Gift Focus - Sep/Oct 2018 (Issue 109)

giftfocus 71 autumn fair preview The season’s No. 1 home and gift marketplace kicks off this September with its unrivalled scale, variety and choice of merchandise. Autumn Fair, 2018’s only Gateway to the Golden Quarter, will help buyers stock up for the end-of-year peak sales period and discover products with the power to deliver profit. Retailers attending this year’s event will get to experience a swathe of new features and areas, all dedicated to making sure that they can have the best possible Golden Quarter for their business. They will be able to buy the most innovative design pieces, quality British products and exotic handcrafted goods. Expert and inspirational advice will also be available for those wanting to capitalise on the Golden Quarter’s increased footfall and understand how to respond to changing consumer expectations. Louise Young, managing director, Spring & Autumn Fair said: “As well as being able to order products at Autumn Fair for the busiest retail period of the year, buyers will be able to see the upcoming trends and get ahead of the competition by seeing 2019 product launches before anybody else. Through a renewed collaboration with Pinterest, we will also enable our visitors to take a glimpse at the trends to come and effortlessly take them away on ready-made digital mood boards.” Finding something worthy of your friends, family or loved ones when it comes to birthdays, anniversaries and other celebrations, is a daunting task. Autumn Fair wants to make things a little easier for retailers’ customers by giving buyers a comprehensive overview of some of the UK’s most exciting contemporary giftware manufacturers. This year there are a number of new exhibitors showcasing products that would make for a heartfelt gift for any lucky individual receiving them. Amongst them will be Wraptious – a supporter of an all- manner of passionately crafted artwork from independent artists – as well as publishers of quality design-led stationery, gifts and calendars, Portico. The general giftware area will also be welcoming a number of new and exciting exhibitors this year. These will include Aromatize Ltd with its myriad of home fragrance products on offer, and Giftware Trading who’ll have all retailers’ seasonal giftware needs covered with dedicated Christmas 2018 and Spring/Easter 2019 product ranges on display. Not to be missed also will be the return of the bellwether brands in both Autumn Fair’s Gift and Contemporary Gift areas. The Straits Trading Company will be making its return to the Gift area with a variety of ranges which provide a stylish mix of modern and traditional quality products. Also back this year are Something Different Wholesale and Widdup & Co. with completely updated product ranges. Likewise, in the Contemporary Gift area Autumn Fair is looking forward to welcoming back Rex International and its expansive selection of gifts for all occasions and ages. Also joining them at the Fair will be Sass & Belle with trend-led yet quirky homeware, Chic Antique with traditional, French-inspired homewares and Heaven Sends, the so-called ‘home of the extraordinary’. Small Business Sunday Autumn Fair is welcoming Theo Paphitis of BBC Dragons’ Den fame, who’s set to host the new Small Business Sunday #SBS Pavilion, an area dedicated to celebrating new products from ambitious start-ups and small businesses. Theo and Autumn Fair will be opening up the opportunity for 12 of the #SBS winners to secure free exhibition spaces at the show. Nominations will be assessed by a panel of retail experts from event organisers Ascential, with 36 shortlisted and 12 being selected as Autumn Fair 2018 exhibitors. Global Handicraft This year, Autumn Fair is also celebrating all things handicraft with a showcase for handcrafted artisan goods from across the world. The Global Handicraft showcase will offer buyers the opportunity to explore a distinctive area of the market that has enthused consumers up and down the Autumn Fair’s jam-packed show is previewed show time IN BRIEF Show Autumn Fair Organiser Ascential Events Where Birmingham NEC When 2 nd – 5 th September 2018 Website autumnfair.com Twitter @SpringAutFair