Market Report: Birmingham

Spring Fair Birmingham, produced by Trade Promotion Services (TPS), got off to a fast start on February 4, with streams of buyers making their way to the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham, England.

This year, fair organizers reconfigured the show into four main sectors — Giving, Living, Greetings and Jewelry — to enable visitors "to spend less time walking and more time buying," according to managing director Allison Jones. But walk you did, as the fair filled all 22 exhibition halls of the NEC complex, and featured some 4,000 exhibitors from 50 countries, as well as more than 78,000 buyers from all over the world.

As is generally our strategy at U.S. gift shows, the first place that we headed was the design-forward section of the show — in this case, Hall 8, The Summerhouse. This must-see section featured quality exhibitors on the leading edge of trends and design, including a varied range of contemporary giftware, decorative accessories and interior furnishings.

What was immediately striking was how familiar everything seemed, especially after having just covered major U.S. gift shows; many product lines, looks and company names were familiar. The gift industry has truly become a global industry, an impression that was reaffirmed in aisle after aisle at Spring Fair.

But that's not to say there was no opportunity for to discover wonderful new things at the fair. Quite the contrary.

Whether you're a retailer or vendor, Spring Fair Birmingham presents fresh ideas and plenty of opportunities. One of the first Summerhouse exhibitors we encountered was SIA, known for its collections of beautiful, realistic permanent florals. The SIA "stand" (or booth, as we would say in American) was at least 10 times larger than its U.S. versions, and exhibited a far more extensive range of not only florals, but whole home and garden lifestyle settings of giftwares, home decor, textiles and furnishings. The selection featured four themed collections: Fresh Spring, with grassy yellow-greens; Happy Summertime, comprised of pinks and rose; Harmonious Home, in delicate blues and periwinkle; and Sophisticated Home in black, gray, cream and white.

An American company that we encountered, TAG, was exhibiting its full line here for the first time. CEO Norman Glassberg was on hand to oversee all matters pertaining to the exhibit, as well as meeting with customers and reps.

TAG's Garry Schermann enthusiastically commented, "We're having a brilliant show! This show is meeting and exceeding our expectations." He went on to explain that it was "meeting expectations" in regard to orders written, and "exceeding" them in regard to meeting with customers who knew the line, but had not been familiar with the full extent of TAG's offerings.

For an American buyer, being able to view the more complete offerings of companies such as SIA makes a visit to shows such as Spring Fair worthwhile. It helps to put lines into context and gives them the advantage of being able set their store apart from their competition. And for U.S. exhibitors, TAG's experience of being able to expose the European retailer to its full offerings allows a company growth opportunities and the ability to attract new business and increase its trading area.

For the complete Birmingham Report, visit www.giftsanddec.com and click on "Direct From Market."