Maker’s Spotlight: Old World Christmas

{Sponsored} At January Markets in Atlanta and Las Vegas, buyers flood the floors with their holiday lists in hand, the energy continuing from the just-finished holiday season as they seek to fill orders with favorite and new vendors alike. For makers, the energy is palpable. Neal Applefeld, president and CEO of Old World Christmas, can’t wait to see buyers face to face this winter. Old World Christmas sat out the 2021 January Markets due to the pandemic, choosing instead to open their doors at Las Vegas Market in the spring and Atlanta Market at AmericasMart in the summer. Old World Christmas’ showrooms are filled with artisan-blown glass ornaments made with traditional methods. The hand-blown clear glass ornaments come in thousands of designs. Each is coated with shiny silver on the inside and hand-painted and -glittered to form a glimmering, brilliant product that adds to the dimensionality of light coming from holiday trees. From the aisles, the shiny pieces of art reflect a myriad of colors, and each window is designed to have what Applefeld calls “stopping power.”

Santa ornaments (and so much more)

Each year, the team launches a set of new Santa designs. In 2020, they launched a masked Santa, which was a “raging sensation; we couldn’t make them fast enough,” Applefeld said. Their 2021 launch included vaccinated Santa, sitting in a comfortable chair with his sleeve rolled up and a bandage on his arm. 2022’s launch will play off of that theme with Santa taking off his mask and returning to normal. Other than Santas, Old World Christmas’ 2000 or so other products cover the gamut of possible ornaments. Their 150 new product launches each year add new hobbies, licensed designs and designs created based on suggestions from buyers. These new designs are in the works but not ready for buyers to see quite yet; “our elves are very busy,” Appelfeld said. Buyers will find ornaments based on vacation destinations, favorite foods, beloved pets, camping memories, NFL and collegiate teams, occupations and everything in between. For those looking for merchandising ideas, each of the displays are designed to help show merchandisers how to show off each collection visually. Buyers can shop the full collection at both Las Vegas Market and Atlanta Market; at January Atlanta Market, “we are packed from beginning to end,” Applefeld said.

What to look forward to at the Old World Christmas showrooms

The Old World Christmas team thrives on connections with returning buyers and on making new partnerships and friendships with other retailers. Many consumers seek out new designs to add to their collections each year, so retailers looking for repeat buyers can look forward to bringing new cheer to their favorite customers each year by adding to their hand-made ornament offerings. “Consumers love our product. We really see a couple dynamics. We have collectors — people who every year are adding to their tree — plus parents buying new ornaments each year for their kids,” Applefeld said. “People love to decorate and add to their ornament collections. We look forward to connecting with new retailers who want to grow with us.” Visit Old World Christmas this January and spring at Atlanta Market and Las Vegas Market to see their new launches in person! Old World Christmas — Las Vegas C963 Old World Christmas — Atlanta Building 1, 20-C-13

January Market and Winter Market will be here before you know it!

Atlanta Market, January 2022 Showrooms: Tuesday, January 11 – Tuesday, January 18, 2022 Temporaries: Wednesday, January 12 – Sunday, January 16, 2022 Register here. Las Vegas Market, Winter Market 2022 January 23 – 27, 2022 Register here.   © 2021 International Market Centers