Marketplace Poll
Do you think text messages and emails can replace greetings cards?
Opening times
5th September 10:00 - 17:00*
6th - 8th September 09:00 - 18:00
9th September 09:00 - 16:00
*Volume hall only
Autumn Fair News Headlines
| All the fun of the fair 16 Sep 2009 by Charlotte Cowell
The retailers we spoke to were in an upbeat mood and ready to spend money, keen to replenish their shelves after the summer sales, stock up on Christmas gifts, hone their skills in the seminar theatre and plan their buying for Spring 2010. Mrs Jane Cross of The Old Smithy, who came over to the show from the Isle of Man for the tenth year running, said she was: “Looking for gifts and toys, mainly, but it’s right across the board, everything is of interest. My main goal is to do top ups for Christmas and two suppliers that I particularly like here are Blue Moon and Malini, which does home textiles.”   Sylvie Kader from Knightsbridge table and cookware specialist Divertimenti was visiting Autumn Fair to catch up with existing suppliers and lookout for those last minute Christmas products. “I always do the Autumn and Spring Fair,” she said, “I’ve been coming here for about ten years. I’ve seen some very nice new products here, like the new launches from Joseph Joseph, they all ways have really nice things. We stock about 5,000 lines in our store and price tends not to be an issue because we’re in a wealthy area. Our customers are looking for good quality, functional products and I think they’re liking quite traditional styles right now.  Mrs Jane Peake from House of Ashley in Nottingham attended the exhibition for its full duration and said she does all her buying at the Spring and Autumn Fairs, saying: “I think we need a few more exhibitors at Autumn – from that point of view we prefer the Spring Fair - but the ones that are here are very good. You need these shows as you’ve got to see the product before you buy it.”  Mr Pre Tore Okland from Norwegian kitchen and dining products wholesaler Tilbords AS, which has 110 shops throughout the country, was visiting Autumn Fair for the second year running: “I use the shows to see what new products are out there,” he told Market Insight, “but I tend not to place orders on site, I take everything away with me and then do the buying later. Business for us has been good this year, we’ve seen a seven or eight per cent increase compared with 2008, but I know that a couple of other chains are struggling in Norway, it’s not that easy. I know there is a lot of focus on the eco friendly side of things at the minute but I’m not entirely sure if it affects the way consumer are buying, they take other things into account as well such as price and functionality.” Kim O’Hara, from gift retailer Room Number 9 in Leighton  Buzzard, was visiting Autumn Fair to find gifts, stationery, jewellery, bags, scarves and other accessories. “I’ve already found lots of things, mostly from existing suppliers,” she commented, “but I have opened a few new accounts while I’ve been here. I think there are a lot of good products at this show, there’s enough here for me and I think Spring and Autumn Fair are much better than the other shows, it’s where I do all my buying; actually I do everything here!” On the supplier side things were also positive, right across the various sectors, from volume gifts to higher end home interiors and fashion accessories. Becky Dobson, the managing director of giftwrap specialist, Glick said: “We’ve had a good show, I’ve got a nice big order book, lots from overseas, especially Africa, and a very good leads file, so I’m happy. Our new Metallica autumn/winter collection has probably been the most popular range here.”  Over in the toy hall, Anthony Evans of soft toy manufacturer, Gund, said: “We’re very pleased, I can’t complain, it’s been a very good all round show. We’ve opened plenty of new accounts and this is generally a good show for us. A few of the other soft toy companies have pulled out and those of us who are still here get to clean up a bit. All of our ranges have been strong but Sesame Street in particular, which is new for Autumn Fair, has been excellent.”  Sarah Banks, the owner of American fashion accessories supplier, Wonderweave, said there had been great interest in her new wraps and ‘vegan leather’ handbags, both launched at the show. “I’ve been in the UK market for about three years now and we’re having a really great show so far, I think it’s getting back to how it used to be now, people are placing lots of orders on site.
“They’re really loving my new wraps, which are very versatile and can be worn in many different ways. My motto for the company is ‘Image with Imagination’ so we do lots of demonstrations to show people the different outfit solutions they can get from the one wrap. We’ve got seven different colours in two different fabrics, one viscose and jersey, the other mohair and acrylic and they’re all really popular with the visitors here. I’ve opened plenty of new accounts, I’d say it’s about 50-50 with new and existing customers". |
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September 5 - 8 2010. The Volume Hall will open one day early on 4 September 2010. 
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