Stronger Northwest Economy Translates To Brisk Buying At the August 2005 Seattle Gift Show

Furniture World News

San Francisco: The 150th semi-annual Seattle Gift Show®, the Northwest’s largest gift and accessories market, experienced brisk fourth quarter buying on the exhibit floor during the August 27-31, 2005 market. Nearly 12,000 attendees shopped 1,326 booths and 95 permanent showrooms of the Seattle Gift Center to ramp up their inventory for the upcoming holiday season. Exhibitors reported strong buying patterns throughout the week and were encouraged by a recovering economy in this region. Buyers, in turn, were looking forward to a strong fourth quarter and ready to stock their shelves with unique, distinctive product for their discerning clientele. “We were encouraged by the comments we heard from our exhibitors about the buying patterns during the summer market—many stated that the quantity and size of the orders had increased. Buyers in general reported sales were up over summer 2004 in Oregon and Washington leading to a positive attitude and strong buying for the fourth quarter. It was also noted that there seemed to be more new stores opening in this region. These stores are owned and managed by a younger entrepreneur—they have a savvy sensibility to they way the conduct their business as well as the way they select their product,” stated Mike Dean, President and Show Manager, Western Exhibitors, Inc. Post Show Statistics -Number of Exhibiting Companies: 805 -Number of Booths: 1,326 -Net Square Footage: 122,160 -Retail Stores: 7,003 -Buyer Attendance: 11,859 -New Stores: 439 -New Buyers: 1,219 Exhibitor Feedback “I’ve always done well at this show. Overall, about 80 percent of my company’s revenue stems from the Seattle Gift Show. This is my eighth show, and it keeps getting better!” Ainsley Walden, Go Fish!—Shelton, Washington “This has been a good show—we are a new company and thought this would be a good market to test our product.” Barbara Upchurch, Mad Studio, Inc.—Charlotte, North Carolina Buyer Feedback “This is the first time visiting The Seattle Gift Show. We came to see a specific exhibitor, but are finding everything we need for our store” Linda Parker, Dollar Deals—Ronan, Montana “I find products that are different, new and fun at the Seattle market—things my customers don’t expect! There is so much to see that you need more than two days to shop.” Katherine Mulcahy, Mondata Coffee Traders—Whitefish, Montana Booth Awards -Best Booth At Home: Bel Fiore Italian Imports -Best Booth FoodFocus: Seattle Chocolate Co. -Best Booth GardenStyle: AW Pottery NW -Best Booth Gift & Collectibles: K & K Interiors -Best Booth Handmade®: Essential Glass Work -Best Booth Northwest Directions: Dr. Display -Best Booth Personal Style: Victoria’s Lavender -Best Booth Gift/Stationery & Trend: Boulder Creek Distributing -Best Booth Multi-Line Rep: Joanie Hanke Marketing -Best Booth Village Arts: Matur Suksema -Show Management Awards: Hayden Island Candy Collection—FoodFocus & Roseanna—At Home The Seattle Gift Show Rewards Buyers for Attending the August 2005 Market The management team of The Seattle Gift Show® continued to promote the popular Buyer Rewards Program during the summer 2005 market. Prizes ranged from a box of mints and exhibitor prizes, to cash back for orders placed at the show. In addition, buyers reaching specific buying pinnacles were eligible for several grand prize drawings, which included significant cash rebates for orders and hotel stays at luxury properties for the next market. The grand prize winners are as follows: - $500 Cash Rebate: Su Cott Piccioni—Fine Flowers, Inc.—Anchorage, Alaska -$1,000 Cash Rebate: Donna Baxter—Alaska Gifts—Craig, Alaska -$2,500 Cash Rebate: Susanne Hartwell—Hartwells Wicker & Rattan—Spokane, Washington -3 Nights in a Luxury Hotel:Nicky Peterson—Chinook Winds Casino—Lincoln City, Oregon Future Market Dates The 151st semi-annual Seattle Gift Show® will take place January 28-31, 2006 at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center and will be held in cooperation with the permanent showrooms of the Seattle Gift Center. New in January -PetStyle—after a successful premier at the San Francisco International Gift Fair®, the Show Management team of the Seattle Gift Show will bring the PetStyle division to the Seattle market. This new profit center for gift retailers will include a wide range of pet gifts, pet fashion and accessories, jewelry, toys, home items and more. -All new seminar programs—all new educational programs have been developed for the winter 2006 market to assist retailers with increasing their profit margins. -Demonstration Theater— eight new demonstrations will be take place on the exhibit floor featuring products that will help retailers with holiday gift wrapping, bow making, gift baskets and include pet fashion shows and much more. Markets Represented General giftware; tabletop; housewares; decorative and personal accessories; contemporary and traditional home furnishings; handcrafted Northwest crafts; floral and garden; juvenile products; toys and games; antiques and found objects; pre-packaged gourmet food items; stationery; souvenir/resort products; personal care items; fine and fashion jewelry. Profile of Attendees Specialty and department stores; gift shops; jewelry and clothing boutiques; galleries; craft retailers; gourmet shops; juvenile stores; nurseries; mail order catalogs; interior and garden designers; importers; and distributors.Exhibitor and Attendee Information For exhibitor information about The Seattle Gift Show®, please contact Western Exhibitors, Inc., 2181 Greenwich Street, San Francisco, CA 94123. Telephone: 415.346.6666. Fax 415.346.4965. E-mail: showinfo@weshows.com. Additional information may be obtained on-line at www.seattlegift.com. For Handmade® exhibitor information, contact Andrea Casanova, divisional manager by e-mail at andrea_casanova@glmshows.com. For Personal Style exhibitor information, contact Sonia Mansfield, divisional manager, by e-mail at sonia_mansfield@glmshows.com. George Little Management, LLC, 888 South Figueroa Street, Suite 600, Los Angeles, CA 90017. Telephone 213.362.5640. Fax 213.362.5660. Additional information is available online at www.seattlegift.com. For buyer information, contact Western Exhibitors, Inc., 2181 Greenwich Street, San Francisco, CA 94123. Phone: 800.346.1212 (outside of the Bay Area) or 415.346.0168 (within the San Francisco Bay Area). Fax 415.346.4965. E-mail: showinfo@weshows.com. Additional information may be obtained on-line at www.seattlegift.com. Management Information The Seattle Gift Show® is managed and produced by Western Exhibitors, Inc. of San Francisco. Handmade® and Personal Style are managed by George Little Management, LLC of White Plains, New York. The Seattle Gift Show®, and The Jewelry Vaultsm are registered trademarks of Western Exhibitors, Inc., San Francisco, California, USA. Handmade® is a registered trademark of George Little Management, LLC.