REA Time
By Quinn Halford -- Gifts & Decorative Accessories, 9/1/2005
Awards presentations, full-fledged partying, and a summer rainstorm of biblical proportions all came together at the 54th annual REA (Retailer Excellence Awards) gala dinner, Sunday, August 14, during the run of the New York International Gift Fair. Some 260 guests celebrated aboard the dinner cruise boat Celestial as it sailed New York harbor. Fortunately, a pause in the storm was perfectly timed as the boat arrived at the Statue of Liberty, brilliantly illuminated at night. Guests, many on the open decks, reverently paused before the magnificent sight as a muffled voice was heard to say, “Give me your wet, your bedraggled …”
The 2005 REA Awards were presented in three categories. For Promotion, it was Fête, Green Bay, WI (Gold) and Gardener's Folly, Pentwater, MI (Silver). For Visual Merchandising, The Burlap Horse, Boerne, TX (Gold) and The Shady Lady, Pocatello, ID (Silver). For Store Design, The Carrol Boyes Store, New York, and Liberty Craftworks, Dearborn, MI (Gold). Paddington Station, Ashland, OR, and Imagine, Warren, RI (Silver). Also honored were the 17 original exhibitors of the Handmade division of the NYIGF, celebrating its 20th anniversary, and craft retailers The Clay Pot, Brooklyn, NY; risd works, Providence, RI, and Sundance Catalog, Salt Lake City. George Little Management sponsored the gala event. Co-sponsors were Dallas Market Center, Western Exhibitors, DMG World Media, Tecsys, and 230 Fifth Avenue. 7W New York sponsored the cocktail reception.
