Premier wow the buyers at Harrogate

Jean-Michael Basquiat once said, “Art is how we decorate space and music is how we decorate time…”. Well, all the decorations were certainly out on display at the Premier stand in Hall H of the Harrogate Christmas and Gift show. It was an event that the industry had been looking forward to and customers were delighted to see the doors open whilst exhibitors were keen to take their orders. Safety was the number one concern for all of us and every possible step was taken to ensure rules were adhered to. This was reassuring for all involved and attendance at the show was encouraging.

Although Premier have had their showrooms open for all since the 1st of December in 2021 there are still many customers who have not yet been able to visit either location, be it Wrexham in North Wales or Ruislip just outside of London, so it was great to see them at the show, scanners in hand readily placing their orders.

Last year presented many challenges to our industry, no trade shows being one of them, so to be back at the H.I.C. with such a bang felt good for all. The range of products on display on the Premier stand was, in their usual style, both impressive and all encompassing. Their reputation of being a one stop shop for Christmas assuredly justified.

Once again, both innovative thinking and focus on what are established best sellers for retailers, were at the forefront of what was available to purchase. Premiers own rainbow colourway for example, now cemented as the first new colourway in decades to stick in Christmas lighting, has been expanded from solely string lights, into other major categories such as their fantastic wall mounted twinkling silhouettes.

Visitors were inspired by displays of these alongside market leading spinning LED pyramid trees, soft acrylic lit multi-action shapes and brand-new digital action willow trees. With old favourites still on show such as Premier’s very own real snowing action icicles, it was a joyful experience especially when coupled with equally wonderful displays on the opposite side of hall H in the Premier themed decorations section.

The new themes on offer were a huge hit with over 50% new products available in this category. Many in house own design items are topping the list of Premier’s decoration sales. That said, sales in Premier seasonal accessory favourites remain as strong as ever and new designs dominate these areas also. Paint your own decorations, new Gonk “Santa Stop Here” signs, boxed sets of Nutcrackers now offered in new colourways to name a few.

Another major success story at Premier has been the growing tree division and in particular both the Colorado and the Portland Pine have proven extremely popular for 2022 with great demand for them on orders at the Harrogate show. Pricing is a huge consideration this year with the shipping crisis having a dramatic effect on the larger boxed items. However, Premier continue to offer a fantastic value added service and can help the retailer to mix containers of Christmas trees and fibre optic trees along with a wide range of floristry. This strategy has achieved the very lowest price for even some of the smaller customers so they can compete in a market that has seen a huge increase in demand.

The buzz around the Premier stand was as apparent as ever. The new sustainable range of products that includes soft to touch rugs made of recycled plastic bottles as well as decorations made from other sustainable sources such as mango wood has been greatly received. We all care about our planet and it is great to see an organisation as large as Premier being at the forefront of this particular area of goods as well as doing what they can to reduce their impact on the environment in general.

Being of a certain size has certainly helped Premier prepare for 2022. With all the uncertainty around the world with regard to global shipping and factories in the far east being subjected to reduced capacity due to labour shortages and local governance, early orders for traders and retailers have become more important than ever before. So please do not forget to get your orders in as soon as possible. Premier itself has been placing orders with their suppliers already for key lines and I have it on good authority that containers are on the water right now. It is great to see such preparedness in the full spectrum of services available from this company as well as being wowed by their product developments.

Come and see for yourself… book your showroom appointment as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.