Gift Focus - Mar/Apr 2019 (Issue 112)

Tell us a bit about Joe Davies. How did the company start out? Joe Davies, one of 10 children, was born in the 1880s. As a young man, he worked as a commercial traveller for a large Manchester wholesaler Richard Rowbottom. He was successful in this role and had a good round of regular customers in the North West. In 1915, Joe joined the army and served until the end of the First World War. He was demobbed, unharmed, in 1918. When he returned to employment, he was disappointed to find many of his customers had been passed to the newer employees, so he decided to set up on his own. He rented a small premises at No. 20 Shudehill, Manchester. In 1919, he obtained a major agency for the company Benjamin Parkes of Dudley, a renowned maker of the hearth furniture (a hot line at that time). He had many successful years as an agent before making a small showroom in Shudehill and began to buy goods on his own account, and thus started as a wholesaler. How does it feel to be 100 years old? Being a part of the company as it reaches 100 is an amazing feeling. There is not a lot that Joe would recognise in today’s business, but one thing that I am sure he would recognise – and be very happy about – is that we still provide customer service the Joe Davies way, with feeling and from the heart. What were the initial goals of the business? The initial goals of the business were for Joe to provide for his family in a country that was going through a massive adjustment after the First World War. How has the product offering changed over time? The range has changed completely over time. From around 100 fireside furniture items, then ceramics from the Potteries, through horse brasses to the massive explosion of ornaments, household fancy goods and frames that came with people having a bit more expendable income. Today it covers more than 10,000 lines across gifting, from snoozies!® foot-coverings, brands like Equilibrium Jewellery, the famous Leonardo collection from Lesser & Pavey (Joe Davies is the UK’s number one distributor of Leonardo) to its own well-known Shudehill Giftware collection. Any classics that have stood the test of time? With today’s fast moving and ever-changing design-led demand from customers, there is little that really stands the test of time over a number of years. Joe Davies has to be at the leading edge of product innovation, launching more than 2,500 brand new lines every season. That said, life’s special events, such as wedding and anniversary product, do seem to have more longevity, in particular baby Silver Plate items and frames. Which collections are you excited about? With so many great new ranges just launched at the NEC, it’s hard to pick a favourite – we are very excited about the new Sunny by Sue glassware additions for this year, our new Pairables snoozies collection is set to be one of our strongest-ever concepts for the busy season, and Equilibrium goes from strength We celebrate Joe Davies’ 100 years of trading with the company’s commercial director Paul Hooker A century of service 66 giftfocus