NEWS BRIEFS TRADE SHOW NEWS

News Briefs (From page 16)

— that can be laser engraved with location-specific designs.

“We are excited to partner with ACE,” said Hugh Rovit, CEO of S’well ®. “The Company’s sales reach in the travel and resort channels is unparalleled, and its extensive decoration capabilities pairs perfectly with the S’well ® aesthetic. We look forward to bringing industry-leading reusable drinkware and accessories to this great new channel, furthering our Founder’s commitment to sustainable lifestyle products.”

Products will be available immediately. For more information, please visit www.aceusa.net ❖

We’re Back

OASIS is back and we are raring to get back to business as usual.

The show is scheduled for Feb. 9 –Feb. 11, 2022, at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Ariz.

We are the premier gift show in the Southwest and we are getting calls and emails from buyers and vendors who want to attend our show.

Our vendors are bringing their newest most exciting items to show you. We expect to see a huge turnout as everyone is excited to get out and shop the latest trends. We have our ordering section, Artisans Gallery and cash and carry, something for everyone.

(For more information, visit www.oasis.org, email info@oasis.org, or call 602-952-2050.)

Atlanta Market Anticipates Strongest Market in Two Years Showrooms Open January 1119, 2022; Temporaries Return January 12-16, 2022

Atlanta Market is encouraging buyers and sellers to rediscover, reconnect and get inspired this Winter as it plans for the return to a full market experience highlighted by expanded resources and a complete roster of events at its January 11-18, 2022 staging.

“Atlanta Market expects to welcome back buyers and sellers who have shopped with us in 2021, as well as those who have not been to a market in nearly two years,” said CEO Bob Maricich, International Market Centers (IMC). “Temporary exhibit locations are reopening to accommodate expansive gift and décor resources and live, in-person events are resuming to engage and inspire buyers. Atlanta in January will be the market moment the industry is anticipating.”

Reenergized Resources

Atlanta Market continues the growth trajectory of its permanent and temporary exhibits - showing some 8,000-plus lines - for the Winter 2022 Market.

The temporary exhibits grow again, showcasing 3,000-plus lines in 33 categories in 10 exhibit halls across Buildings 1, 2 and 3. Of note, High Design returns to its former Building 2, Floor 1 location as a design-driven entry point to the Building 2 gift offerings.

For a full list of Atlanta Market exhibitors, visit AtlantaMarket.com/ exhibitor/exhibitor-directory. Registration is open now for the January

11-18, 2022 (temporaries January 12-16) buying event at AtlantaMarket.com/Attend/Registration.

IMC’s Unmatched Gourmet Resources Prepare Buyers for Success

International Market Centers’ (IMC) Winter 2022 Atlanta Market and Las Vegas Market offer can’t miss destinations for gourmet and housewares retailers looking for trendsetting new product, category growth opportunities and businessbuilding education. With a combined 1,000 gourmet and gift-oriented housewares, tabletop and specialty food lines alongside 12,000-plus complementary gift, home décor and furniture resources plus experiential and thought-leading educational sessions, the bicoastal markets offer retailers unmatched tools to grow their businesses.

“Discerning gourmet and housewares buyers are eagerly anticipating the Winter 2022 Markets in Atlanta and Las Vegas,” said Dorothy Belshaw, IMC executive vice president, chief customer and marketing officer. “For this category, it’s not about getting it first, but sourcing depth and breadth of quality resources that provide the best return on their market investment.”

Business-Building Resources

Atlanta Market and Las Vegas Market’s strong gourmet, housewares and tabletop offerings – bolstered by a breadth of complementary gift and home décor product – provide unrivaled opportunities for cross-category sourcing, shopping and new revenue stream exploration.

The comprehensive gourmet resources run the gamut of top housewares and tabletop brands and specialty food purveyors. Buyers will find must-have lines in brand showrooms, sales agencies and temporary exhibits.

At Atlanta Market, some 475-plus gourmet, housewares and tabletop lines will be presented in showrooms on two dedicated floors of Building 2 with an additional 100+ gourmet, housewares and tabletop lines presented in five temporary exhibit categories: Gourmet, Gourmet LUXE, Housewares, Tabletop & Entertaining and Tabletop LUXE.

Las Vegas Market presents some 285-plus gourmet, housewares and tabletop lines in permanent showrooms with an additional 30-plus gourmet, housewares and tabletop lines in the all-new, connected EXPO at World Market Center Las Vegas.

“With the largest gift offerings in the country in Atlanta and the only opportunity to source gift, home décor and furniture together in Las Vegas, IMC’s markets offer unmatched exploration opportunities,” added Belshaw. “Our January markets are well-timed for retailers coming off a busy holiday season to re-order best-sellers and to discover innovative new resources.”

Gourmet and Business Programming

IMC presents a series of educational opportunities and gourmet industry networking at Atlanta Market and Las Vegas Market.

Cooking demonstrations bring food trends to life. The heart of the Atlanta Market gourmet and housewares collection – the state-of-theart Atlanta Market Demonstration Kitchen – will be bustling this market with four days of live cooking demonstrations. In Las Vegas, three days of cooking demonstrations will take place in a new location among the

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Trade Show News (From page 20) temporary exhibits in the EXPO. Additionally, both markets will host a series of in-person business and trend education throughout the market weeks.

For more information, visit AtlantaMarket.com and LasVegasMarket. com.

Las Vegas Market Experience Shines in Winter 2022

Market is January 23-27, 2022

Las Vegas Market amplifies its signature market experiences in Winter 2022 with expanded furniture, gift and home décor resources and the return of its celebrated proprietary atmarket programming for the January 23-27, 2022 staging at World Market Center Las Vegas.

“The elements of Las Vegas Market that attendees love – the crosscategory furniture, gift and home décor exploration, compelling pro- gramming and industry celebrations

– are back in force this Winter,” explained International Market Centers (IMC) CEO Bob Maricich. “We invite the industry to discover again for themselves why so many retailers and designers name Las Vegas Market as their buying event of choice.”

Only-in-Las-Vegas event offerings expand in Winter 2022 led by IMC’s proprietary FIRST LOOK trend education complemented by return of designer-focused and gourmet-specific programming. Also resuming are gourmet cooking demonstrations presented by three tastemakers in a new location on the EXPO floor. Rounding out the programming are thought leader presentations, celebrity appearances, and celebrations.

JuniperMarket by IMC – the industry’s newest B2B wholesale buying platform – will have a presence at Las Vegas Market.

Registration for the January 2022 Las Vegas Market opens soon at LasVegasMarket.com.

Las Vegas Market Names Kathryn M. Ireland 2022 Design Icon

One of the world’s most influential interior and textiles designers, Kathryn M. Ireland, will be honored as the 2022 Design Icon at the Winter Las Vegas Market, set for January 23-27, 2022. Ireland’s appointment to International Market Centers’ (IMC) list of design visionaries marks a resumption of the Design Icon programming after a pandemic pause.

“Design inspiration never stops, and no one embodies that more that Kathryn M. Ireland,” said Bob Maricich, IMC CEO. “We are excited to resume our Design Icon programming this winter with Kathryn as our honoree. Her energy and style are unmatched, and we look forward to celebrating her as our newest Design Icon.”

Ireland is an internationally celebrated interior designer based in Los Angeles, Calif., who was born in England and raised in London and Scotland. Prior to launching her design career, she was an actress, clothing designer and filmmaker.

JuniperMarket Preps for December Launch

JuniperMarket, a new B2B ecommerce marketplace powered by International Market Centers (IMC), is set to launch in December. In November, the in-house team was working around the clock to onboard tens of thousands of SKUs per day from industry-leading gift, home and lifestyle sellers, and to accommodate the growing pipeline of brands eager to join the platform.

“JuniperMarket is operating in high-gear, with our team of nearly 200 technologists and customer experience specialists working nonstop to onboard brands for our December launch,” said Eric Dean, president of Juniper by IMC. “Momentum is building for JuniperMarket as buyers and sellers eagerly anticipate this new opportunity to connect – anytime and everywhere.”

JuniperMarket will showcase thousands of brands with millions of product SKUs. Additionally, JuniperMarket has attracted some of the industry’s top sales representatives to the new B2B platform.

Gift for Life Welcomes Two New Board Members

Emalee Hoffman of Studio Oh! and Meg Estevez of Emerald Expositions/NY NOW career as a buyer in 2009, joining Studio Oh! in 2014. Meg Estevez is a marketing professional with over two decades of experience in multichannel marketing strategy management and serves as Vice President of Marketing at Emerald Expositions.

Gift for Life, the gift, stationery and home decor industries’ sole national charitable organization, announced today that Emalee Hoffman of Studio Oh! and Meg Estevez of Emerald Expositions/NY NOW, have joined its board of directors.

Gift for Life is run by a volunteer board comprised of industry leaders representing market centers, media, sales agencies, manufacturers and suppliers of other industry services.

Surf Expo Celebrates Boom of Beach Lifestyle

Surf Expo successfully and safely reunited brands and buyers on September 9-11, 2021 at the Orange County Convention Center’s West Concourse in Orlando, Fla. After a hurricane and the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the September edition from staging the two previous years, the industry welcomed the return to an in-person format as buyers were eager to build their inventories during what has been an exceptionally busy year.

try to come out of this COVID situation.”

Surf Expo staged two successful shows in 2021 in a secure, safety-first environment to support exhibiting brands and retailers, who communicated strongly to show organizers the need to meet and conduct business in person as the industry sought to assume some degree of normalcy during these challenging times.

“We had an opportunity for safe, face to face contact in Orlando, thanks to Surf Expo,” said new exhibitor John Clark, TANDM Surf. “We now have the buyer contacts and relationships needed to partner with regional retailers, national chains, surf shops, tour operators and rental businesses.”

“I have to commend the Surf Expo team for putting on a great show despite the uncertainties and challenges that COVID-19 has presented. We found the September show to be very productive, with more key vendors than I expected. We‘re excited about some of the new products we found at the show and we wrote those orders onsite,” said Jill Bennett, owner, Birthday Suits, Outer Banks, N.C.

One trend that emerged was the tremendous number of new products available from more than 56 first time exhibitors.

Emalee Hoffman has been a part of the gift and home industry for more than a decade. She began her

“There’s still difficulty in finding product in the marketplace, whether it is at-once or pre-season orders or dealing with future supply chains, but it’s been a great year to be in the beach business,” said Roy Turner, Surf Expo show director. “The beach and resort business are having their second banner year in a row as we

The September show traditionally attracts Caribbean buyers and this year’s edition was no exception. Stores and resorts from Aruba, Turks and Caicos, St. Maarten, St. Lucia and Antigua were in attendance. The next edition of the show takes place January 5-7, 2022. For more information on the upcoming markets, please visit www.surfexpo.com. ❖

An International Market Centers Question and Answer Feature

Holiday Perspectives: Viewpoints from Two Retailers

International Market Centers (IMC): How did you buy for Holiday 2021?

Tommy Brown , Retail Manager/Buyer of Conservation Goods/ZAG Board of Directors, Saint Louis Zoo, St. Louis, Mo.: We were able to get in all the merchandise we needed for our Holiday event, and the rest of the season. We did increase our on-hands due to increased 2021 sales.

Owner Kim Sisco , Whitehouse Fruit Farm in Canfield, Ohio: We always shop the January Gift Show at AtlantaMarket. It is of great importance that we be able to examine our customer offerings and make the very best selections. Being American-made if possible is important to us and we are always able to find unique items that fill our needs and our customers desires. Early delivery is ideal and we accept shipment as soon as items are ready. This helped us to be ahead of the shipping crisis.

IMC: How are you planning for inventory gaps?

T.B.: We planned ahead, and we are not really seeing any gaps for the rest of the season.

K.S.: We have regrouped our inventory and redesigned many times. Our Gift Barn closes midDecember for the season which allows our inventory from wise January ordering to fill our season.

IMC: What are your plans for in-store holiday events?

T.B.: We will have our big Holiday Zootique on November 11. This is the kick off to the zoo’s holiday season. We offer zoo members a special night of shopping, with food and drinks.

K.S.: We host a coffee shop in our Gift Barn during the holiday season to provide the option of a handcrafted beverage while enjoying Christmas music and perusing purchases.

Family Fun Night allows parents to purchase tickets for their children to come enjoy playing our game offering, join in story time, craft an ornament and share snacks from our in house donut shop.

Mid-December boasts Christmas On The Farm, our signature event that closes the Gift Barn. Horse drawn sleigh rides, s’mores and wieners to roast over an open fire pit, live music, Santa and real reindeer, and fresh kettle corn round out our customer experience.

IMC: What kind of over-and-above/special shopping services are you offering for the holidays?

T.B.: We will have the outstanding service we always provide to our guests.

K.S.: We have the best customer service in regards to product knowledge, and care, comfort and personality. ❖

— Tommy Brown, Saint Louis Zoo, ZAG Board Member