Christmas in September 2018

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Christmas in September

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A garden centre guide to everything Christmas

CELEBRATING

INNOVATION

THE LIGHTING

SPECIALISTS SINCE 1939

1939

1950

1970

1987

2019

Seasonal Decoration at its best 25. – 29. 1. 2019

all you wish

for

business info@uk.messefrankfurt.com Tel. +44 (0) 14 83 48 39 83

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DU: 01.08.2018

08.2018

Christmasworld makes your wishes come true. Discover the new trade fair concept with an even more diverse offer of seasonal and festive decorations!

We look forward to seeing you here. christmasworld.messefrankfurt.com will delight you as a marketplace for fresh flowers and ornamental plants.

England

29th Year of Publication

REGULARS Leader page

FEATURES 7 9

News

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Weiste special offers All the latest from Weiste/Morris May

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Noma’s 80th year We look at the history and the future of this long-established brand

Coffee Break with Jonny Greves of Lesser & Pavey 9

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Langs have plenty to offer our readers

15 Shoptalk

Get all wrapped up this Christmas with Lang’s

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Elf on the shelf returns from the North Pole Now in its 10th year and still going strong

Animatronics to artificial plants – pack your sleigh for Christmas stock purchases at Spring Fair 2019 16 Be in the know about ‘must have’ festive ranges at Harrogate Christmas & Gift 20

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Decline also presents opportunities John Athwal MD of Premier Decorations gives his take on current Garden centre opportunities

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A winning combination Sarah Welsh looks at what the Greeting Card sector has to offer A selection of greeting card companies Keen to increase their garden centre business

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Paperlink have the perfect card for all occasions Over thirty years of experience in greeting cards

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Beautifully sophisticated design Rosanna Rossi explain their thoughts on their greeting card offering

All you wish for business at christmasworld 2019 24 Publisher:

Malcolm Naish malcolm@lemapublishing.co.uk

Features Editor: Production Director:

Sarah Welsh

Circulation:

34 36

Published by: Lema Publishing Ltd 1 Churchgates, The Wilderness, Berkhamsted, Herts.

HP4 2UB Telephone: 01442 289930 Fax: 01442 289950 Email: info@lemapublishing.co.uk

Always fresh and innovative Joe Davies explain all

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A lucrative festive puzzle Our Editor Sarah Welsh looks at the Toy, games & puzzles market

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The Christmas spirit from Jumbo Games Plenty of product to choose from

Robert Thomas robert@lemapublishing.co.uk

Words ‘n’ Wishes have plenty to offer Danilo Calendars have been added to the product mix

Rick Vickers rick@lemapublishing.co.uk

Art for all A look at Natural Partners card offeringA broad variety of added-value price points

Paul Naish paul@lemapublishing.co.uk

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DKL – the family company helping retailers drive sales DKL offer a wide range of childrens’ products

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Festive fun galore Lots to look at from House of Marbles

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Puzzling – a family favourite for Christmas Ravensburger have long been a major Jigsaw supplier for garden centres & gift stores

The views of the contributors expressed in this journal are not necessarily those of the publisher. Comments, letters and criticism are welcome.

CHRISTMAS_IN_SEPTEMBER_advert.pdf

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Leader

The Leader W

elcome to this the very first Autumn edition of our ‘Christmas in’ series of titles. First published for the 1989 Harrogate Christmas & Gift show, the title has for almost 30 years given garden centres and gift stores a lively read highlighting all that’s new in Christmas decorations and Seasonal products.

Now at last, we are able to widen our reach with not only Christmas decorations and all that’s Festive, but also other product categories including greeting cards and toys, games and puzzles.

Noma will soon be celebrating their 80th birthday and elsewhere in this edition we look back and also forward whilst acknowledging this milestone. To further celebrate Noma will be jointly with the Harrogate & Christmas Gift Fair be organizing a black tie event in Harrogate’s beautiful Royal Hall. Full details will appear in Christmas in January just before the show.

Whilst talking about exhibitions we include plenty of information also in this edition on Harrogate Christmas & Gift, christmasworld and also Spring Fair.

Garden Centres form the backbone of our readership and my Editor Sarah Welsh includes an interview with Michelle Martin of Haskins Garden Centre Group.

Wyevale have been creating plenty of publicity with their sale of a number of their garden centres. Will there be more shedding of their garden centres and is the reducing of Wyevale’s buying power a good thing for the garden centre industry or not?

John Athwal OBE of Premier Decorations knows how to throw a great party and the Dorchester Hotel in Park Lane was the venue for a superb function held by this most generous of men. The great and the good of the industry enjoyed a thoroughly brilliant evening of never-ending entertainment to celebrate his achievements that also included Premier’s 30th year in the business. My hangover next morning bore testament to a fabulous night.

Rather than guests give John presents, he suggested that they might like to make donations to the ‘Fence Club’ childrens’ charity, thus enabling the ‘Fence Club’ to benefit to the tune of over £20,000.

As we approach the final quarter of the year and the twists and turns of Brexit unfold, I am full of admiration for the many suppliers who have taken all of this in their stride.

With much of the product publicized in this issue being produced in the Far East, it has meant extra trips to China for quite a number to ensure that deliveries are being met on time.

With High Street giants such as Debenhams and House of Fraser finding trading tough, as well as stores such as Toys R Us and Maplins having gone into Receivership, there is a line of thinking that this should offer garden centres an opportunity to build on the High Street’s misfortunes.

As ‘Go to’ or ‘Destination’ Visits’ garden centres are wellplaced to benefit from this.

On-line businesses seem to continue to flourish. This has led to some decidedly dodgy enterprises that have been offering Christmas products purporting to be made by trusted brands, but when checked out by Suppliers have turned out to be copycat products made from inferior materials or components.

Premier Decorations is just one such company who have to remain vigilant in policing these knock-off products and do this by ensuring that only their customers stock their branded products. I wonder how many other suppliers have had to face this under-hand form of competition?

With what appears to be plenty of product still available for ordering in good time for Christmas sales, this first edition of Christmas in September has a varied selection of products for you our readers to chose from.

We shall be back with ‘Christmas in January’, highlighting all those fabulous products awaiting your visit to Harrogate Christmas & Gift show, so until then a great three months of business for one and all.

christmas in january 7

Feature News

From Christmas lights to mistletoe garlands and everything inbetween!

The Corporate Christmas Tree Company (trading as Christmas Direct) is proud to announce the strengthening of its position in the B2B seasonal display market with the acquisition of industry leader DZD. The Corporate Christmas Tree Company’s acquisition of DZD, allows them to substantially increase their reach into the seasonal display market; complementing their already industry-leading expertise and market share in the festive industry.

The Corporate Christmas Tree Company, as Christmas Direct, have been at the forefront of the Christmas market for 20 years, providing high quality lighting displays and luxury garlands, and are thrilled to have the opportunity to expand further. Having worked alongside DZD for many years, Christmas Direct were already very familiar with their product range and consistent professionalism. The customer-focused, family-based ethos that DZD was built upon ties in perfectly with The Corporate Christmas Tree’s own values - making the prospect of acquiring and incorporating DZD seem like the perfect fit.

DZD, established in 1989, have a long history of providing a consistently high standard - and remarkably wide range - of festive display items, while also working exclusively with clients to create bespoke displays.

The Corporate Christmas Tree Company is a B2C and B2B supplier of seasonal goods with a focus on high quality, professional grade goods. For over 20 years Christmas Direct has sold directly to customers through its website, in addition to working with public and private sector clients, big and small.

Charlie Cameron (Co-Founder, Managing Director) said “We are very excited about this expansion and the creation of new jobs as a result”, while Fiona Cameron (Co-Founder, Director) added: “Having worked with DZD, since our own inception in 1998, it is really exciting to bring two strongly family-based companies together. DZD.co.uk will continue to run with a strong focus on its loyal customer base and continued B2B business. We would like to assure DZD’s existing customers that it’s business as usual. We are ready to take your call and we’re looking forward to discussing how we can meet your needs for Christmas 2018 and many years to come.”

The DZD website completes a trio of sister-companies, joining the flagship website Christmas Direct (www.xmasdirect.co.uk) and the consumer, event and wedding focused Sparkling Lights (www.sparklinglights.co.uk).

From lighting and decorations, to faux trees and false snow - the Corporate Christmas Tree Company is extremely pleased to move forward into the 2018 festive season with a comprehensive product range and a desire to help businesses make the most of Christmas.

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Malcolm Naish hands over to Casdon’s Paul Cassidy as incoming Chairman of the Harrogate Christmas & Gift show at their recent AGM.

We mentioned in an earlier edition that John Athwal had been awarded an OBE in the New Year¹s Honours list. Our pic shows John receiving his award from Her Majesty the Queen at a ceremony at Windsor Castle.

Feature Weiste / Coffee Break

Weiste Coffee Break Special Offers

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eiste know many of their customers have expanded their retail base during the year, either by acquisition or by new build, and therefore may be in a position to either add to or repeat winning lines much needed to hit increased budgets.

Weiste also have some special reduced lines too. The tinsel garlands from their Christmas Legend Collection are reduced by 30%.

Selected Christmas tree baubles are down by 30%, and glass baubles, lanterns and textiles from the Villa Weiste Collection are reduced by between 30 to 50% Weiste can fulfil Christmas orders placed and confirmed this September for delivery end October first week in November!

All Weiste need is your order and we’ll confirm exactly when we can deliver.

Incidently Weiste’s minimum carriage paid order is £2000. They start at orders over £500 but add a scaled carriage charge accordingly.

Weiste manufacture in three huge factories in Finland and are probably th the largest manufacturer of tinsel and sh shatterproof ornaments in Europe.

Internationally, Weiste exports C Christmas to over 30 countries w worldwide and have been a re recognised brand since 1924!

Many of you will know that W Weiste have built up a reputation n not only for quality products with a SScandinavian design edge, but also ffor reliability over the last 35 years o of trading in the UK with the best rretailers, display companies and on-line operations.

During this time Weiste have expanded purposefully into the home with their Villa Weiste Collection offering glass decorations and textiles and furniture on a vast scale which echo the trends with strong emphasis on colour and fashion.

You can browse through both Weiste Legend and the Villa Weiste Collections by registering, (using your vat number) on the Weiste website: www.weisteshop.fi For more information or to place yyour order, email Morris May Ltd on: info info@morrismay.com, or call and hav have a chat with Christopher May on his mobile: 07774 493594

Jonny Greves joined Lesser & Pavey in April 2015 having worked in the giftware trade for nearly ten years. He plays a key role in the Lesser & Pavey buying teams well as working closely with the in-house design department developing new ranges and bespoke products for customers. Jonny travels extensively visiting trade shows around the world as well as spending time overseas buying and initiating new products to meet market demands and its continuing appetite for new products.

As we approach the final quarter, how has business been in 2018 for Lesser & Pavey?

I can’t quite believe we are already approaching the final quarter, but business has been good so far this year. Whilst there has been mixed reports in the news from the high street our customer base continues to diversify and we have seen substantial growth from both existing sectors & the new designs we are developing.

With such a varied range to offer our readers, what for you has stood out as a ‘Must Buy’ for your customers this year We have seen huge interest from our customers in our eco-friendly products. The Press continues to publicise the harmful effects of one use plastics and this has definitely filtered through to the gift industry.

Our eco-friendly and biodegradable travel mugs and children’s feeding sets have proved very popular. Our in-house designs are so appealing, prices are good and our eco-friendly look for packaging makes these products a ‘must buy’.

You were one of the very first companies to recognise the commercial opportunity of a range to celebrate the recent Royal Wedding. How would you rate the success of your Royal Heritage Collection?

As a company we always enjoy celebrating any Royal occasion and I think this was apparent when we launched a full range of giftware within days of the wedding being announced. The breadth of our product range was key to the success

as it was not only suitable for the souvenir trade but also for gift shops, kitchen and homeware shops around the UK. Our Royal Heritage brand is not only a huge success in the UK but also in numerous other countries where we have many customers.

As a major gift company, has your product selection in terms of size and depth remained the same over the years and do you find that in the modern digital age that you can react far more quickly in putting a new collection together?

Undoubtedly our product range has grown significantly.

Whilst we still have core customers, overall our product range is constantly evolving for an ever changing market which constantly demands new innovative products.

New buyers are attracted by ‘on trend’ products. There is no doubt that this is to some extent driven by social media channels such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and this is something our buyers and design team follow closely.

Trade shows have always been the lifeblood of the gift industry. Do you find them still as effective as ever?

Trade shows are still very important to us & we continue to take extremely good orders at the shows we attend. These shows are a fantastic opportunity to launch new ranges to important customers who may only now visit one or two shows a year. It also allows us to find new customers and it never ceases to amaze us how many we find at both the Spring Fair and the Autumn Fair.

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Feature Retail Ringround

Shop talk From that first challenging Christmas in business to property dilemmas for ‘pop up’ shops, festive retail can require a cool head as well as savvy product selection. Sarah Welsh spoke to retailers setting their store out with Christmas 2018 in mind…

Sue Ross,

Home Retail Manager, Holt Garden Centre, Norfolk (www.holtgardencentre.co.uk) Last Christmas was your first as part of the historic Kelling Estate – how did you fare in terms of festive sales?

Having acquired the business April 24, 2017, we knew that all the ordering should have taken place in January and February of that year. We had to adapt and make the best presentation of last year’s stock and engage with suppliers to obtain the best items we could for the current season - always difficult when every other garden centre has picked the best items. Luckily the suppliers we worked with were very supportive and were able to provide an excellent range of products.

And our customer feedback was hugely positive as we transformed a fairly drab room into a proper Christmas one with the appearance and quality of a high street retailer. *How important would you say the festive season is generally for the business, and when do you generally open your Christmas shop?

Traditionally Christmas hadn’t been a large area of focus for the previous owners, but we consider it to be very important. We aim to launch our festive offering in the first week of October.

Unusually for a garden centre, we’re part of the much larger Kelling Estate which also owns a hotel, numerous holiday cottages and long-

term let residential properties.

We sit in a tourism area near two major winter attractions, Thursford Christmas Spectacular and the Georgian Town of Holt which has its famous Christmas Lights.

This year we’re planning a visit from Father Christmas in store and our future development plans for the garden centre will include special events, especially as we sit in 15 acres of land.

What’s your ‘festive timetable’ - that is when do you start planning for next Christmas?

We review the previous season in January, starting with the Harrogate Christmas & Gift Fair. Gisela Graham, Festive and Premier are all excellent festive suppliers that we particularly enjoy working with.

Finally what colour trends do you think will be big for Christmas 2018 at Holt Garden Centre?

Colour combinations of navy and silver, and more unusually copper and lime

Freddie-Ann Hall,

Owner/Partner, Christmas Crackers (www.christmascrackersshop.co.uk) Christmas Crackers is a ‘pop up’ shop that’s around for a few months each year – so there must be huge planning pressure and product research to ensure you get the festive mix right?

Yes and in addition we have the added pressure of finding the right premises in the right town for the shop. Some years there is an abundance of properties to choose from, and others hardly any that will allow a short-term tenancy. This is one of the reasons we’ve decided to move into the online world of retail this year.

In terms of product research we pretty much go for what we like and what we feel will resonate with our core customers. We try not to follow colour trends but instead to stock a little of everything really with some in storage for next year, enabling us to build an eclectic mix of product colours and pieces for next season.

Which city are you planning to locate the pop up shop in this year?

We’re unsure whether we’ll be in Derby or Nottingham at the moment, but there’s a possibility it might be both depending on negotiations with agents.

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You must be excited about launching your online operation?

We’ve been toying with the online side of things for the last couple of years and with a mix of excitement and trepidation decided that 2018 was the year to go for it! We’re hoping to have the site up and running for late October or early November. It is a step into the unknown but we hope an online presence will provide a real boost to the business.

What products sold well for you last year?

Our best-selling ranges over the last couple of years have been the ‘elf on the shelf’ ones and we’re expecting that to be the same in 2018.

How do you handle things from a visual merchandising perspective – do you work on the basis of themes or colour trends?

We try to split the shop into product sections, for example, tinsel, decorations, wrapping products etc, rather than themes or colours.

Finally what trade shows would you say are the most important for your business?

Spring Fair and Harrogate Christmas & Gift are the ones we never miss.

We’ll actually start planning for 2019 festive season midway through November or December this year, looking for ideas on how we can improve the shop.

HARROGATE Christmas & Gift

13th to 16th January 2019

The UK’s favourite trade show!

Home & gardenware, toys, cards & stationery, artificial flowers, food, gifts for every occasion and absolutely everything Christmas!

BOOK ONLINE TODAY www.harrogatefair.com

Christmas in Sept - Sept 18.indd 1

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Feature NOMA

Noma celebrate their 80th year all about innovation I

t is always a great occasion when any company has a special birthday to celebrate.

Step forward NOMA who are looking forward to celebrating their 80th Birthday in 2019.

Famous for their Christmas lights, LeisureGrow bought NOMA five years ago from the Capel family and have been busy during their tenure in widening the range and appeal of this illustrious old company.

It is to my very first ‘Christmas in January’ back in 1989 that I turn to for the early history of the company.

The name NOMA originated in the USA and first became known in the U.K. as early as 1932, but it wasn’t until 1939 that the company began selling Christmas lights.

In the early years they supplied a consortium of major household names such as Philips, Siemens, GEC and Thorne and did not actually 12 christmas in september

supply the trade themselves.

It should be added that NOMA remain a major lighting company in the USA and Canada.

Clive Capel’s father joined the company in 1946 and over the years through hard work and advancement within the company was able to purchase Noma in 1969.

Fred Capel had used the time well and had gained invaluable experience of light sets and lamp manufacture in the UK, USA and Japan Fred Capel was also the inventor and patentee of the push-in lampholder, now used worldwide.

Over the years NOMA built up a fantastic relationship with their Hong Kong supplier – another family-run business who still work closely with NOMA to this day.

NOMA’s success over the years was very much built on their filament bulb sales where they were able to create a wide variety of

Christmas lighting, all to the highest standards of safety.

Move forward to the present day and NOMA still supplies customers with filament bulb products but as Marketing Director Frank Kaminski told me “We are now very much at the forefront of technology with our LED ranges.”

Frank believes that Noma are recognized as a Christmas supplier that really innovates and that furthermore their customers expect this from Noma.

The NOMA range has been significantly increased since LeisureGrow bought the company that has seen products increase from a few hundred SKU’s up to several thousand.

The company – as lighting specialists – insist that all their products must have some form of lighting as part of the design. Even with their trees lighting forms part of at least 50% of the range.

Since purchasing NOMA, one of the gratifying aspects of the purchase was the loyalty shown to them by the NOMA customer base, much of this created by Clive Capel’s ownership and built on by Frank and his team.

To illustrate NOMA’s drive to innovate has been the success of their Dinosaur Head for the boys and Unicorn heads appealing to the girls.

When they were first introduced the company weren’t sure how they would be accepted.

They needn’t have worried, as at relatively top-end price points they have been embraced by their customer-base up and down the country.

The company’s showroom at their HQ in Hinxworth in Hertfordshire is increasingly being used by customers where they can relax and view the entire range in comfort.

No celebration can be complete without an event to mark the occasion. At Harrogate Christmas and Gift show this January NOMA will be celebrating their milestone with an exclusive event, details to be announced, but watch this space as it is sure to be spectacular.

It isn’t that often that when a longestablished family business is purchased that the new owners keep alive the name, but in LeisureGrow’s case, not only have they kept the name, but also increased their market-share of the Christmas/Festive market.

The Christmas decoration industry is as much a fashion-led industry as any other and NOMA intend to be at the forefront of this industry for many years to come – so roll on their 100th!

Tel: 01462 744 500 Email: sales@leisuregrow.co.uk Twitter: @NOMAlightingUK Facebook: @NOMALightingUK Instagram: @NOMALightingUK christmas in september 13

Feature Langs

Get all wrapped up this

Christmas with Lang’s W

hat a great year so far with the launch of their first ever Autumn Winter Gift Catalogue! The company have re-branded their logo, but even more exciting is the launch of their new website! With only a few months to go until Christmas, now is the perfect time to stock up on your festive gift purchases!

Looking ahead to the Harrogate Christmas & Gift Fair, the product and design department have been busy creating some key new ranges for Valentines, Mother’s Day, Spring and Christmas 2019, all of which are exclusively designed in Derbyshire I Found My Penguin this collection is inspired by the way penguins fall in love and mate for life.

Langs have created a complete point of sale stand

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to make this an easy collection to display with our bestselling product styles. We have fallen in love with these hand painted characters and hope you will too!

Beautiful Mum comprises of three collections, which feature pretty hand painted water colour flowers with touches of gold. They have also developed an on-trend ‘Magical Mum’ unicorn range that is perfect for the younger gift purchaser. Not to forget the family we have lost, we have introduced a few sentimental pieces to show we never stop thinking of you.

Bouncing into Spring with sweet bunnies, fluffy ducks and comical sheep this will make a lovely fresh new addition to your spring display.

Christmas 2019 Lang’s will be showcasing 16 new festive ranges with decorations and gifts for

all. The hand illustrated artwork of ‘Hare & Friends’ and ‘Mooey Cow’ is perfect for rural settings whilst ‘Midnight Sparkle’ with its inky blues and metallic gold will appeal to glitter addicts. ‘Beary Christmas’ and ‘There’s No Place Like Home at Christmas’ are just the thing for families and the ‘Jolly Dogs’ and ‘Jolly Cats’ ranges which follow on from the hugely popular ‘Barking Mad’ and ‘Pretty Cat’ collections are a sure to be a winner! With additional Mum, Gin, Kids, Remembrance, Scottish and Turkey offerings amongst others there really is something for everyone!

Date for your diary visit Langs at the Harrogate Christmas & Gift Fair, stand A6.

Alternatively, contact your Lang’s agent or shop online at www.richardlang.co.uk Tel: 01322 226891

Elff on th the h shelf h lf returns t from the North Pole for its 10th anniversarry

A

record number of Scout Elves are anticipated to fly off shelves in the run up to Christmas, as the official The Elf on the Shelf® returns from the North Pole for its 10th Anniversary year in the UK. To celebrate, The Elf on the Shelf® is putting its biggest ever media and digital investment in its 2018 family-friendly campaign. This includes launching a new range of product lines (including a number of licensed products), implementing a 360° marketing strategy, activating a major partnership with the world’s best-loved breakfast brand, Kellogg’s, and joining forces with the number one UK home entertainment distributor, Universal DreamWorks, to launch a new animated special Elf

Pets: Santa’s St. Bernards Save Christmas.

The Elf on the Shelf®: A Christmas Tradition is the original Scout Elf™, and the only Christmas elf to include a keepsake box and enchanting children’s storybook. With strong familyfriendly values, the universal brand, and timeless tradition, has been creating memorable family moments for 13 years. Since its launch, more than 12 million Scout Elves have been adopted by families all around the world.

This season The Elf on the Shelf® will launch a brand new website: www.elfontheshelf.co.uk To become one of Santa’s officially approved Adoption Centres, contact: Sales@BabyRepublic.co.uk, Telephone 0800 009 6177

Winter Stag & Christmas Robin

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Feature Spring Fair

Animatronics to artificial plants: pack your sleigh with Christmas stock purchases at Spring Fair 2019

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nimatronics to artificial plants: pack your sleigh with Christmas stock purchases at Spring Fair 2019 The UK’s biggest exhibition of seasonal gifting, décor and floral arrangements will see a greater variety of products than ever before at an expanded Spring Fair 2019.

The ever-popular Christmas Gifts, Floral & Seasonal Decoration showcase is set to be the fair’s must-visit area for buyers from multis, department chains, garden centres and indies too, following a hugely successful 2018 showcase.

Spring Fair is the UK’s all-encompassing sourcing marketplace - facilitating connections between retailers, exhibitors and marketers.

The Fair offers certainty that only scale can provide. Encompassing 17 carefully edited show sectors, Spring Fair showcases the best products, launches and inspiration that over 2,500 UK and international exhibitors have to offer.

Spanning across Halls 2 & 3 there will be a vast range of products from UK and international exhibitors. Buyers’ favorite brands such as Premier Decorations, Festive Productions, Enchante and Mercer Agencies from previous ucts years will be showcasing a raft of new products for visitors to peruse, with something for every budget and every size of retailer – no matter their size. The likes of Creation Group – who join us all the way from Denmark – will be showcasing their 2019 range, satisfying visitors unfailing appetite for commercial Christmas decoration.

Another key fixture of Spring Fair is the ever-popular Kaemingk, the show’s biggest international wholesaler. With offices across Europe and North America, they bring all manner of Christmas lighting and décor solutions.

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2019 will see e a wide selection of companies offering Christmas-themed animatronics and animated figures. A staple of shop floor and high street window displays for years, the products on offer this year will reflect the sector’s desire to embrace technological improvements and innovation. The likes of Seasonal Group and Hamac Trading will be on hand to talk visitors through the latest in the sector’s animatronic offering.

Amongst the floral exhibitors will be specialists Swift Imports,Sincere, Florelle as well as museum-grade artificial plant manufacturers TreeLocate and internationally renowned Sagedécor, who have over 40 years’ experience in the sector.

Many exhibitors exclusively showcase their merchandise at Spring Fair ahead of the key Christmas buying period for major retailers. Secure your space or bag your free ticket here: https://bit. ly/2Cfs3Ii

Fairy sales E xcitement in Fairy HQ is palpable for the launch of the new The Irish Fairy Door Company magical product in quarter four 2018.

So far this year there has seen continued success in sales of the range from the now famous The Worry Plaque to the delightful Dust Mixing Kit. The Irish Fairy Door Company has created a truly massive online community of believers with almost 300,000 Facebook followers, over 19,000 Instagram followers and over 6,000 Twitter followers all helping to drive demand for the magical product range with an array of product testimonials.

The Fairy Door remains a staple part of the product range – how else is a child to invite a fairy to come live in their home or garden? The demand created by The Irish Fairy Door Company by its online activity along with the type of product available throughout the range means that the purchase of a Fairy Door is only the beginning of the journey for a customer who will return again and again to build a world for their fairy.

With consumer sales of The Worry Plaque and The No More Worries Kit remaining so strong, The Irish Fairy Door Company is carving a niche in the mindfulness and child anxiety space as well as imaginative play.

Tel: 0035367 63800 y p y p y Web: irishfairydoorcompany@alpha-toys.co.uk

Christmas Decorations built on solid family foundations Quality - Design - Service Weiste - a strong UK reputation over 30 years EXCLUSIVE ranges available NOW! Add to existing selection or repeat winners? ^sĶÞɚsNjɴ ¯ŸNj OŸŘʩNjŎs_ ŸNj_sNjǣ sŘ_ ŷOǼŸEsNjʳ Book now!

Enquiries UK: Morris May Ltd sʲ ÞŘ¯Ÿ˔ŎŸNjNjÞǣŎ ɴʳOŸŎ Ǽʲ ˟ˠˢˠ ˡ˟˧ ˟ˡˣ˦ N ĶĶ NÌNjÞǣǼŸƼÌsNj˅ǣ ŎŸEÞĶsʲ ˟˦˦˦ˣ ˣ˨ˢ ˤ˨ˣ

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Feature Premier Decorations

Decline also presents opportunities

J

ohn Athwal of leading Christmas supplier Premier Decorations explains that whilst online shopping is fast being perceived as an industry ‘demon’ causing retailers to run for the hills, those willing to face a challenge head on can reap the benefits.

It is without doubt that the UK high street is in decline and whilst we are all busy apportioning blame, we sometimes forget to grab the resulting opportunities that are staring us straight in the face.

Bricks and mortar retailers are struggling – that is a fact. As well as high rents and business rates which alone are driving some major companies out of business, they also suffer from crippling parking charges and restrictive limited parking. In just the last few months we have seen the likes of Toys-RUs and Maplins disappear and many other high street favourites such as House of Fraser facing major difficulties.

This situation isn’t helped by the fact that internet sellers from abroad are offering the UK consumer cheap and often substandard products which aren’t fit for purpose and not meeting European standards; and are often not paying VAT or duty either. This, among other retail challenges mentioned, are areas that require government consideration and action as soon as possible.

However, with all this said, this situation offers garden centres in particular a not-to-bemissed opportunity. Many already have the ‘department store’ atmosphere which consumers enjoy, but also easy access for families and free parking making them increasingly a preferred shopping destination.

With growing consumer loyalty, now is also the ideal time for garden centres to jump

18 christmas in september

onto the band wagon and offer the additional convenience of online shopping: an area that Premier Decorations has been developing to support its customers. The company has appointed an internet specialist to look after their specific needs, for example, offering multi-angled images for many products.

This situation offers garden centres in particular a not-to-bemissed opportunity.

Many already have the ‘department store’ atmosphere which consumers enjoy In addition, Premier is vigilant about internet sellers proclaiming to sell its products and has been busy policing activity to ensure that copyproducts are removed. This is an ongoing process but strives to ensure that only genuine Premier customers are advertising Premier products.

Also, the trade has been suffering from falling exchange rates, government intervention policing environment control and enforcing Health & Safety regulations in China. The repercussions include continuing labour shortage and everincreasing salaries as China comes out of being a third world economy.

Premier prides itself on not being a ‘butterfly’ and even faced with these challenges is well-placed to capitalise on its advantage. The company has excellent relationships with its manufacturing plants and in many cases, this puts its requirements in front of the production queue.

This is fortunate for many of Premier’s fastest growing ranges such as Scentsicles ™ which have literally been flying off the shelves and increasing demand for 2018. The most popular stand has been the 96-piece providing an assortment; whilst a firm favourite is White Winter Fir that is in popular demand as a single bottle. Backed with fantastic point of sale material, this range was always expected to prove one of Premier’s best-sellers.

Core lighting also continues to be purchased in vast quantities; whilst TreeBrights ™ range is promoted as a stand-alone product suitable for dressing trees. Both ranges are available in timer and non-timer modes. The timer can be switched on and off as required and a pre-set eight hour and 16 off function and eight multi-action functions including static. A memory function saves the last used function for when lights come on again.

Premier’s best-selling battery-operated light Time Lights continue to be favourites and Microbrights ™ are adding to the ever-popular range where the same functions are available as the core ranges above.

Premier has planned effectively for the forthcoming Christmas rush and stocks are still available in most of its popular lines. Customers requiring more information about this and also information about our online support should contact their area sales representative or call 020 8624 5555 or email: sales@premierdec.com

100’s of NEW Christmas lines Fantastic, easy to use website Only £100 minimum order ‘Little & Often’ ordering system FREE next day delivery Award winning customer service

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Sock Society Christmas Socks

Christmas Frosty Forest

snoozies!® Jingle Bells

Christmas Equilibrium®

Cristmas Craft

Christmas Eve Sacks

Christmas Happy LED Plaques 16 Times Winners of the PG Greats Awards

Gold Award Winner 2018

BEST SERVICE TO THE INDEPENDENT RETAILER

Christmas Woolly Glitter

Glass Christmas Trees

Joe Davies 149 Broadstone Road, Reddish Stockport SK5 7GA Tel: 0161 975 6300 Fax: 0161 975 6301 Email: sales@joedavies.co.uk www.joedavies.co.uk

The ‘Little & Often’ giftware supplier &KULVWPDV LQ 6HSWHPEHU IS LQGG

Feature Words ‘n’ Wishes

Be in the know about ‘must have’ festive ranges

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here is definitely a ‘summer is over and back-to-school’ atmosphere in the air and whilst retailers are gearing up for the busiest shopping season of the year; manufacturers and suppliers of Christmas and giftware ranges are focusing on their next BIG event – Harrogate Christmas & Gift.

The show, which takes place at the Harrogate Convention Centre from 13th to 16th January 2019 is staged at the optimum time of the year for Christmas buyers as it’s straight after the celebrations whilst fashions and trends are still fresh in their minds. Exhibitors at the show – who are total experts when it comes to what the consumer is going to want next Christmas – will give them an informed heads-up. For example, at the show in January 2018 exhibitors were predicting firmly on unicorns and according to national press this is correct. Unicorn themed toys and gifts are set to be the most sought-after theme of Christmas 2018 – so watch this space!

Whether you are a retailer, buyer or manufacturer and supplier – Harrogate Christmas & Gift is fast becoming known as the not-tobe-missed trade show of the year. It is where the main orders are placed and put to bed for the following Christmas so that retailers can concentrate on their daily business, safe in the knowledge that they’ve got everything in hand.

There are lots of new companies exhibiting next year particularly with exciting new card and gift ranges including Art Nouvocative

20 christmas in september

presenting a beautiful selection of greetings cards by talented artists; Berni Parker with original gifts and greeting card collections such as the hugely popular ‘Ladies who love life;’ History & Heraldry renowned for its fabulous range of impulse gifting including its Urban Words collection with products highlighting titles and slang words with cultural meanings and definitions; and House of Marbles with an entertaining selection of toys and games.

However, for those seeking the latest Christmas collections from trees and lights; floristry and garlands, festive homeware and tableware; baubles and ornaments and novelties of every description Harrogate Christmas & Gift is unrivalled by any other UK trade show.

Favourite companies which return to Harrogate year after year include Gisela Graham which will be unveiling 16 new co-ordinated themes; Premier Decorations with the entire Hall H packed with Christmas, Halloween and Garden, Gift and Home collections; Joe Davies with over 10,000 products all available ‘Little & Often’; Widdop & Co with 12 dazzling new themes across new and inspiring categories and great savings on its ‘star buys’, pallet deals and Santa’s grotto gifts; and Heaven Sends with some fabulously quirky gifts, stylish home accessories and seasonal decorations.

No respectable Christmas tree would be complete without a set of Noma Lites and the company will be offering lots to choose from;

Floralsilk has some fabulous themed ranges with an extensive collection of trees to suit all tastes and budgets; and both the National Tree Company and Snowtime extend this reach with uniquely decorated items, fibre optics and artificial indoor/outdoor shrubs and topiaries, garlands, wreaths and decorations. Sagedecor has been designing and delivering unique products since 1968 and presents an innovative collection of artificial flowers and Christmas decorations; and one of Europe’s largest Christmas lighting specialists, Konstsmide will be exhibiting a quality range of branded party and decoration lighting with many unique designs. Also, not to be missed is Kaemingk with the latest developments in lighting, trees and themes for Christmas 2019.

Simon Anslow, show organiser, comments: “Harrogate Christmas & Gift has been growing steadily in recent years with a year-on-year increase in not only exhibitors but in visitors and buyers too. The addition of Hall Q proved a popular decision and we still have space available for new companies who would like to jump on board and experience this hugely successful show.”

A full list of exhibitors, visitor registration; plus details of exhibiting and booking forms are available on the website at www.harrogatefair.com – alternatively, Simon can be contacted on 01902 882280 or email: simon@harrogatefair.com

Feature Lesser & Pavey

Variety is the spice of life Can’t believe it’s not wood From the animal kingdom to the natural beauty of the organic material of wood, Lesser & Pavey introduce a new range of style pieces. Hand carved to achieve an exceptional attention to detail, these style pieces offer the reflection of tigers, lions, elephants and horses as if carved out of a block of y ggift wood and are p presented in q quality

packaging to enhance the overall appearance of the quality item inside.

Strong and dishwasher proof Bamboo is the fastest growing plant in the world and the new bamboo range from Lesser & Pavey is growing quickly. This new eco-friendly range quic fe features flamingo, llama, unicorn, bee, panda and zoo animals. b

Money, Money, Money M M Money boxes with the aim of helping to savers to save take the form of llustre glaze unicorns and llamas and ccan be found on display at the show.

Also new are novelty money boxes A fformed like dinosaurs, bees, toucans aand other shapes to please a diverse aaudience of savers.

Call: 01322 279225 C Email: sales@leonardo.co.uk Visit: leonardo.co.uk V

w Exciting Ne Product on Coming So

For Ireland enquiries please contact: Banaghan & Co. Ltd. · Co. Tipperary Tel. +35367 63800 · Fax +35367 63801 irishfairydoorcompany@banaghans.ie

For UK enquiries please contact: Alpha Toys Ltd. · Phone 0035367 63800 Fax 0035367 63801 · irishfairydoorcompany@alpha-toys.co.uk christmas in september 21

Feature Haskins Garden Centre

Hotting up for Christmas

The Haskins Garden Centres group is one that prides itself on looking to the future and constantly dreaming up new ideas. Probably why the company’s festive formula is such a winning one then – as Sarah Welsh discovered when she chatted to seasonal buyer Michelle Martin…

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hen you’re the seasonal buyer for one of the UK’s most established garden centre groups it’s no real surprise that Christmas can come slap bang in the middle of a heatwave.

And the same week that Christmas in September sat down for a chat with Haskins Garden Centres’ Michelle Martin, who has worked for the company as seasonal buyer for the past decade, soaring temperatures were threatening to break all-time summer weather records.

22 christmas in september

“We’re always trying to be innovative and forward-looking – if you stand still in this business you go backwards!”

But Michelle was keeping her cool and delivering the first of her annual series of Christmas workshops to teams at the four large stores that make up the Haskins family. And as she says everyone now knows what to expect for the forthcoming festive season.

With four of the largest destination garden centres in the country, based in Southampton, Dorset and West Sussex, Haskins has a reputation for taking an innovative approach to business. The firm’s story first started way back in 1882 when Harry Haskins founded a nursery in Poole, and the current chairman is his great grandson Warren.

Heritage and tradition combined with innovation is certainly a winning combination when it comes to Christmas at Haskins, with the quartet of stores gearing up to open their festive shops in the last week of September.

You’ve been working as seasonal buyer for Haskins for a decade - how did you get into the industry and what has kept you in the post for so long?

I came to work in the industry after graduating from university in product design. I’d say there’s two main reasons that have kept me in the post for so long – firstly that the product categories I buy for are constantly changing which is always challenging and exciting, and that Haskins is a family-owned business that’s also always evolving and is a friendly place to work.

Haskins owns four large destination garden centres but are there any plans to expand? You also have a reputation for being an inventive business - but how does this apply to your festive trade do you think?

We are always looking to expand when the

right centre or site comes along and are currently concentrating our efforts on the rebuild of our Snowhill site in Copthorne, West Sussex. As you’ve mentioned we’re always trying to be innovative and forward-looking – if you stand still in this business you go backwards!

When it comes to the festive trade we ensure we go out into the market place, in the UK and farther afield to get inspiration of how to move the Christmas department forward. We are very critical of ourselves and always look for those nuggets of opportunity where we can improve. After all, no matter how well we’re doing sales-wise we always aspire to new ideas and offering a reason for our customers to visit again.

How do you think the importance of Christmas has changed for garden centres in recent years and when does Haskins open its four Christmas shops?

Christmas is now hugely important due to the space we have once furniture and summer products are packed away. It’s become evident that, amongst our customers, we have become a destination for Christmas and this also has a huge impact on other categories for us such as food, gift and clothing. We always open Christmas the last week of September.

Haskins ‘reinvents Christmas’ in response to sales and product trends - but what›s new on the agenda for 2018?

We reinvent our festive sales strategy by analysing our opportunities and gathering inspiration from all manners of sources. For my team, getting out and about in the market place is key.

How does this considered and analytical retail outlook affect your buying strategy for Christmas? When do you start buying and how do you top up on strong selling pieces once the Christmas shop is open?

“Amongst our customers we have become a destination for Christmas and this also has a huge impact on other categories for us such as food, gift and clothing.”

We start looking for inspiration from September onwards for the following Christmas, gather images as we go and build up a wish list.

After this we’ll analyse what is working for us throughout the Christmas season. We then put our colour collections together in December and do the majority of the rest of the selections in January. Generally we won’t buy in season unless there is a very strong trend we need to top up on.

In terms of filling any gaps we may have Autumn Fair would be the trade show for this.

Sales were up 9% year on year last Christmas - do you think you›ll see even greater sales success in 2018?

We certainly hope so and have planned for an increase again for 2018. We have some exciting plans on the boil which we feel will enable us to do this.

What colour trends are looking likely to be big news for this Christmas?

Natural greens and floristry will be big for us this Christmas but we’re also seeing lots of blush pink and deep saturated colours this year.

Is it too early to predict what might be big for Christmas 2019?

It’s a little early at this stage but I think we will see further growth in novelty lighting.

In terms of festive visual merchandising, is your approach the same in all four stores and how do you adapt themes to fit each particular shop floor space?

All four of our sites have a similar footprint for Christmas which makes planning a little easier for us. We have a Visual Merchandising workshop where we dress a selection of trees and displays and this ensures the festive look and feel is consistent throughout all sites.

In terms of Christmas suppliers, are there any new ones on the horizon, and which suppliers do you always look forward to working with?

In terms of new suppliers for pure Christmas we have very few new ones - instead we are building our relationships with current suppliers. Some of our bigger suppliers include Keamingk, Premier, Snowtime and Festive. *For more information visit: www.haskins.co.uk christmas in september 23

Feature Christmasworld

All you wish for Business Christmasworld 2019 are making some very bold changes to the layout of next year’s show. Eva Olbrich their Show Director outlines below exactly what these are All you wish for business

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ook forward to a completely new event concept. At the world’s leading trade fair for seasonal and festive decorations, you can discover around 1,000 exhibitors from more than 40 countries and interesting events – all in a new and inspiring layout.

24 christmas in september

So, plan your visit well in advance because everything will be new in 2019: the majority of exhibitors will move to a new location, product groups are being remixed, Hall 12 will be integrated into the layout and all halls will be given a greater experiential factor through ‘centre pieces’ – all in the interests of

an improved flow of visitors, designed to make ordering even easier for you.

At Christmasworld, trade buyers can be sure of finding exactly what they need for their business success: an unrivalled combination of emotion and business. In seven exhibition halls, you can experience not only a highly emotional product world full of new products and trends but also how to generate magical settings at the point of sale – the very combination that ensures a high level of sales in the trade. For 2019, we aim to boost this even more with the new layout.

We are now moving our special shows to the middle of the halls as ‘centre pieces’ and, therefore, closer to the exhibition stands.

This will increase the number of visitors to the halls and result in shorter walking distances.

The ‘centre pieces’ include the Christmasworld Trends 2019/20 in Hall 11.0. A small foretaste: the focus remains on handicrafts and closeness to nature. Poetic and sensitive designs are to be seen alongside glamorous styles and original decoration ideas. The four new trends are: tender.festivities, essential.ceremonies, sweet. traditions and luminous.celebration The new ‘Kinemona Vintage’ special show by 2dezign in Hall 12.0 offers inspiration for emotional storytelling. This time, we experience

a veritable gold rush in combination with fresh decorative elements in saffron yellow.

While Christmas Delights with confectionary and culinary gifts brings a Christmas-market atmosphere to Hall 8.0.

Discover the new Christmasworld in Frankfurt am Main from 25 to 29 January 2019 and find new sales hits for the 2019/20 season.

With best wishes from Frankfurt, Eva Olbrich

Christmasworld Trends 2019/20

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rom gentle, via natural and cheerful, to glamorous – there is once again something for all tastes! The Christmasworld Trends for the 2019/20 season are developed for us by the designer experts of Stilbüro bora.herke.palmisano. The names of the new trends are tender.festivities, essential.ceremonies, sweet.traditions and luminous.celebrations.

Once again, we have two rather reduced and two more intensive worlds of colour. The tender.festivities world of colour stretches from light pastels, via neutral, puristic nuances, to cool gold. In the case of essential.ceremonies, the emphasis is on earthy, warm shades and a matcha green. Sweet.traditions whets the appetite for more colour – with shades such as ginger bread, peach, nougat, bittersweet, strawberry ice, rum raisin, coconut and evergreen. Luminous. celebrations spotlights bright, rich colours combined with elegant, dark shades.

The Christmasworld Trends show prompts visitors to transfer the latest trends from the

worlds of fashion and interior design to festive decorations – and thus to make celebrations with the family and friends even more intensive. In four emotional worlds of style, Christmasworld shows retailers how they can persuade their customers: with topical trend expertise, fascinating products and entrancing presentations. In 2019, the curated special show will be the centre piece of Hall 11.0 and inspire visitors with a concentrated selection of exhibitor products.

2Dezign: Kinemona Vintage

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he special presentation, created by 2dezign, will provide you with a source of inspiration for some out-ofthe-ordinary designs in large areas and public spaces, shop windows and shop displays.

Draw your customers in with a completely unexpected display and tempt them to buy with a unique scenario for your products.

Designers Rudi Tuinman and Pascal Koeleman will be demonstrating how to turn shopping into an exciting experience. Fresh flowers and plants, combined with the exhibitors’ decorative products, provide the key to an eye-catching display.

Don’t miss this opportunity to develop some new, creative ideas to attract your own particular customers.

All materials and products used in the display are identified, for your convenience, with the name and stand number of the exhibitor – as are the fresh flowers that can be ordered at Floradecora.

Product Groups • Christmas & Seasonal decoration • Visual Merchandising & Light • Florists’ requisites & Garden Decorations

• Candles & Fragrances • Ribbons & Wrapping • Christmas delights

Rudi Tuinman and Pascal Koeleman christmas in september 25

Feature Greeting Card Feature

A winning combination

Natural Partners

The trend for greeting cards and associated product doing big business for garden centres is only set to grow. Sarah Welsh finds out why it’s a retail partnership made in heaven…

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Oswaldwistle Mills Card Section

hey say in retail that the customers are always right, and as Nick Pitman knows you should also never second-guess what someone might be looking for when they come into your store.

Nick, General Manager of award-winning Lancashire garden centre and shopping village Oswaldwistle Mills, says that has certainly been the case when it comes to the huge greeting card offering the centre now stocks for its many visitors.

“As a destination shopping centre we get a lot of coach parties coming here, especially at

weekends, and I’ve personally learned a lot from walking around the store and observing what catches customers’ eyes,” Nick says. “I often

“These days customers are very savvy and want a variety of choice when it comes to greeting cards and products,” Nick Pitman, Oswaldwistle Mills Garden Centre see groups of older ladies gathered around our greetings section and they particularly seem to enjoy the humorous cards, including the more risqué ones!

“That’s precisely why our business now allocates such a large amount of floor space to greeting cards.

These days customers are very savvy and want a variety of choice g g cards when it comes to greeting

26 christmas in september tember

and products – whether that’s festive designs or everyday ones.

“We buy accordingly from a wide variety of different suppliers and have 10 major ones we work with regularly, including Paper Rose, Otter Cards and Noel Tatt. We also always try to support UK based designers, and if possible local ones.

“The range of styles we have within greetings varies from cartoons to more arty designs, ones aimed at all different members of the family and also packs of cards. We buy in cards that suit all ages.”

Nick thinks that one of the reasons why greeting cards are becoming increasingly important to garden centres is that customers now want to combine a retail experience with convenience when they come shopping.

“People often treat trips to garden centres as days out now, which means they have time to browse which is ideal for selecting cards, but they also want to be able to buy everything they need all in the one place. Cards can be displayed throughout a garden centre and also tend to often be picked up as add-on purchases.

“With the shop floor space many garden centres and shopping villages have available, it means suppliers can be more creative with visual merchandising too. We have a massive rack of cards and lots of spinners spaced around the shop, which helps with cards being picked up as impulse purchases.”

Bill Greeno, Sales and Marketing Director for greetings company Paperlink, agrees that many garden centres are now a one-stop destination for customers looking for an eclectic and fresh mix of greeting designs.

“Literally coach loads of customers are calling on the centres and the centres in turn want to maximise every visit made to them – therefore a current vibrant card and gift offering is essential,” Bill says.

“And with more and more people staying put rather than moving, customers are turning to centres to enhance their homes.

“Although Paperlink product is stocked in many leading garden centres there are a few buyers out there at other stores who may not be aware of the breadth of product we offer. Our aim is to expand on the number of centres we currently supply by offering first class product delivered by our knowledgeable reps who are able to assist buyers by quickly identifying fastselling lines.”

“We have had comments from people saying that spending time browsing our cards at garden centres is like going to an art gallery,” Joe Cole, Natural Partners Bill says Paperlink’s festival ranges, in particular Christmas Charity packs, sell extremely well for the brand with 10% of the money raised at retail going to charities, NSPCC and Cancer Research. These come supplied with a free display unit that holds 15 different designs.

“We’re also about to launch a really exciting range called Bangers & Flash, which I’m sure will p y ggarden centres,” , he adds. prove a hit with many

Troy Rossi, Business Manager at Cotswoldsld based greeting cards brand, Rosanna Rossi, says that expanding into supplying garden centres is certainly top of the list when it comes to the company’s immediate plans.

“We feel the relationship between garden centres and greetings companies can help grow the retail sector for us,” he says. “The floor space such centres can dedicate to gift and stationery provides a good variety of choice for consumers and we’d definitely like to build this part of the business.

“This opportunity to showcase our product to the large garden centre customer base would be ideal. In particular our Christmas range would fit well in garden centres due to the quality finishes, traditional colour palette and festive themes.”

Joe Cole, Managing Director at North Yorkshire-based fine art greetings company Natural Partners, says that the ‘destination shopping’ aspect of garden centres is key for his company and the wider industry.

“Garden centres are increasingly becoming shopping destinations where people often take the time to have a cup of tea and a cake and browse the varied giftware and plants,” he explains. “In these circumstances quality greeting cards are a perfect fit, both as an accompaniment to gift or an attractive purchase in their own right.

“Garden centres also generally do have the space to make an eye-catching feature of quality art cards like ours – whether that be substantial displays of a couple of ranges or an array of the best cards cherry picked from our more than 50 collections.

“We have had comments from people saying that spending time browsing our cards at garden ce centres is like going to an art gallery!”

Natural Partners currently supply several

Paperlink

independent garden centres, but Joe says they would like to see their cards in many more and certainly see this as a retail sector where there is huge potential to grow the business.

“We also find that garden centres really go to town at Christmas,” Joe adds. “They go the extra mile to bring the festive experience to their customers, and as a company we concentrate on producing quality single seasonal cards which, when arranged together, make a beautiful display. We have a mix of traditional and contemporary cards in our range and find that this diversity is particularly appreciated by garden centres.”

So it seems that greeting cards are a winning combination when paired with garden centres, but in the modern digital age can this last?

Oswaldwistle Mills’ Nick Pitman says: “This might be the age of social media, when people can ‘tag’ each other online to send greetings, but cards still have a very strong retail following.

“Customers are very discerning in the way they shop for cards and they like the feel of quality and interesting artwork – after all what card you choose to send someone says a lot about you.

“I can’t see cards ever dying off, and that’s obviously great for garden centres.”

Rosanna Rossi

christmas in september 27

Feature Paperlink

Paperlink have the

perfect card for all seasons

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e here at Paperlink aim to take care of all our customers wants and needs when it comes to finding the perfect Christmas card. Over thirty years in the industry has taught us not only just how much each individual varies dramatically in their tastes, but also how many variables in choice, each of those individuals then require. The age of the recipient, the occasion and their relationship to them, all play a part in that final `which card shall I buy?’ decision, along with what best encompasses how they feel about Christmas and how best to spread some festive love. Paperlink supply a massively diverse offering so they never feel left in th the lurch! In open singles, we achieve this with an incredibly eclectic choice of humour, ffrom clever, classic cartoons, through to vvintage retro and observational. We have ccute and quirky, with a more internet meme fe feel, alongside corny cracker jokes and p puns, plus a few interactive quiz ideas like `W `Which Reindeer Name are You?` In order to te tempt customers away from multi-packs, we kn know we need to create something that feels un unique, well thought out and valuable. We ach achieve this by following the relatively recent tren trend of having finishes on many of our funny card cards. Christmas has sparkle, so our cards have spar sparkle‌even the ones designed to make you laug laugh. Foil, flitter, Pompoms and spot UV; you nam name it we use it! We also combine the classic with the trendy. Some of our ranges remain 28 christmas in september

hugely successful after many, many years on the shelves, but this does not lull us into a false sense of security; you can still count on us to keep coming up with fresh, new ideas.

In non-humour singles too, we lavish time and attention on design and finish in order to create something anyone would feel proud to send. Laser cut snow scenes, bejewelled reindeer, festively foiled and decorative‌.. many of our cards are basically mini works of art! Getting the editorial spot on is also essential when somebody is choosing to buy an individual card. Our words vary from warm to cute to fun.

Finding individual family members a card chosen especially for them, that feels exactly right is a tall order. Again, we here at Paperlink make sure we have something for everyone when it comes to our Relatives collection. If your Dad wants a Dad joke, we have a Dad joke.; if your Mum deserves to be told she is simply amazing and appreciated, especially at Christmas? No problem.

We have verse, statements and prose; from the visually understated to the breath-takingly pretty. Again, all with close attention paid to making the recipient feel thought about, cared about and known from the heart.

We love Christmas and we love our customers and hope that in combining these two passions, we have created an offering that gets it just right, right across the board.

Tel: 0207 582 8244 Email: bill.greene@paperlink.com0

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Feature Rosanna Rossi / Emma Ball / The Art File

EMMA BALL LTD Beautifully Sophisticated design

A

sk an artist to describe their design aesthetic and it can be hard to put what goes down on paper into words – especially in the fast-paced greeting card industry.

Anna Nelson, designer and cofounder and owner of contemporary greeting cards business Rosanna Rossi, knows this only too well, and when you factor in that it took the now well-established and sophisticated brand a few years to establish its signature style, it’s little wonder.

“I’d say our style is refined yet playful, sophisticated with a quirky edge to our designs,” former textile designer Anna says. “I set up the business with my mother Filippa Whitford – who was a designer for a traditional style card company until being made redundant – back in 2009, but we’ve evolved a lot over the years.

30 christmas in september

“The industry is constantly changing as well, so you have to keep things fresh to survive. Now the greetings business has become much more conscious of fashion trends and social media, and we try to reflect these as well as creating beautiful cards that appeal to a wide range of people and ages.

“To date we’ve mainly supplied independent retailers, florists, shops and galleries – both here and abroad – and our biggest customer is probably Fenwick. Moving forward we’d love to be stocked by more garden centres and to look into collaborating on licensed product.

“Our newly released Kirra range is definitely license friendly, with more colourful designs and patterns, and it’s already had a fantastic response.

It was inspired by where we used to live, on Australia’s Gold Coast, and our travels around the country – hence its vibrant hues and handpainted floral designs.”

Rosanna Rossi brings out two new collections annually, with new additions throughout the year, and Anna is currently working hard on a further 16 designs for the Kirra collection to be launched by the end of 2018. The next major collection unveiling will be the brand’s Christmas 2019 range at the Harrogate Christmas & Gift Show.

“Mum took a step back from the business a year ago, so now I run it with my partner and business manager Troy,” Anna explains.

“Next year we celebrate our tenth anniversary and Rosanna Rossi has come such a long way. Exciting things are ahead for us so watch this space!”

Email: info@rosanna-rossi.co.uk Tel: 07900 698522 Web: www.rosanna-rossi.co.uk

E

MMA Ball Ltd are once again at Autumn Fair this year, having given Harrogate a break, and they’re all ready to launch the new Victoriana range of cards by Abigail Mill at the show. There are 12-18 designs available with a lovely horticultural theme, based on old Victorian paintings with an Abigail twist. The 6x6in cards come with matching envelopes at RRP £2.25.

T: 0115 985 8081 www.emmaball.co.uk

THE ART FILE

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he Art File are absolutely delighted to have signed a talented young designer Zakera Kali and the multi-award-winning brand Peace & Blessings. Zakera won Gift Of The Year 2018 with her fresh approach to designing cards for the cultural festivals and they were delighted when she decided to work exclusively with The Art File for greetings cards. Until now the market has been dominated by more traditionally-designed cards and The Art File feel there is a real appetite for more stylish cards that appeal to a younger more progressive audience. To begin with they are launching a collection of cards covering Chinese New Year, Passover, Eid, Diwali, Vaisakhi and Hanukkah and these will be followed by other key cultural festivals throughout the year.

The Art File’s successful Christmas 2018 collection which will be packed full of festive fun and newness, There’s a flurry of new designs, including charity packs, boxed cards, singles cards, gift bags and wrap and – for the first time – roll wrap. Don’t miss out on this exciting collection which is already proving very popular with retailers.

The Art File’s Spring Seasons 2019 will also be available to view and order for the very first time, with more than 150 new spring designs for 2019, including fresh captions such as St Patrick’s Day, making this their most comprehensive Spring Seasons launch to date.

It’s the perfect time to place your order and reserve your stock early.

The environment is in all of our hands, so for Spring Seasons 2019 The Art File are offering customers the choice to take the cards either wrapped or unwrapped.

T: 0115 850 7490 www.theartfile.com

Feature Natural Partner

Art for all N

atural Partners Limited is developing a reputation for publishing a huge and diverse range of quality qu art greeting cards. Having started sta by publishing cards and prints reproducing the work of just a handful of artists back in 2010, the portfolio has grown dramatically to now include ranges by more than 50 talented artists and photographers – well over 1,000 card designs in total!

With so many artists the company is able to offer a wide range of styles and subjects – something to suit every taste. From the beautiful abstracted landscapes of Peter M. Hicks, one of England’s finest landscape artists, to the wonderfully detailed cat studies

by Lesley Anne Ivory, regarded as the finest cat artist of her generation, their cards and prints just ooze quality! Add to these beautiful copper etchings by Louise Scott, fabulous mixed media collages and paintings by Louise O’Hara, stunning papercuts by Clare Lindley and Sarah King, quirky and colourful scenes by Nikki Monaghan, dogs full of character by Jo Scott and Vicky Tucker and distinctive wildlife images by Andy Broderick, along with lots more, and this really is a one stop shop for retailers!

32 christmas in september

Recent developments have seen the addition of humour and occasions collections by Jo Scott, Helen Russell and Elizabeth Medley and a range of high quality, simple and elegant handmade cards by Kate Palmer. These will be added to in the future.

Existing ranges are refreshed and new artists added at least twice a year, so retailers always have something new to offer their customers. Already in place to be launched on Stand Q44 at the Harrogate Christmas & Gift trade fair in January 2019 are some wonderful greeting cards by Cumbria printmaker Ray Ogden and north east artist Vivian Riches, with more announcements due.

Many of the artists’ cards are ideal for Christmas and for the convenience of retailers visiting the trade section of the company’s website (www. naturalpartnersart.co.uk) all these images have been grouped together under one Winter/Christmas heading.

Online ordering could not be easier, but the company is equally happy to take orders or discuss requirements by email or telephone.

Contact Joe Cole at joe@naturalpartnersart.co.uk or call 07714 768956. www.naturalpartnersart.co.uk

Feature Words ‘n’ Wishes

A broad variety of added value price points for your customers

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ords ‘n’ Wishes are a leading greeting card publisher offering over 800 quality designs across all genres of ‘Verse & Sentiment’.

34 christmas in september

We also offer exclusive distribution of a major ‘humour’ specialist ‘Quitting Hollywood’ and from the 1st October 2018 the No 1 Licensing company for greetings cards and calendars ‘Danilo Promotions’ exclusively to the Independent Retail sector.

As a major growth area for Words ‘n’ Wishes the ‘Garden Centre’ world with its challenging demographic purchasers, the ‘departmental’ store approach gaining greater speed in its consumer offering has created a platform that we can offer a broad variety of added-value price-points for its customer profile.

Aligned to this we offer ‘first-class’ service, ‘next-day’ delivery to maximise smaller stock holdings. Within our overall port-folio we can offer, Verse & Sentiment, humour, and pre-school and adult licensed merchandise and gifts.

Tel: 01942 233201 email: info@words-nwishes.co.uk

g n i n n Stu for s d r a c

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And the rest of the year too!

www.naturalpartnersart.co.uk Contact us to request our current greeting cards trade catalogue or register as a trade visitor on our website to see our huge ranges of cards and prints. www.naturalpartnersart.co.uk Email: joe@naturalpartnersart.co.uk

Tel: 07714 768956

Feature Joe Davies

Always fresh and innovative J

oe Davies has been a leading light in the notoriously competitive gifts industry since it was founded way back in 1919, and the company’s unbeatable combination of impeccable customer service and a huge and innovative product range continues to lead the field.

The fact that the Stockport-based firm, known fondly as the ‘little and often’ supplier, has won the Greats award for best customer service for 16 years in a row – in fact every one since the awards began – speaks for itself.

Christmas is also hugely important to Joe Davies in terms of the breadth and originality of its collection, and since debuting at Harrogate’s Christmas and Gift show back in 2017 the company has enjoyed two strong outings there. This year they followed up on that success at the NEC’s Autumn Fair.

Joe Davies pride themselves on always having new and imaginative product on offer at the best possible prices, and all available in sensible quantities – which is perfect for independent retailers and multiples alike.

And in today’s challenging retail environment it makes more sense than ever for retailers to keep control of their budgets and buy less of items but replace them more frequently.

“At Joe Davies our whole ethos is little and often to make ordering as simple and convenient as possible,” says

36 christmas in september

sales manager David Cree. “We are geared towards helping the independent retailer with carriage paid orders of just £100, with delivery to our customers’ requirements on a date to suit them.

“We are also able to deliver right up to the 24th December to ensure retailers can make the most of those important last minute repeats.”

Since Christmas and Gift in January Joe Davies’ buying teams have been hard at work and the company launched many new items at this year’s Autumn Fair.

“Autumn Fair is always perfectly timed for the independent retailer to put together their Christmas selection or to add to the items they have already bought earlier in the year,” David explains. “We know which lines are the festive winners and love being able to help all of our customers to make the most of the Christmas retail season.”

At Birmingham’s NEC Joe Davies had their full Christmas selection of over 750 items on display – and their products are always clearly priced and beautifully merchandised with the vast majority available for immediate delivery.

First launched at Spring Fair to a great response, the company are the UK distributor of the fantastic Sock Society range of gift socks. This year they have launched some great new fun festive designs in time for the season.

“With tremendous sales of the

‘every day’ Sock Society designs, it was only natural that we should develop some Christmas ones,” David says. “Retailing at just £4.99 they are a perfect Christmas gift”.

Snoozies also continue to be an important part of many retailers’ Christmas offering, and the demand for the brand shows no sign of slowing down with it reporting huge pre-sale figures.

Designed in America, Joe Davies is the exclusive UK distributor of this tremendous collection, which has exciting new products launched for autumn.

The Christmas themes of LED and Skandi show no sign of abating in popularity and Joe Davies boasts perhaps the largest collection of such product in the UK. On-trend hues of sage and red mixed with natural wood themes have really moved on this traditional festive décor item, and infused with LED elements to further highlight the range’s exquisite detail they are a great addition to any Christmas room.

For animal lovers Joe Davies’ collection of Christmas Kitty and Pooch plaques and photo frames will make great gifts for the most important characters in your life. They come with fun messages and contemporary designs meaning they’re a great pet stocking filler.

The Joe Davies Equilibrium collection continues to be one of the UK’s hottest jewellery brands and this year’s seasonal selection will be their biggest yet. The company has a huge range of brooches, necklaces, earrings and scarves on offer, all beautifully boxed and competitively priced, and these are perfect both as gifts or as a self purchase.

The company is also reporting continued success with its beautiful collection of glass Christmas trees. Available in a number of colours and in four sizes they have been an integral part of the Joe Davies range for more than six years.

And with RRPs starting at £7.49 and new designs

for 2018 they continue to go from strength to strength.

Of course Christmas is all about children and seeing the magical innocence of the festive season through their eyes. And Joe Davies has a large number of items to help build on the excitement – from Santa sacks and stockings to Christmas Eve boxes and advent items as they count down to the big day.

Finally Joe Davies are the UK’s leading distributor of the Leonardo collection from Lesser and Pavey. The company will have the very best of their new Christmas items on display along with many old favourites. And naturally all items are available in small quantities for sensible ordering.

Email: info@joedavies.co.uk Tel: 0161 975 6300 Web: www.joedavies.co.uk

christmas in september 37

Feature Festive Games & Puzzles

A lucrative festive puzzle With Christmas trade an ever-expanding sector for destination garden centres, its little wonder that games and puzzles companies are increasingly looking to get in on the act…

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ver wondered what garden centres and games and puzzles manufacturers have in common? Well plenty as it turns out.

Think of Christmas and festive food, exchanging gifts and gathering together as a family to play board games immediately spring to mind. And this festive love of gaming is exactly why more and more manufacturers and suppliers are making the savvy decision to market their product ranges in garden centre settings.

After all as garden centres of all kinds increasingly capitalise on Christmas no longer just in terms of festive trees and decorations but also their gift departments, it stands to reason that their vast shop floor spaces and games and

“Garden centres have become the sector that people see as a one-stop shop for everything festive – which is why it’s increasingly important for games and puzzles companies,” Emily Polglase, Big Potato puzzles products would make have the potential to be a perfect retail partnership.

Emily Polglase, Head of Sales at Big Potato, says the garden centre market is ‘bread and butter stuff’ for the innovative games company who do everything from inventing to distributing and marketing their products.

“I came to Big Potato a year ago from a much larger giftware company and I’ve really been pushing centre garden centres as potential retailers here,” Emily says. “They buy all year round so it’s great for games companies and as 38 christmas in september

most of our sales come from quarter four it’s a way for us to build on Christmas success and make money around the calendar.

“Everyone goes to the garden centre to get their Christmas tree, and then for decorations and now it’s become the sector that people see as a one-stop shop for everything festive – which is why it’s increasingly important for games and puzzles companies.

“As a games company we’re very Christmasfocused. Everyone likes to play board games during the holidays so it stands to reason that games companies and garden centres are a great retail combination.”

Emily says other advantages of Big Potato supplying garden centres is that these retailers tend to buy in big quantities and also provide the perfect environment in which to ‘push’ the items.

“There’s no doubt that our products sell really well in garden centres,” she reveals. “They see a lot of footfall and unexpected sales and addon purchases which is perfect for well-priced games and puzzles.

“In my experience the festive and gift buying teams in garden centres are also really flexible with how you use their shop space and not precious about the stock. This means it’s great for us to use display units and floor standing units.

“And of course garden centres are increasingly offering a great day out for families, so when you add children’s pester power into the mix it can be a great boost for our sales!

“Products that are looking to do great business for Big Potato this Christmas, and which we will be selling in garden centres, are our table top game Weird Things Humans Search For, which is all about internet searches, Clickbait and our festive rhyming game Santa Banter.”

Ben Hogg, UK Marketing Manager for

Asmodee, agrees with Becky that as garden centres increasingly build on their reputation as ‘destination retailers’ so they will increasingly become important to games and puzzles designers and manufacturers.

“Two of our TV license games, Would I Lie To You and 8 Out Of 10 Cats, have done really well for us within the garden centre sector as has our Dobble game,” Ben says. “When people

“When people go to shop at garden centres it’s often at the weekend when they have more time and that can only be good for games and puzzles sales,” Ben Hogg, Asmodee go to shop at garden centres it’s often at the weekend when they have more time and may be in a jolly mood so that can only be good for games and puzzles sales.

“We’d certainly like to do more with garden centres and the demos and in-store events we do for our games would certainly sit well in this sector, as it’s all about the shopping experience.

“Asmodee releases games every week and we have a huge range of products which is a good fit for garden centres. We’re showing year on year growth with our designs and we definitely want to build on that.

“Two of our other products, Bananagrams and Rory’s Story Cubes, are still underrepresented at retail, but they’re shaping up to be big news for this Christmas.”

Kate Gibson, Managing Director of Gibsons Games says the company has been working with a variety of garden centres – from large chains to independents – for many years, but over the last few has seen this retail sector grow significantly in importance to them.

“People no longer visit garden centres solely to purchase things like garden furniture,” she says. “Instead such a trip is now a day out thanks to the cafes, gift shops and gorgeous displays.

“Puzzles fit particularly well within this mix as they make great gifts – and interestingly we’ve found that puzzlers are often gardeners too which is why our garden-themed puzzles are always popular with this demographic.

“We also find that quick-play games such as our Mind the Gap card game, and festive puzzles, such as a A White Christmas, sell exceptionally well in garden centres as they make great stocking fillers.

“This year Gibsons is excited to have launched two brand new Christmas gifts. The first is our 12 Days of Christmas Countdown Calendar, with an 80 piece jigsaw puzzle behind each door that eventually create one gorgeous, panoramic festive scene.

“The second is Santa Scramble – a gorgeous bauble that looks like an innocent tree decoration yet encased inside are 250 pieces of a chaotic Christmas puzzle!”

Garden centre sales are also proving increasingly important for business for Thames & Kosmos UK. Joanna Drage, Sales Director, says that it’s a trend they see continuing in the coming year.

“We find that the customer demographic is particularly suited to board games and we’ve also noticed garden centre buyers becoming more aware of the growth in the board game market,” Joanna says.

“Year-round, our smaller games like those from the Devir games range sell well, while our big-box higher end family games like Drop It prove popular during the Autumn/Winter season at garden centres as they make such great gifts for Christmas.”

Richard Wells, Managing Director of games and puzzles specialist, Paul Lamond Games, adds: “Christmas is most definitely the season for games and puzzles. They are very popular gift items and everyone loves a good family board game to play or puzzle to complete during the holiday.

“With this in mind garden centres are an obvious sales outlet for our products and over christmas in september 39

recent years we have definitely seen an increased uptake in the lines they take into the fourth quarter.

“As the retail market becomes increasingly segmented so garden centres are most certainly an important sector for us not just leading into Christmas but all year round.

“Our nature-orientated licenses such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar work very well in the garden centre market as well as many of the preschool licenses including The World of

“We’ve found that puzzlers are often gardeners too which is why our gardenthemed puzzles are always popular with this demographic,” Kate Gibson, Gibsons Games Dinosaur Roar, The Tiger Who Came to Tea, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt and Roald Dahl’s Enormous Crocodile. Basically our core market is their core market.

“New for Christmas is a new trivia-style board game, Reveal, and Stupid Deaths – a board game of grave humour which comes packaged in a tomb-shaped box!”

Sarah Welsh

Feature Festive Games & Puzzles

The Christmas Spirit from Jumbo Games

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ach year, puzzle enthusiasts can rely on Jumbo Games to bring some Christmas spirit to the festive season and 2018 will be no different with their range of Christmas puzzles.

The Falcon de luxe ‘Christmas Shopping’ 1,000-piece Puzzle depicts a wintery shopping scene on Christmas Eve and comes with a Free 1,000-piece puzzle for an extra special gift to puzzles to get them into the Christmas spirit. Also available is the ‘Christmas Market’ 500-piece Puzzle and ‘The Christmas Journey’ 200XL piece Falcon de luxe puzzles that both featuring beautiful Christmas imagery with a nostalgic feel.

New this year is also the 14th edition to its Christmas Wasgij concept, ‘Santa’s Little Helpers!’ This 1,000-piece puzzle is designed around the unique ‘what are we looking at?’ puzzle concept and requires imagination and attention to clues in order to piece together the view that the characters are looking at. The Wasgij Christmas puzzle also includes a FREE 1,000-piece puzzle of the image on the box (something you don’t get with other Wasgij puzzles), making it the ideal Christmas gift for puzzle lovers!

Jumbo game offering

Jumbo has expanded its games portfolio with the launch of four new Strategy Games, having seen the growing demand and popularity in this category over the past couple of years. Partnering with some of the most popular game developers and illustrators in the market, Jumbo’s new titles include the semi-cooperative How to Rob a Bank Game, that is already a strong seller in the US. The tactical tile placement Forbidden City Game, a collect and dominate game titled Okavango and Isidore – School of Magic.

If you’re not hashtagging things these days, then you’re just not in with the crowd! So Jumbo has developed a brand new Hashtag Game that’s suitable for all the family. The aim of the game is to see who can amass the biggest following, by identifying the most popular trending hashtag, and answering either a Subject or Image based card.

Tel: 01707 289289 Web: www.jumbo.eu

40 christmas in september

Feature DKL NEWS

DKL - the family company helping retailers drive sales

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hen it comes to children’s products the aim surely has to be to make little people smile, but also their parents and retailers too.

Which is exactly the industry expertise that has made DKL a market leader since the company was established in Northampton back in 1989. This family firm – ‘DKL’ actually originates from three family names, Dorte, Kai and Lise – exclusively distribute nine amazing brands to the toy trade across the UK and Ireland, including Hama Beads, Scentco Scented Stationery and SmartLab Science.

Their vast portfolio of products offer the highest play value combined with innovative design and of course product safety. Plus they offer the retailer a quality product direct from their warehouse with a low carriage paid and at a price that ensures a good margin.

Additionally all DKL’s ranges are supported with instore POS, stands, social media, promotions and dedicated marketing campaigns helping to drive retailer’s sales.

One of DKL’s fastest selling lines this year has been the new Plus-Plus Range – simply shaped building bricks that make amazing models. The Tubes with 100 pieces are the current best-sellers with a great pick-up RRP of only £5.50.

The range varies from basic, pastel colours to dedicated models such as dinosaurs and animals and is ideal as a Christmas line, whether displayed on a spinner stand or CDU. Plus-Plus also comes in many different sizes of box sets, ranging from 170 to 760 pieces, and has two starter sets that feature baseplates. Plus-Plus is aimed at age 5 plus but also look out for the 3 plus range called Big, large Plus-Plus for small hands.

A must-have for every retailer is the number one Bead Range from Hama. The brand is currently celebrating more than 30 years of success in the UK and has a very loyal following. Hama hasn’t rested on its laurels though, keeping up with modern styles and trends.

The Hama collection starts from as little as £2.50 for a set in a CDU, and offers a vast range of sets and accessories with coloured beads. Highlights include the new 3D sets where you can make a dog, spider and more, bright coloured sparkling jewellery, best-sellers including the 10,000 beads set with pegboards in a colourful tub and a storage box with trays including beads and pegboards. Top-seller Hama Midi can be displayed on dedicated stands and Mama Maxi, aimed at age 3 plus, is a great introduction to the range.

As a trend scented stationery is going from strength to strength, and the Scentco range offers fragrances that last two years and comes in fun colours. The brand’s products include: Graphite pencils, gel crayons, markers, coloured pencils, glitter pens, neon pens, metallic pens, key rings, note pads, pencil cases and soft toys. Plus the Scentco gift

42 christmas in September

packs offer great value with an assortment of items.

Licensed product from Scentco includes, Disney Princess, Frozen, Spiderman and Avengers – all with their own unique scents.

Breyer Model Horses offers a different range to customers with a brand known for its excellent quality.

Breyer’s unicorns, Black Beauty and painting sets are hugely popular, and a great starting point is the StableMates range of horses, sets and accessories at very competitive prices. Plus the new Pocket Box CDUs of bling bags featuring cars, dogs, animals and aquarium offer fun add-on lines.

Breyer’s product portfolio has a range of mid-size classics with a wonderful collection of horses, stables and accessories. While for the serious horse enthusiast there is the large traditional selection.

Bloco is the ultimate realistic construction toy made from high density foam and plastic connectors that make very sturdy animals. Look out for the brand’s amazing dinosaurs and animals featuring a giraffe, elephant, lion and more, as well as marine creatures, cats, dogs and space.

Scratch Toys is a selection of retro wooden puzzle nursery furniture, all made in top quality wood and presented in fun graphic boxes. Among the brand’s bestsellers are the Magnetic Darts, that come in various themes and two sizes. Each set includes a reversible dart board and darts. Scratch’s best-selling tool is its wooden display stand that comes complete with a demonstrator board.

Playmais makes beautiful creations just by adding water. Playmais is ideal for little hands and makes numerous models – or offers a child the chance to create their own. 2D mosaic creations, 3D models and the best-selling Playmais Tubs all make the Playmais offering an easy sell.

SmartLab’s Science range is currently one of the top sellers in the UK with its Squish collection leading the way.

SmartLab’s Squishy Human Body comes complete with squishy body parts, activity book and poster, and the range also includes a brain and T-Rex. Other science products this innovative brand is known for include a secret message lab, crash test car and solar system.

Finally, bath time fun can get no better than with the colourful Escabbo range of Bath Toys. This range is full of personality and includes many great pieces, ranging from various squirters to a fish scoop and bath book, bath mats, kissing turtles, cubes, letters, numbers and more.

To find out more on any or all of these amazing brands, be sure to get in touch with the DKL team.

Email: sales@dkl.co.uk Tel: 01604 678780 Web: www.dkltoys.co.uk

RAV_XmasSept_FullPage_Sept2018_FINAL.pdf

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8/28/18

10:50 AM

The ideal Christmas pastime Discover the UK’s most popular Christmas puzzle*

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AVAILABLE NOW! Let’s Visit Santa, Limited Edition 1000pc Puzzle

Become part of this puzzle-buying Christmas tradition by securing your stock now. *NPD epos data Jan-Dec 2017

Tel: 01869 363800 sales@ravensburger.com

Feature Festive Games & Puzzles

Pud stuff!

Gibsons

020 8661 8866 www.gibsonsgames.co.uk Gibsons has been busy this year creating an assortment of new puzzles for the upcoming season. There are 12 new puzzles in a variety of piece counts, and the collection features a range of images, from traditional nostalgic scenes to quirky cartoons. Sitting alongside Gibsons’ puzzles is an exciting collection of games that will make great gifts in the run up to Christmas.

Among the jigsaw puzzles are several Christmas images, including A Winter Stroll, a picturesque country scene featuring a dusting of snow; Christmas Treats, a heart-warming scene in two piece counts by one of Gibsons’ most popular artists, Steve Crisp; and Seventy-Six Santas, a chaotic Christmas cartoon showing 76 santas getting up to mischief!

It wouldn’t be Christmas without a family game, and Gibsons’ Pass the Pud is great entertainment for the whole family. Players take it in turns to draw a card from four mouth-watering categories. They must come up with an answer before quickly passing the pud on to the next player

who must also come up with a suitable answer – and so it goes on until the dreaded burp! The player who is holding the Pud when it burps is the loser and the rival team receives a sixpence. The team with the most sixpences once all the cards have been used is the winner. Packaged in a clear box, this quirky product has strong shelf appeal and is a popular gift choice during the festive season.

Edge of seat stuff Trefl

07850 779797 sales@sjr-associates.co.uk Mistakos is the craziest stacking game of all time. All players have to do is put a chair of their colour onto the top of the whole construction, and this simplicity has won it hundreds of thousands of fans all over Europe. This funny and enjoyable dexterity game is perfectly designed for players at any age.

Every play gives players the opportunity to create a unique construction, making the game absolutely different every time. First player who gets rid of his or her chairs wins the game. It may look easy, but when the chairs grow up higher it’s more and more difficult to stack another one on top. Different shapes and colours can sometimes be a help - but more often these are the toughest to solve!

44 christmas in september

THIS YEAR’S MUST-HAVE CHRISTMAS PUZZLES…

INCLUDES

FREE

1000 Puzzle

OTHER POPULAR FESTIVE THEMED PUZZLES…

CONTACT YOUR JUMBO SALES REP FOR MORE INFORMATION Jumbo Games &DUWHUV 5RZ +DW¿HOG 3DUN +DW¿HOG 8. $/ 1% 7HOHSKRQH (PDLO XN VDOHVKRWOLQH#MXPER HX www.jumbo.eu

Feature House of Marbles

Festive Fun Galore

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ouse of Marbles is a one-stop shop for masses of festive products this year. Their range is packed with a selection of gorgeous toys, entertaining games and great stocking fillers perfect for the independent retailer.

Look out for the company’s bestselling O-Deer game which was highly commended at this year’s Gift of the Year awards. This is the ultimate reindeer ring-toss party game, with inflatable antlers, five inflatable gold rings and a big red reindeer nose! It has a great gift margin and an enticing RRP of only £12.99, making it an ideal gift for customers to pick up during the party season.

You’ll also find lots of additions to their sought-after Christmas range including a magical 100-piece jigsaw featuring a beautiful Christmas Eve scene and glow-in-thedark stars as well as a traditional set of wooden press-up toys in a variety of festive characters.

So, if you’re looking for masses of gifts that will create an unforgettable Christmas display – not to mention carriage paid orders starting from only £150, why not give the House of Marbles range a try?

Tel: 01626 835358 Email: uk@houseofmarbles.com Web: www.houseofmarbles.com/tradeuk

46 christmas in september

Ravensberger Feature

Puzzling - a family favourite for Christmas!

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hristmas promises plenty of fun and excitement, but keeping the whole family entertained during the count down to the festive period can be challenging. Ravensburger has a surprisingly simple solution – assemble a wonderfullydesigned Christmas jigsaw puzzle and everyone can join the fun!

Consumer feedback collated over more than 10 years shows that families and puzzle fans alike turn to the company’s Limited Edition Christmas puzzle as the ideal festive pastime.

Product Manager Sarah Stevens explains: “Consumers tell us how our Limited Edition Christmas puzzle has become part of their very own Christmas traditions, meaning they buy each year’s new design. Whether the puzzle is assembled during the run up to the big day (it’s a great way to get in the festive mood) or is put together over Christmas itself, they say it’s a great way to bring everyone together and create some special Christmas memories”.

Ravensburger’s 2018 design, ‘Let’s Visit Santa’, depicts a young family visiting Father Christmas in a magnificently-decorated grotto.

Inspired by Miracle on 34th Street, everything

about the scene is magical – from the decorated pathway that leads you past a merry-go-round, fantasy castles and giant-sized toys, to the warm and welcoming fireside where Santa sits and listens to Christmas wishes.

The image, illustrated especially by British artist Roy Trower, is packed full of wonderfully colourful festive details – something puzzle fans demand and something that helps to ensure repeat purchases.

Ravensburger’s consumers also love the specially-created, bespoke packaging design, which gives each new edition a very special festive identity.

‘Let’s Visit Santa’ 1000pc puzzle is the 22nd in this collectable series created

by Ravensburger’s UK development team. Being able to complete a jigsaw puzzle as a family is a wonderful way to celebrate everything that is magical about Christmas. There are six 1000-piece Christmas jigsaw puzzles available from Ravensburger this season, as well as five children’s jigsaw puzzles including a Peppa Pig Save the Children Giant Floor Puzzle.

For more information about this and other Ravensburger puzzles and games, please contact the office on: 01869 363800 or email: sales@ravensburger.com.

christmas in september 47

CRAFT BRANDS CONTAINS OVER

AS SEEN ON TV

& 3 PEGBOARDS

DESIGN STUDIO

STABLEMATES

SUNCATCHERS

STAINED GLASS EFFECT

PLAY TUB INCLUDES

PLAYBOOK

DKL MARKETING LTD 11 Deer Park Road, Northampton, NN3 6QD, UK tel. 01604 678780 email. sales@dkl.co.uk web. www.dkl.co.uk

facebook.com/DKL.Toys twitter.com/DKLtoys