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August 2012 | Vol. XI - No. 8

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California Gift Show Concludes with Strong Performance and High-Volume Order-Writing

By: Bob Naimi
8/1/2012

Unique Regional Offerings, On-Trend Innovations and National Brand Favorites Coupled with CGS’s California-Centric Theme Continue to Deliver Buyers from Across the Country and Around the Globe

Idyllic weather and robust optimism provided the perfect backdrop for an impressive and energized summer Market for California Gift Show®. Sustained attendance of new and returning buyers, highly-trafficked showrooms busy taking orders and exceptional merchandising presentations from distinctive, in-demand lines continue to prove Los Angeles is a must-shop destination for today’s modern retailer.

As consumers become ever-more informed and discriminating in their purchasing habits, retailers seeking unique products with greater intelligence look to L.A. Mart and Los Angeles as their entrée to manufacturers known worldwide and to the innovations for which California is renowned. Attendees stretching the Eastern seaboard including New York, Boston, Atlanta and Miami joined buyers from New Orleans, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Phoenix, Las Vegas and more. More than 40 states were represented.

California’s mystique was also top-of-mind on the international front spanning North America, as Canadian and Mexican merchants shopped alongside Pacific Rim buyers from Hawaii, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul, as well as Middle East retailers from Dubai and Kuwait.

From high-end corporate brands to boutique independent retail shops, Los Angeles was an important destination for best-in-class retailers, including Bloomingdales, Burke Williams Day Spa, Cedars Sinai Helping Hand, Crown Ace Hardware, Fairmont Kea Lani, FIDM Museum & Galleries, Fred Segal, Grand Del Mar, Hallmark, Huntington Library Bookstore, Knotts Berry Farms, Los Angeles Country Club, Marriott, Marshall Retail Group, Mission Inn Hotel & Spa, Montage Hotel, Museum Of New Mexico, Omni Hotels, Pasadena Museum of California Art, Riviera Resort & Spa, San Diego Zoo, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Skirball Cultural Center, Southwest Airlines Spirit Magazine, Ritz Carlton, and Tokyo Disneyland, among others.

Trends resonating this Market included “Made in America” and “Made in California,” reinforcing the gift show’s California-centric positioning and the overall sentiment to support American manufacturing. Also highly evident and in-demand were multi-functional, multi-purposed products. “This Market witnessed an increase in retailers supporting a 'made-locally' position,” said Jeff Sampson, vice president marketing, L.A. Mart/L.A. Mart Design Center/California Gift Show. “We are proud that nearly half of our permanent showrooms offer California designed/manufactured products year-round. Quite a few of those products fell into the multi-purpose category as consumers expect greater value which these multi-functional items deliver on.”

Nearly 20,000 square-feet of new/ expanded permanent resources debuted this July Market, including Western states rep group Keena; echo by Fine Lines, the new division of Fine Lines Company presenting boutique lifestyle brands; Design Center anchor PALECEK with an additional 6,500 square-feet of merchandise available for immediate purchase; Chow’s Oriental Fine Arts and Noir Trading rounded out the new year-round buyer resources.

For information on L.A. Mart Gift + Home, visit www.lamart/gift.com. Image downloads are available at: at www.facebook.com/lamartgifthome.

ABOUT L.A. MART and CALIFORNIA GIFT SHOW
L.A. Mart® is a registered trademark of PHR LLC. California Gift Show® is a registered trademark of Urban Expositions. L.A. Mart is home to nearly 200 permanent year-round, residential, decorative accessory and gift showrooms serving the retail and interior design industries. California Gift Show features nearly 800 temporary exhibitors of gift, home décor, furnishings and lifestyle merchandise at Los Angeles Convention Center, making the California Gift Show the preeminent market for gift and home furnishings products on the West Coast. L.A. Mart is located at 1933 South Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90007. For more information call 213-763-5800 or visit www.californiagiftshow.com or www.lamart.com.

Writer's Bio: Bob Naimi is a toy industry veteran with more than 16 years of experience as the Publisher and Editor of ToyDirectory and TDmonthly Magazine. He is a graduate of CSUN with a degree in Entertainment Management. Read more articles by this author