Gift Focus - Jan/Feb 2018 (Issue 105)

84 giftfocus For a buyer who has never visited Spring fair before, where do you begin? One thing that always shocks our first-time visitors is the sheer scale of the show. It’s a great opportunity for buyers and store owners that are looking to diversify their offerings, but it does mean planning is vital. First of all, I’d recommend that they visit the Spring Fair website. It features a number of invaluable tools such as our new Appointment Planner with its matchmaking functionality, which recommends exhibitors based on filters you specify such as product category and sector. The Appointment Planner then enables you to request and accept meetings directly with suppliers you want to do business with ahead of the show, so you can make a plan to hit the ground running on arrival. We also have full exhibitor and product lists, which can be filtered by product category, show sector or RRP, plus floorplans to help plan the best route around the show. I’d also familiarise yourself with all the show features that are happening in 2018. While the exhibition floor is full of inspiration, Spring Fair has a wealth of other areas that will highlight new trends and business advice. Our hugely popular workshops are delivered by retail experts and can be booked online. You must be quick though, spaces do get filled very quickly. For us regulars who attend year-on-year, what can we expect that’s new? We’re really excited to be launching a brand new interactive feature area at the 2018 show: The Atelier. This new creative space will enable visitors to fully immerse themselves in visually-merchandised rooms that showcase current consumer trends and predict what will be hot all the way through to 2020. We’re bringing together content from industry-leading trend forecasters and platforms WGSN, Pinterest, One Click Retail and Coloro, to pinpoint colours, patterns and shapes that’ll be in-demand over the coming years. The gallery-inspired feature will provide retailers, buyers, interior designers, specifiers and contractors with a glimpse into the future. It will be great, I promise! The rationale behind this new addition is that we wanted to make it easier for time- poor buyers to get a snapshot of trends that will come to the fore over the next two years, as well as helping them quickly identify the next hottest products. However, it’s not just this feature that’s new. We’re introducing a new Glee concession to Spring Fair 2018, which will present the very best garden and outdoor living products to encourage gift buyers to maximise their attendance at the show. The Glee’s concession will be situated in Hall 3, alongside Greetings & Gifts and Christmas Gifts, Floral and Seasonal Decorations in Hall 2. The reality is that Spring Fair is full of newness, with thousands of new product launches presented in every hall. In the Gift sector, for instance, Enesco Ltd, Joe Davies, Lesser & Pavey, Ross & Ross Food and Something Different Wholesale will present their latest products. They will be joined by international suppliers Out of the Blue KG, Gilde Handwerk, Artesania Esteban Ferrer and Kalid Interiors, while Lighthouse Frames and IBOERS will exhibit at the event for the first time. We already have more than 500 new exhibitors confirmed across the whole exhibition, including those at the Jewellery & Watch show. We’ve also relocated the Summerhouse Café to sit in between Hall 8 and Hall 9 for convenience for those wanting to network, hold meetings, grab a coffee and connect with new suppliers. How has the Spring Fair changed over the past five years? Spring Fair is constantly evolving to meet the needs of both exhibitors and visitors, which is why we remain the UK’s largest trade show. We strive to be an inspirational hub of hot products, trends and insights, which modern retailers and e-tailers alike see as an invaluable resource. We pride ourselves on delivering an event that meets the demands of retailers. And as stores continue to diversify their offerings to bring in new customers, Spring Fair has truly come into its element over the last few years. There is no show that provides the same cross-buying opportunities as us. Have you noticed the current economic/ political climate in the UK affecting the show at all? Without a doubt Brexit is a major concern for our visitors and exhibitors. The possible implications for trade continue to be part of many conversations the Spring Fair team has Gift Focus chats to Rob Sapwell, Head of Sales (Gifts, Home & The Summerhouse), at Spring Fair, to find out how to navigate this fabulous, mammoth buying event! what to expect…