Trade talk
Gifts Today loves to hear your views. This month we speak to key wholesalers and suppliers to learn what’s on their minds.
We ask some of the industry’s finest their thoughts on Autumn Fair Philip Gannon CEO and Founder, Intelex Group. Why is Autumn Fair important to you? Intelex Group started out in business twenty years ago with a 3x3 meter shell scheme stand at Autumn Fair, selling Hot-Pak microwavable herbal heat packs. Our first show was a huge success and we have been exhibiting here every year since. I would go so far as to say that our UK business model is based around a having a successful Autumn Fair and over the past twenty years, I have personally never missed a single Autumn Fair. This show is by far the most important trade show in our calendar as most of our independent retailers visit to see what’s new and to place orders for the busy autumn/winter season and we see some of our multiple retailers here too looking for early signs of newness for the following year. What can visitors expect to find this year on your stand? Visitors will find our bestselling heatable soft toys being marketed under the new umbrella brand - Warmies. They will also find lots of new character additions to the Cozy Plush collection including a very cute new blue cat, a seasonal polar bear and snowman, a plush dinosaur for boys and fluffy pink unicorn for girls. We’ve also created several entirely new product categories such as Warmies Cozy Pets which include Chico the Chihuahua and Pugsy the Pug, Warmies Cozy dogs is a super cute range of fully heatable soft toys made from high quality herringbone materials and Warmies Cozy Crafts is a range of versatile rag-dolls which are ideal gifts for little girls. Predictably, all of our Warmies designs are fully
Laurence Whiting Price’s Candles Why is Autumn Fair important to you? It is important for Price’s to attend Autumn Fair to greet both existing and new customers at this stage in the calendar, helping with any last minute seasonal purchases or pre-spring orders. What can visitors expect to find this year on your stand? Visitors to our stand can expect to see our seasonal products, garden products, as well as our merchandising solutions. Everything you will see on our stand is currently in stock and available for delivery. Will be you running any specific show only offers?
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heatable and after just 90 seconds in the microwave they provide hours of soothing warmth and comfort which makes them fun, safe and convenient alternatives to the traditional hot water bottle. They are gently scented with the finest dried French lavender from Provence too, which is still a very important selling point for us. And here is some very exciting news, hot off the press. We have recently announced our licensing agreement with Minions creators Illumination Entertainment, to create heatable Warmies versions of the incredibly popular Minion characters Kevin, Stuart and Bob and these will be showcased at this year’s Autumn Fair Stocks are limited and demand is expected to be very high so early ordering of our microwavable Minions is essential to avoid disappointment. Will be you running any specific show only offers? We don’t normally do show offers but as it’s our 20th anniversary, we are celebrating by giving away 12 of our original Hot-Pak herbal heat packs with a free counter display unit (retail value £120) with all orders over £500 placed for delivery before the end of October 2015. We continue to provide all of our retailers with free floor and counter display units. How many new products will you be launching at Autumn Fair? We are launching a total of 27 exciting new products at this years show plus of course the all new fully microwavable Warmies Minions. There has been a huge surge in interest for our microwavable soft toys recently and after a record breaking show at Harrogate this year, we are looking forward to a very, very busy Autumn Fair.
Yes we have many one-off specifically designed Autumn Fair offers which include... last minute Christmas deals, garden deals, and dinner candle deals. At the show visitors will be able to talk to the sales team who are happy to help tailor bespoke deals especially for them, offering great discounts and incentives. How many new products will you be launching at Autumn Fair? We have an addition to our already very successful Fresh Air Odour Eliminating Candles - the Maxi Lights! Sold in a packs of four across four fragrances, these products have long burn times and are a great addition to the range.
Mary Overmeer Puckator Ltd Why is Autumn Fair important to you? Autumn Fair is the perfect opportunity for us to catch up with our current customers and meet new ones. There’s always a great buzz about the show. We provide delivery for people looking for last minute Christmas items in time for the crucial festive period. It’s also a great chance to see emerging trends for spring/summer 2016. What can visitors expect to find this year on your stand? Our UK-based design team have been hard at work and visitors to our stand will find a broad range of new designs this Autumn Fair. Some of our brand new designs include Christmas Pugs & Kisses, Botanical Gardens and Flamingoing Wild ranges. How many new products will you be launching at Autumn Fair? We will be launching thousands of new products as usual at the Autumn Fair. We have some great new vacuum flasks and tin mugs with a variety of designs. Also, a huge number of new cushions including ones in the shape of donuts, burgers and chips!