Back to Building 2 where we went directly to one of my favorite girlfriend plaque vendors, Mary Boling. She was celebrating her 25th Anniversary, and had many new style plaques, including a new one called “Welcome to Group Therapy” with all the gals sipping their wine atop a wine glass. Very cute!
Aprons are it! A new line of “Girlfriend Apron” plaques were introduced - one saying “put on your party apron”!
Also displayed, Girlfriend and Guys personalized plaques just like the Baby and Wedding ones I carry now. I have samples coming for you to see! These make a very special gift for bachelor or bachelorette parties, or even for a birthday.
We hit a few more gift showrooms and placed orders for fun and very wearable aprons for gals and guys, new Kooky Pens for the kids, and all new cards and magnets from Blue Mountain Arts. They also had wonderful books for teenagers, and even one titled “ a girl’s guide to college”. Wish I would of had that when I went to college!
Off to our 11:00am appointment with my rep. Christine, who reps a fabulous holiday line. Yes, more holiday buying for 2010! They had the best products and priced right, and completely different from Silvestri who I visited on day 1. Cute snowmen and santas, beautiful holiday pottery and servingware, candleholders, and lots of holiday birds. See my sneak peek photos below!
A quick loop through the TAG showroom, and then he headed over to the Uttermost showroom to see their new introductions. Their showroom was absolutely packed! I found out later that they were up 78% over last January. For those that don’t know Uttermost, they carry beautiful home decor including accent furniture, lamps, mirrors, art, florals and accessories. Michelle Postma, my Uttermost representative walked us through their showroom, and even going quickly it still took us an hour. Their showroom is like none other. I ordered some great pieces including mirrors, statues, lamps and furniture.
From Uttermost we decided to stay in Building 1, where they house most of the Home Decor showrooms. We hit Cyan quickly where we picked up a few wine accessories, mirrors, trays and bookends, and then headed over the Douglas Showroom. We went to look at lamps, but instead found the best decorative leather books. These are really old books that they printed too many copies of. Some of them even have the library stamped on them, and others have very old newspaper articles tucked inside. They are like none other that I have seen before. Yes, I do carry the book boxes, but I think these are so much more interesting. I took several pictures - see below! Can’t wait to get these in!
On our way over to Imax, we passed by an art showroom that immediately caught our eye. All the art was canvas wrapped (no frames), and just breathtaking. My mom fell in love with a piece that she said looked just like one featured in Architectural Digest, and I couldn’t keep my eyes off a girl canvas called En Soiree. Needless to say all four of us wanted something from this showroom. I also chose a couple pieces for the store.
Back on track and over to Imax to view their new collection of accessories. Shari, my sales rep walked us through their showroom. I was very impressed with the number of new accessories they introduced, and in very different styles too to suit various tastes. My favorites were the roosters, sconces and pottery. Look for these to arrive in store next month, just in time for Valentines!
We made our way through a few more home decor showrooms, and even to Pebblehill Designs, who make fabric covered headboards. My mom couldn’t resist and ordered one for her guest room!
Our last stop for the day, one that we had been trying to go back to since day one was an exquisite holiday showroom out of Ohio. The attention to detail and design of each item is amazing! They are a husband and wife team with years of design experience. Wait until you see the holiday ornaments for 2010! Unfortunately, they did not allow photos in their showroom. I managed to take a couple, but they don’t do it justice. Some of the pieces I chose are a red mesh stiletto ornament, a vintage ballet shoe and a diamond belly fluffle (bird) to name a few.
My girlfriend Karen also fell in love with this amazing scarf. We had picked it out for her on day one knowing she would like it. She talked very nicely to their head designer who agreed to sell it to her on the spot so she could wear it to the Lady Gaga concert.
All of us were very sad that our time at market ended, but we are extremely pleased with the new items that we chose for all of you! This was by far one of the best markets that we attended, and everyone was very energetic and positive for a much better 2010 for retailers and consumers.
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