Big Market, Big Shows
The gift industry is gargantuan—it is estimated to be a $253 billion market in the United States, according to Unity Marketing of Stevens, Pa. Two recent gift shows, the California Gift Show and the Los Angeles Gift & Home Market, hoped to capture every aspect of this business.
Retailers and manufacturers dealing in everything from stationery to jewelry to gourmet snacks took over the Los Angeles Convention Center, site of the July 17–20 run of the California Gift Show, and the California Market Center, host of the Los Angeles Gift & Home Market, held July 13–20.
An estimated 31,000 buyers and 1,900 exhibitors participated in the California Gift Show. The show’s producer, White Plains, N.Y.–based George Little Management LLC, had not finished tallying attendance figures by press time and could not confirm whether attendance had increased or decreased compared with the last show, said Show Director Aubin Wilson.
Paul Lentz, general manager of the CMC, said attendance increased 27 percent over the last July show.
Success at the show depended on the schedules of particular industries. The California Gift Show was crucial to calendar wholesalers, said Eddie Kleiman, general sales manager for The Card Cafeacute;, a Seattle-based wholesaler of calendars, posters and stationery.
“It’s an eight on a scale of 10,” Kleiman said of the California Gift Show, noting it is positioned before Back-to-School and Holiday, the important seasons for calendar shopping. He said Universal Studiosand music retailers, including Record Exchange of Boise, Idaho, visited his booth.
Some exhibitors opened booths to get a head start on the Holiday season. But others interviewed were disappointed with buyer traffic. “I think traffic is off and buyers are shopping for Christmas, but they’re playing their cards close to the vest,” said Alan Stewart, owner of Los Angeles–based lamp wholesaler Enchanted Lantern.
Jerry Morales, owner of Santa Barbara Imports, a Paramount, Calif.–based ceramics wholesaler, said the weekend was busy but buyer traffic decreased during the weekdays.
“I’d prefer it if there were more retailers,” Morales said. “We saw a lot of designers and people buying for their homes.”
Tali Yerushalmi, sales manager for ART Judaica Israel, a manufacturer of religious articles and gifts in Tel Aviv, Israel, said he thought the general impact of gift shows has weakened because there are too many of them.
The San Francisco International Gift Fair starts on July 24, just a few days after the California Gift Show.
Booming business
According to John Saxtan, editor in chief of Chicago-based trade magazine Giftware News, a regional gift show is scheduled almost every week but the major shows are scheduled in New York, Atlanta, Dallas and Los Angeles.
These shows are supported because business for the gifting industry has been steady over the past year, Saxton said. And, as in the retail apparel industry, the luxury gift sector has been doing quite well.
“People are looking for perceived value— something that will serve them well for a good length of time,” Saxton said. “They want something that’s decorative and functional. People will buy a crystal vase instead of a crystal figurine.”
Maritza Mendoza, co-owner of Poetea & Coffee Home Division, a Valencia, Calif.–based gift store specializing in home deacute;cor, said mid-priced items were a victim of this trend.
“No one is buying in the middle,” Mendoza said. “They’re spending $10 for something cheap or $500 for a kitchen set of two pieces, but no one is buying anything for $50.”
Strong sellers
Licensed products for blockbuster movies did well at the Los Angeles Gift & Home Market, according to Jessica Lederman, showroom director of Crystal Enterprises, which opened a new showroom on the 10th floor of the CMC’s C building last week.
Also popular were gifts with a nostalgic feeling, said Claudio Di Fiore, a sales representative for the Home Scent Design showroom, also on the 10th floor of the CMC’s C building. He sold mood rings, a hit of 1970s American pop culture.
“It’s like the apparel business,” Di Fiore said. “What was popular before always comes back.”
