Highlights of the Decade
By Staff -- Gifts & Decorative Accessories, 2/1/2007
What's in a name? Apparently a lot ... or so it seemed to the editors of The Gift and Art Shop, which officially changed its name to The Gift and Art Buyer in July 1934. And the reason for the change? Not surprisingly, it was market forces that led the magazine's editors to reconsider its title.
"The swift growth of the industry, particularly in recent years, has wrought many changes. Highly important as it is and always will be, the gift and art shop is no longer the only retail factor in the business. Other types of shop are handling gift and art goods and the decorative accessories and furnishings which have come into such prominence during the past decade. Profitable gift and art and decorative furnishings departments...testify to the success the department stores and specialty shops have met with in a field once strictly limited to the individual gift and art shop.
The new name gives recognition to this expansion of the trade by indicating that the magazine exists to serve not only those who buy for the shops but all those who buy for the trade's other retail outlets as well."
Specialty shops competing with large department stores — sounds familiar, doesn't it? Well, the more things change...
