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Industry News
An Eggscellent Easter Easter Weather Boosts Sales The warm, sunny Easter weather gave UK retailers a much needed a boost over the Bank Holiday weekend, with household spending up 8.5% over the week, compared to the same week last year, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research. At gift and lifestyle shop Papyrus in Glasgow, owner Fiona Fabien told PG&H: “Thanks to the warm weather over the Easter weekend - Easter Saturday saw record breaking temperatures - trade continued to be good. As long as the sun shines, our customers are out in their droves. The café and leisure culture has increased over the years in the Byres Rd area where Papyrus is situated, resulting in an increase in footfall.” At the other end of the country, Jo Webber, owner of Jo Amour in Tiverton, was rewarded for the #bunnyshopping campaign that she ran on Instagram and Facebook in the two weeks leading up to the event. It featured a wide selection of gifts, cards, books and fashion in fun and engaging ways with Jo reading children’s books to camera and posting them on Instagram. “Our Easter trading week was very positive,” she confirmed. “The sunshine was a bonus and a great boost to our summer clothing sales.” However, not everyone had buoyant weekend. Although Olivia Reilly, owner of Little Boat Gifts in Brightlingsea, Essex, had a good lead up to the Easter weekend, with many of the shop’s Easter decorations selling out, she explained: “a mix of sunshine and being by the coast meant that the actual Easter weekend was quieter than normal as people headed off to make the most of beach.” Figures from Springboard confirmed that high street figures increased by 6.5% on Good Friday, going up by 1.2% on Easter Saturday, and surging by 8.4% on Easter Monday by comparison to the same week last year which was hit by storms. However, the warm sunshine had the reverse effect on shopping malls and retail parks which saw a drop in footfall over the Easter weekend. Above: Jo Webber brought her shop Jo Amor to life in her #bunnyshopping campaign, during which she read children’s books to camera and posted them on Instagram. Left: Papyrus in Glasgow had a cracking Easter.
What’s New At Home & Gift Just shy of its 60th edition, Home & Gift, Harrogate, will be opening its doors from July 14-17 fanfaring 800 exhibitors and three new curated sectors, revealing unseen brands and emerging talent, along with leading suppliers in the industry. Debut sectors include Design Now, Craft and Taste. The show will also see the launch of Match, a new initiative aimed at connecting suppliers with retailers Above: Relaxing at Home & Gift in 2018. through a VIP hosting programme and a range of online tools. “Home & Gift is unlike any other trade show and that’s why it is loved by the industry,” comments show director Louise Morris. “Not only is it the perfect time to secure orders for the most important retail season, but it is also where the industry comes together and relationships are celebrated.” Continues Louise: “Retailers and exhibitors can do business against the beautiful backdrop of Harrogate, making it the most majestic buying experience. In this challenging climate, it’s more important to us than ever before that the 2019 show is a platform for meaningful connections, shared learnings and festivity - a truly unmissable event.” Among the new names at the show this year will be Premier Decorations; Transomnia; Kikkerland; Le Toy Van; S’ip By S’well; Designed in Colour; Tyrrell Katz and Caspari. Returning will be suppliers including Joe Davies; Gisela Graham; Wild & Wolf; Sass & Belle by RJB Stone; Pacific Lifestyle; Nkuku; Container Group Buying; Heathcote & Ivory and Village Candle. Also returning is ShopTalk featuring a roster of speakers from the north to include Emma Edmondson, deputy store director at Anthropologie; Matthew Galvin, co-founder of contemporary furniture creators The Galvin Brothers and Linda Burns, personal shopping manager at Selfridges Manchester Trafford. Also joining the line up will be designer Sophie Conran.
Food Initiative Launches At Exclusively Housewares A former Junior Chef of the Year, Charles Banks, now with ‘the food people’, will be presenting a food trends talk each day at Exclusively Housewares and Exclusively Electrical, which take place at London’s Business Design Centre on June 11-12. He will be sharing the most relevant food and drink future trends which will have an impact on, for example, tableware and tabletop companies over the next two years. “Food moves fast, and often the consumer is moving faster still,” Charles explains. “So understanding what the next vegan, the next street food or the next Korean is, is critical for business.” The talks will take place in the Trend Hub on both days of the show. Visitors will be able to explore the online trends platform, look through the 2019/20 trends book and take away a free copy of the 2019/20 trends infographic poster. Meanwhile, with gift suppliers getting ready to showcase their products - to include Candlelight, Creative Tops, Eddingtons, LSA International, T&G and Valerie Graham - the organisers have announced that the Brand Showcase and gifting room - aimed at the media and bloggers - is returning. “Journalists are already reaching out and asking for details on this year’s event so we are looking forward to building on last year’s successes,” says Exclusively’s brand showcase manager Richard Watts. (See Let’s Cook on pages 33-35). Above: A journalist is shown at last year’s Brand Showcase held at the Exclusively Shows.
Fanfaring New Designs Homewares and accessories brand Libra will be launching over 400 new lines to retailers and designers at the company’s Open Week which takes place from May 12-17 at Libra’s Newmarket HQ. Above: Libra’s Loft collection.
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