades. New floorcloths are coated with a durable thermoplastic resin; sizes range from 2'x3' to 6'x8'.
Toland, makers of seasonal and decorative flags, rugs and mats, and other fabric accessories, moved into LAM space 160 on the first floor. A new product is the ArtChime, a hanging windchime wrapped with a changeable decorative sleeve. The sleeve is available in many designs including seasonal, holiday, and garden motifs.
Art & Frame Direct, LAM 110, another new space on the first floor, showcases an extensive line of decorative pieces including bronze statues, oil paintings, mirrors, and architectural fragments, columns, and arches. The bronze pieces range from 14" cherub candleholders at $340 retail, to an ornate 98" bronze street lamp for $6,600 retail. The antique gold framed mirrors retail from $78 to $2,390.
Somerset Studios, LAM 162, presents framed mirrors, graphics, lithographs, prints, and original paintings in a number of styles by many artists. The ever-expanding line retails from $25 to $999.
AtTwo's Company Inc., in the first floor lobby of the LAM, a new collection of gifts and accessories called Gypsy Chic is very popular. Rich jewel tones, gold, and silver in Indian and Moroccan designs, are used on frames, tabletop accessories, jewelry, purses, and more. Two hot items: a scented candle in a shiny metal container wrapped in organza and accented with beads, at $15 retail, and the "Stepping Out Holiday Boots" made with velvet, satin, and tassels, in six designs retailing at $60 each.
Net 30, LAM 730, introduced two new lines. Heart of Wax Candles come in chunky heart, round and square shapes, and votives. They are embedded with fun surprises and retail from $10.50 to $32. Peck Aubry, the premier designer of paper doll products, offers a diverse line which includes the popular Kidoodles, Gone With the Wind, Elvis, Raggedy Anne and Andy, classic fairy tales, and a wonderful paper doll theater.
Katherine's Collection, LAM 646, presents its extensive spring 2001 collection, which includes a new birthday party theme with hand-painted tables and chairs, birthday dolls, tissue crackers, beaded cakes, crocheted candy bags, and papier-mache balloons. Retails range from $3.50 to $450.
