Gift & Home Trade Association

The industry has survived without uniform leadership for the past 50 years,” Andy Bjork, a former Gift and Home Trade Association president, once said. Considering the size of the gift industry, it is surprising to note that it has operated without a united trade organization for so long. In November 1999, that all changed; networking groups Club 35, Willie Loman, Professional Representative Organization and National Association of Sales Agents got together to discuss issues facing the gift industry and formed United Sales Agencies (USA). Conversations continued beyond that session and, in January 2000, USA held its first planning meeting.

The first steering committee included a who's who of industry insiders: Randy Newcomb of The Newcombs, Joe Hertig of Gift Street, Don Haberman of Markwest Inc., Kim Pitcher of 225 Unlimited, Andy Bjork of BrassSmith House, Paul Blair of Paul Blair Associates, Carol Lang of California Marketing Associates, Ron Gilefsky of Ron Gilefsky & Co., Ned Stack of Stack & Co., Vicki Darrah of Darrah & Co. Ltd. and Don Hiskey of Hiskey and Co. The founding group held its first official meeting in Las Vegas in November 2000, where the first officers were appointed.

Initially, USA membership was made up of just sales agencies, but by July 2003, manufacturers and importers started to join, and United Sales Agencies became United Sales Association. It was clear at this point that the gift industry might finally get a leader. Also in that year, the first education committee formed, with Peggy Maynard of Maynard Sales Associates serving as chairperson. The program offered three levels of sales associate training, followed by training for manufacturers. Financial support from Demdaco enabled USA to license two sales training programs to be adapted for the gift industry. Educating the industry is one of the organization's key goals.

By the end of 2003, USA organized its first conference. Held in New Orleans, it attracted 200 attendees, double the expected number. Industry insiders came together for the first time to talk about the issues they all faced in common.

The growing organization was gaining momentum, and in the summer of 2004, 16 industry representatives gathered in Chicago to kick off its “Envisioning the Ideal Gift Industry” project. Attended by executives from across the industry — sales agencies, vendors, trade shows and publications — it addressed various issues affecting the gift industry. Those issues would be published in an end-of-year report and were presented at the second conference later that same year.

In 2005, it was obvious that the organization was growing beyond its original purpose; once again USA changed its name and became the Gift and Home Trade Association. “Gift and Home Trade Association was a natural evolution of USA,” said Bjork.

That same year, it also established its inaugural Retailer Advisory Board to support the industry's independent retailers, a major and important component of the gift industry. “Over time it became apparent that we needed to remake USA to better reflect the industry and the members of the association,” Bjork said.

Today, the GHTA has grown to almost four times its original membership and has become an industry leader offering educational programs, establishing standards and ethical guidelines, collecting and sharing industry information, and promoting best business practices and professional development.