Mood at Market
Home accent vendors, like the rest of America, are increasingly concerned about the economic situation in the country, and the expectation that the tough time will continue well into 2009.
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High Point Market Preview
Join the staff of Home Accents Today at our Market Kickoff Party, Monday, Oct. 20, from 6-8 p.m. in the Century Courtyard outside of Market Square. The event is co-hosted with Merchandise Mart Properties Inc.
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It's scary out there
I'm almost afraid to write this column. Afraid for what will come next, and afraid that by the time this issue hits, what I have said here will be hopelessly out of date. That's how fast things are moving these days. In a matter of days, it feels like, the American economy went from shallow recession to deep depression.
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Las Vegas Market moves to September date pattern in '09
The Las Vegas Market has pushed back the dates for its second 2009 show until September, and will shorten the market to a four-day event — Sept. 14-17. Dates for next year's winter show in Las Vegas, a five-day event beginning Feb. 9, remain unchanged. “Our research clearly shows that buyers and exhibitors don't want more days in a market; rather they want to focus on a market th...
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Garden vendors work to keep their businesses growing
Garden products vendors are keeping busy this fall, despite the dismal economic mood. The vendors interviewed for Home Accents Today said they are able to stay competitive by staying within their niche, emphasizing the trend for people to stay home, and playing up the ecological and psychological benefits to having a pleasant outdoor space.
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Green, Take Two
Welcome to the Home Accents Today 2008 Green edition. This is our second year of dedicating our September issue to eco-matters. We really do believe this is more than a passing phase. It is an intensely complicated subject, to be sure, and we are all still wrapping our arms around it, but it is not going away.
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NYIGF--Market Preview
How, when, where and why do consumers buy home products? Join Jenny Heinzen York, editor of Home Accents Today, for a sneak preview of an HGTV viewer survey about shopping habits, style and design preferences and more. Get a jump on your competition with this exclusive preview of consumer research results to be published in Home Accents Today’s September issue. York will host a panel of consumers to share their thoughts about decorating their homes and how they make their purchasing decisions.
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Walking on the retail side
Wholesaler Moe's Home Collection is opening two new stores this year — bringing to five its number of retail operations. As I was reading Susan Dickenson's story on this move (see page 10), it occurred to me that this is one of only a handful of home accents vendors that I know of who are doing this, at least in a brick-and-mortar format.
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Straaton & Associates to expand to Southeast
Midwest-based sales agency Straaton & Associates is expanding this year to cover the Southeast in the states of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi. Straaton will represent Austin in a selected area, as well as Loloi, Kennebunk Home, Replogle Globes, Ibolili, Bella Rose by Chateau and others.
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PTM adds Walt Disney Signature line
PTM Images debuted its new licensed Walt Disney Signature Collection last month during the Las Vegas Market. The collection is not character-driven, and uses imagery and motifs from archival and original Disney art, re-cast in contemporary palettes and framing treatments. “The Walt Disney Signature brand collaboration with PTM Images celebrates the archival art from classic films that ha...
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ICA Home Decor rebrands, opens Atlanta showroom
Intercontinental Art has rebranded itself as ICA Home Decor and opened its first showroom in Americasmart last month. The company was founded in 1976 as a framed graphics producer, and now is expanding into more home categories and building itself into a lifestyle brand for independent home and gift retailers, as well as furniture chains.
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Heard at the Las Vegas Market
A slew of ribbon-cuttings marked the show Monday and Tuesday as vendors here showed off their new spaces. With the opening of Building C adding 2.1 million square feet, the entire market is in one place for the first time. More than 320 new exhibitors are calling Vegas home, and market officials said registration figures were up 35% from January.
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Atlanta Market Preview
Lazy Susan USA, the home decor company of Japanese origin, is opening its first permanent Atlanta showroom in space GM 901B to showcase it selection of lifestyle accessories. A ribbon-cutting and grand opening party are set to celebrate the occasion.
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Shrinking planet
One of my favorite things to do on the weekend is visit the North Carolina Zoo. I am lucky to live just 20 minutes away from it, and over the years I have found it to be a great place to get in a long walk, at the same time that I get to see gorgeous animals from around the world — all right in my hometown.
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Napp Deady closes High Point showroom
Longtime sales and rep agency Napp Deady has closed its showrooms in Atlanta’s Americasmart and High Point’s International Home Furnishings Center.
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Sex and the home business
Bet that caught your eye, huh? The media blitz for the Sex and the City movie has gotten me thinking about this theory I have about our business. Somehow, that television program managed to convince women that spending $400+ for shoes and $1,000+ for handbags was just the thing to do. Not just for the super well-heeled, so to speak, but for regular working people too.
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Napp Deady closes Americasmart, High Point showrooms
Longtime sales and rep agency Napp Deady has closed its showrooms in Atlanta's Americasmart and High Point's International Home Furnishings Center. “I do not intend at this point to continue at this time as a rep agency,” Carol Deady, owner and president, told Home Accents Today. The agency had occupied a 21,000-sq.
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Wall decor producers hanging tough
This year continues to bring negative economic news and the fallout of all the troubles is making its way directly into the home accents business. But wall decor producers interviewed this month said they are confronting the issues, making changes where necessary, and most of all, aggressively working on product development to stay ahead of the competition.
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Licensors bring added value with greater involvement
More home accent vendors are looking at licensing opportunities as a way to boost market visibility and enrich their product offerings. Those who are finding success in the licensing arena say it's because their licensing partners bring more than just a name — they also bring their creative juices, a complementary aesthetic, industry knowledge and a fresh perspective to the partnership.
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