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STARS come out at the Winter 2009 Edition of California Gift Show
(Los Angeles, Calif.) — Why reach for the moon, when you can have the STARS? Just click your mouse three times on the show’s new website to apply, and you’ll see that there’s no place like the California Gift Show January 16–19 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
In true Hollywood fashion, awards will be given when the California Gift Show introduces its Best New Product Award, the California STARS.
Local resident realizes goal with new gift shop
Indiana — Greencastle resident Debby Pierce always wanted to own her own shop and now she has done just that. Pierce opened Crafters 2 Gifts Nov. 18 in the log cabin where Hoffman’s Gifts once stood.
After working at Tractor Supply (TSC) for over 20 years, Pierce retired last year.
It’s official: US is in recession
Washington—The U.S. economy has been in a recession since December 2007, the National Bureau of Economic Research said Monday.
The NBER — a private, nonprofit research organization — said its group of academic economists who determine business cycles met and decided that the U.S. recession began last December.
By one benchmark, a recession occurs whenever the gross domestic product, the total output of goods and services, declines for two consecutive quarters.
Black Friday sales gain seen as a one-time gift
Bargain-hungry consumers gave the nation’s retailers a much-needed early holiday boost with surprisingly healthy sales on Black Friday that tapered off Saturday and Sunday.
“It was a retail manager’s dream,” said Marissa Marks, store manager at the Beverly Center’s L’Occitane boutique, which saw Black Friday sales double to $4,000 from last year.
The brightest stars are here: January at Americasmart
(ATLANTA) — Kool & The Gang, America’s favorite Funk-Pop-Blues band, headlines AmericasMart’s all-star lineup of top designers, tastemakers and celebrity chefs showcased on the January 2009 Markets stage. The event will launch the Grand New Building 2 WestWing and help make the Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market and Atlanta International Area Rug Market the world’s number-one destination for buyers and sellers.
Douglas Company Debuts True Imagination at Toy Fair
(KEENE, NH) — It is Toy Fair time already, and the designers at New Hampshire-based Douglas Company have been getting ready for the ultimate debut in New York this February. Known for their soft toys with beautiful irresistible faces and fashion-forward lifestyle gift designs, Douglas is ready to make headline news in the big apple! Add Booth #475 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center to your must stop and see list.
Sassy Pet Sak Sillos: This brand new innovation in shoulder bag design is ultra-chic and fancifully different from any other purse on the market.
ComScore: Black Friday e-commerce hits $534 million
It wasn’t a blockbuster, but Black Friday wasn’t a bust, either.
ComScore on Sunday reported that online, nontravel retail sales on the Friday after Thanksgiving, traditionally a big day for consumer spending, reached $534 million.
That’s up from the same day a year ago, but just barely — e-tail sales rose just 1 percent, from $531 million.
On Saturday, comparison-shopping site PriceGrabber.com said that Web shopping traffic on Black Friday was up 11 percent.
Retail: In the shadow of a grim forecast, merchants test their creativity
Ocala — Considering all the city-sponsored events and planned promotions by local retailers, this could be one of the most festive holiday seasons in Marion County history.
Now, merchants are just hoping folks turn out for the fun and do a little spending this holiday shopping season, which might be a considerable challenge as consumers are battle the worst financial crisis in seven decades.
The Commerce Department reported that retail sales fell by 2.8 percent in October, the biggest drop on record, surpassing the old mark of a 2.65 percent plunge in November 2001 that occurre
NRF Survey Finds Black Friday Gets Holiday Season Off to Energetic Start
(Washington) – Though the holiday season is far from over, retailers across the country are breathing a collective sigh of relief after shoppers headed to stores and websites in droves over the weekend. According to the National Retail Federation’s 2008 Black Friday Weekend survey, conducted by BIGresearch, more than 172 million shoppers visited stores and websites over Black Friday weekend, up from 147 million shoppers last year*.
Shoppers spent an average of $372.57 this weekend*, up 7.2 percent over last year’s $347.55.
Shop.org Survey Finds 85 Million Americans to Shop Cyber Monday
(Washington) —Though traffic in stores was brisk over Black Friday weekend, millions of Americans saved some of their shopping for Cyber Monday, the ceremonial kickoff to the online holiday shopping season.
According to a Shop.org survey, conducted this weekend by BIGresearch, 84.6 million consumers plan to shop online from home or at work tomorrow, up from 72.0 million in 2007 and 60.7 million in 2006.
Toy and Game Inventors Awards Honors Creative Minds
(LINCOLNWOOD, Ill.) — The Chicago Toy and Game Group recognized outstanding toy and game inventors at the first Toy and Game Inventors Event (TAGIE) award ceremony Friday November 21st.
In a nation where we grant industry awards to people in TV, movies, music and books, we have failed to recognize the inventors of toys and games that sell by the hundreds of millions, are in every American household, and have a shelf life of 50-plus years.
Ninutik Maple: Soaring above the airport gift shop
Maple products have been Canadian staples for generations; airport gift shops are well stocked with boxes of leaf-shaped sugar and beige plastic mini-jugs of syrup.
Retailers use (cheaper) e-mail to send shoppers coupons
E-marketing sounds so passé, but this year, retailers are checking their e-mail lists twice to try to juice up holiday sales.
Sure, Web videos are cool, but direct marketing can be loaded with incentives that actually get people into stores or onto websites to buy something. In today’s rocky retail climate, that’s more important than ever. The National Retail Federation projects that sales will be up just 2.2%, the lowest growth since 2003, and industry estimates see store traffic actually declining by as much as 9%.
What’s the appeal of e-mail pitches?
Brandwise, GHTA introduce show index for the gift and home industry
(Lakewood, CO) — Brandwise, an application service provider well known in the industry for its software solutions, and the Gift & Home Trade Association (GHTA), the industry’s leading trade association, announced a revolutionary new market information tool called the Brandwise Gift & Home Show Index at the GHTA conference in Sanibel Island, Florida.
Green World Rugs to Debut New Designs at Atlanta Winter Market
Tucker, GA — Green World Rugs, a leading designer and manufacturer of jute braided rugs and accessories, introduces four new attention-getting color combinations. The new designs, Salem, Harvest, Nantucket and Kingston (as shown above from left to right), can be seen at the January 2009 Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market at the company’s booth located on the 7th floor of Building 1, at space number Q31.
Green World Rugs offers a new line of lower-priced braided rugs made of 100-percent jute that was first introduced at the summer markets of 2008.
Las Vegas Design Center to host ‘Sustainable Footprints’
(LAS VEGAS)——Track down the latest information on eco-friendly floor coverings and design at Las Vegas Design Center’s premiere ‘Sustainable Footprints’ event on Wednesday, December 10, 2008, open to trade professionals and connoisseurs of design.
The Sustainable Footprints event takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Las Vegas Design Center, 495 S.
Sustainable Designers Win National Design Award for Hanging Mobile
(VANCOUVER, BC, Canada) — Green designers Contexture Design are being recognized this week at the 2008 Design Exchange Awards. The design team received top prize in the category of industrial design for their hanging mobile, “As The Crow Flies”.
The Design Exchange Awards celebrate Canada’s top designers in twelve categories from architecture to visual communication.
Replogle Globes introduces Frank Lloyd Wright Collection product line
(Chicago) — The world’s leading globe producer, Replogle Globes, Inc., introduces the Frank Lloyd Wright Collection product line, featuring five hand-crafted globes for executives, travelers, historians, and connoisseurs of fine home décor, art and architecture.
Merchants fight economy with resolve and pluck
Bristol, RI — While national headlines of falling employment and plummeting stocks are galloping across the land like Paul Revere, Bristol merchants are keeping cautiously optimistic despite slowing sales and tough staffing decisions.
“No question about it — we’ve had to lay people off,” said Leo’s Ristorante owner Paul Mancieri, when asked if the economy has affected his downtown business. “We’re still high traffic, but people are just spending less.
Arts Business Institute, Wholesalecrafts.com partner in artist education program
(Mooresville, NC) — The Business of Wholesale premiers May 31 and June 1, 2009, at the American Craft Retailers Expo (ACRE), Las Vegas Convention Center. ACRE University: The Business of Wholesale will focus on education for artists in the early stages of their wholesale career. Presented by Arts Business Institute (ABI) faculty and supported by Wholesalecrafts.com, ACRE University: The Business of Wholesale brings two full days of training, during the ACRE show, which runs Sunday, May 31 – Tuesday, June 2, 2009.