Market Report — West Coast: Seattle
By Melissa Haberstroh -- Gifts & Decorative Accessories, 2/19/2008 10:20:00 AM
February 19, 2008 — The Seattle Gift Show and Pacific Market Center joined forces to create a “buzz” during Seattle Market Week. The show’s complementary totes in vibrant lime green coincided with the focus on “Green Retailing.” In addition to an educational program by Small Business Consultant Lynn Switanowski on the latest trends in Green Retailing, the show featured a “Landing Zone” of green products. California appears to lead the pack where “green thinking” goes, but according to many we spoke to, Washington and her Northwest counterparts aren’t far behind.
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| Pampeana |
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| The Rave 'N' Iron |
There was also a lot of buzz at the Quarry Collection booth, where owner/designer Charles Mason grabbed a few moments between customers to tell us about his natural slate items. Every product is designed by the furniture maker-cum-designer, and handmade in Boulder, CO. While coasters are his top seller hands-down, I was lured deep into his booth by one of his newest items, a wall vase. The simplicity of the natural slate combined elegantly with etched and clear glass vases; I could imagine a statement wall in a store using twelve of these beauties! Mason’s personal favorite is the new Natura Wall Art collection, which features contemporary nature patterns.
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| Real Insect Company |
Squeals of delight resonated from the buyers of Squak Mt. Greenhouses & Nursery of Issaquah, Washington at The Real Insect Company’s booth. Said manager Molly Lavelle: “It’s a natural addition to our store.” She and associate buyer Michele Seth-Bristow were looking for new “green” lines, noting that there was a growing interest among their shoppers in items that were environmentally sensible. When asked who was leading the charge with green products (independents vs. big box or chains), Molly noted that she thought membership warehouse giant Costco (headquartered in Issaquah) was a leader. The Clorox Company follows closely behind with its recent purchase of Burt’s Bees.
Molly and Michele also loved the bird and nature themes at Park Hill, whose booth was a real inspiration to any retailer looking to create the atmosphere of an upscale garden shed within their store. Even if it hadn’t been sunny in Seattle, this display would have made all of us believe spring had settled in.
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| Bambu |
Artsy Seattle
Around the corner from Park Hill was Kirkland, WA-based CurtisLithos, a company that offers faithfully reproduced, limited edition lithographs from Seattle photographer Edward S. Curtis (1868–1952). Anyone interested in photographic and Western history was welcomed with an enjoyable and informative chat with president and “historian” Maury Floathe. Maury told me that he, like others I spoke to, were enjoying a great deal of business from the tourist stores, especially those located near cruise ships.
Seattle is no stranger to the arts, and the more that I explored the show, the more I saw of local companies and their creations. P.J. Salvage is Seattle-based and one of the worlds' best-known pajama companies. They’re known for using luxury fabrics in their ageless night and loungewear, including tops, shorts, and pants and jackets that feature Sea Cell Viscose. Natural algaes in this fiber contain minerals and vitamins that are passed on to the wearer’s skin. When asked about additional “green” offerings, sales representative Missy Gefkovicz said that when it comes to trend, style dominates. Exploring their collection of loungewear, I began wishing that samples were available for my after market put-your-feet-up glass of wine!
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| Heelarious |
While in Seattle we were on constant watch for great display ideas — and a company called Peas n’ Karrots had a darling booth featuring several lines geared towards baby. Most notable were Serendipity Designs’ high end hair accessories, blingybaby’s t-shirts and onesies and PortaMEe, which has enjoyed popularity on the East Coast but is fairly new to the West. This hands-free baby carrier offers a lumbar support for the toting parent. Sales rep Thea Wood said that the attractive booth along with the presence of company owners drew show-goers, which proved successful for all of her lines.
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| Allison Bell Designs |
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| Little Knits |
For the Kitchen
Over at the Pacific Market Center, we found an unbelievable resource for gourmet and kitchen-related products. We spent a considerable time at Murdock & White specialty food brokerage (a.k.a. showroom) nibbling on many region-specific foods, including Tom Douglas’ Rub with Love spices and marinades. The San Francisco Chocolate Factory caught the eye with its Wine Lover’s Chocolate Collection, which features discs of dark chocolate ideally matched to wine varietals (which any gift store could offer without a big commitment to gourmet). Knipschildt Chocolatier’s 18-pack of artisan-painted and handmade white chocolate quail eggs come in a festive egg crate with hay. Their signature line of chocolates is packaged in handmade paper boxes in the most luscious of colors. And they taste great too.
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| Silcone Zone |
At Campbell Associates, Mike Stoeck gave me a tour of some of his showroom’s heavy hitters, including Silicone Zone’s Grid Heart Pot Holder ($10 retail). This heart-shaped potholder is red on one side and pink on the other. One of his stores sold 500 last week alone. With sales like that, it must be okay to give a potholder to your Valentine.
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| Upper Canada Soap & Candle Makers |
Oddities and Ends
Display Idea of the Show award went to Bulkley Associates for their jellybean wall. This low-cost display crafted of lightweight Luan plywood and jelly beans caught the eye of everyone in the Market Center. (They even had a contest to guess how many jelly beans were used in the display.) The jelly bean wall was the backdrop for Zak Designs’ Meeme line of
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| Zak Designs |
While coffee has its place in Seattle, tea is extremely popular as well, as was demonstrated by the Pacific Market Center’s complimentary tea room and held each day. Xela Aromasticks’ (xela is Greek for sticks) collection of tea-fragranced scent diffusers are perfect for tea lovers and gift stores alike. The company that makes the “Tea for You” collection is Dallas-based Beauty Bureau, which employs individuals with barriers to employment and gives a portion of its sales to Goodwill Industries.
Yvonne Quinton carefully selected each of the lines in her new showroom, the Quinton Group. Her main goal is to offer lines that are Made in the USA, part of the cottage industry and offer products that give back. Sea Stones of New Hampshire offers stone-topped wine bottle stoppers and Coast Hooks. The company is proud of its dedication to the environment, and boasts a “Replanting Policy” that affirms that for every smooth stone collected, a rough stone is “planted” for the water to tumble into smoothness.
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| Elephant Poo Poo Paper Co. |
What do you do with elephant poo collected at the zoo (actually conservation parks)? You make Elephant Poo Poo paper greeting cards, note boxes, photo albums and journals, of course! The Great Elephant Poo Poo Paper Company Ltd. creates elegant papers from elegant dung. Retailers are mostly buying the pre-pack kit, commonly referred to as the “plop,” which contains a fixed assortment of products in four colors. Educational signage explains the poo-to-paper process plus one jar of clean poo fibers for display. Of course, a portion of the sales supports elephant welfare and conservation programs.
Bling is another big trend that didn’t miss the flight to Seattle. For charm bracelets and dog collars, Little Gifts offer crystal dog bone-shaped charms covered in pink crystals. (In fact, crystals were on everything from t-shirts to jewelry to cell phone covers.)
Bethel’s mirrored furniture consoles ($2,500 retail) offered the glam of the Hollywood days of past, and proved to be very good sellers in Seattle. Denise White cited the Canadian buyers, with more cutting-edge tastes, as the consumers of choice for this medium-priced furniture and lighting line. While Bethel’s contemporary crystal chandeliers were show stoppers, the traditionally styled chandelier in black ($800 retail) was outselling its clear counterparts.
On the Scene
The Seattle Market Week was full of events and amenities. A Martini Tasting & Jazz concert kicked off the Pacific Market Center’s lineup of events. From Calypso Night at the Gift Show to Casino Night at Pacific Market Center, there were plenty of opportunities for buyers to “let their hair down” after productive market days.
One might wonder how the Super Bowl affected sales on Sunday night… Apparently, it was business as usual, with flocks of men around strategically placed televisions and ladies continuing their shopping duties. In fact, on Sunday night buyers enjoyed some of Washington’s best vintages at a wine tasting benefit for Gift for Life. This well-attended event grew from an intimate wine party for Crowne Plaza Hotel show attendees to a successful opportunity for everyone at the show to network over the clank of wine glasses.
Well, that’s a wrap for the winter markets — see you in the spring!
