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August, 2008

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September
3-7, Warwick, RI
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6-9, Boston
7-9, New York
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13-15, Dallas
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14-16, Columbus
14-16, Lombard, IL
14-16, Los Angeles
15-18, Chicago
21-22, Fitchburg, MA

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 In this issue:
  • New, Improved Look for GiftsWholesale.Com!
  • Summer Trade Show Attendance Down; More Buyers Go Online
  • Quick Industry News
  • Featured Vendors In GiftsWholesale.Com
  • Trade Shows

Featured Vendors in GiftsWholesale.Com
indicates a CAMEO EZ© web site.

At Alexa's Angels , the special moment of gift giving motivates everything we create. Each of our expressive and inspirational jewelry products were crafted with your friends and loved ones in mind. Because what you give to the special people in your life can say so much about the sentiments you with to share.


Aspen Bay Candles: The best candles on the market--a result of our continual and diligent application of superior candle science. Take a moment to visit our unique high quality line of candles. Once you have experienced the superb fragrances and long burn times, we are sure you will be back again and again.

Box and Wrap Your Unique Source for Wholesale Packaging! We offer Stock and Custom Packaging. Gift Boxes, Apparel Boxes, Candy Boxes, Candle Boxes, Pillow Boxes, Wine Boxes, Jewelry Boxes, Paper Shopping Bags, Plastic Shopping Bags, Gift Bags, Gift Wrap, Gift Basket Supplies and more! With our Gift packaging Selections, the Possibilities are Endless!

Carson Home Accents: Long known for their wind chimes and outdoor accessories, Carson continues to develop exciting new styles and designs in categories like figurines, statuettes, message bars, plaques, mini-plates and table accents that are both decorative and functional.

Don Mark Lifelike puppies & kittens that actually breathe. These adorable pets offer a real pet ownership experience without the work or expense. Perfect petzzz -------the ultimate pet. We now offer 30 breeds of puppies and kittens to choose from. Visit our web site to see our entire line of petzzz plus over 180 other unique gifts and gadgets.


Mud Pie: Mud Pie products are now featured in three catalogs: Mud Pie Baby, Mud Pie Gift, and Mud Pie Pet. It has always been our goal to offer innovative giftware that's affordably priced and adorably packaged.


Peking Handicraft, Inc. is an international manufacturer and wholesaler specializing in home textiles, decorative accessories and giftware. The company's expertise in sourcing and manufacturing the finest products from throughout China is reflected in over two decades of experience and is recognized throughout the industry.


Spring Street is proud to offer the finest assortment of personal, home, and office accessories. Our extensive product lines are all theme oriented, from baby to bride and beyond. All of our gift items are hand epoxy enameled and adorned with faux jewel encrusted motifs. Many of our designs are inspired from the famed Soho district of New York City where the very real Spring Street is located.


Sunset Vista Designs: From the same creative team that brought you Care and Wonder Company; We're back with a fresh new line of the latest in home and garden decor.


Wellspring: Stationery products that help keep you organized by giving you fashion with function--wherever you are in your home, office, or on the go. Includes: Pencil Pads®, Auto Notes™, Flip Notes, Wiggle Pens™, note cards, note pads, and recipe books.


Summer Trade Show Attendance Down; More Buyers Go Online

Attendees at the summer wholesale trade shows observed reduced crowds of buyers but surprisingly many vendors report increased sales. Some reports stated that AmericasMart in Atlanta had a 60% drop in traffic during the July show.

Bill Douglas, president of Europa Giftware (www.EuropaGiftware.com) said, "Even though the overall traffic at the summer shows was noticeably off, we had a 45-54% increase at every show. I attribute that mostly to the new Lodge products that we introduced at the shows".

The reduced traffic was not unexpected, since gasoline prices and other travel expenses have increased dramatically since one year ago. Naturally some vendors report greatly reduced sales, however, reports are that those buyers who did attend placed orders at a rate equal to previous years for many vendors.

"Attendance at the summer show was off", commented Adrienne Boyer of Mud Pie (www.Mud-Pie.com), "but the Retailers that were in attendance were definitely writing orders and we experienced a double-digit increase at every show".

MORE BUYERS ORDERING ONLINE
While attendance at trade shows was down, the number of online orders being placed on OmegaNet Incorporated clients' websites has tremendously increased compared to last year. Almost 27,000 orders were placed in the 12 months ending July 31, 2008, compared with 18,079 during the same period a year earlier. This represents a 48% increase. OmegaNet has been building Business-to-Business (B2B) websites for vendors and sales agencies in the Gift and Décor Industry since 1998.

"We have seen a tremendous surge in the number of orders coming through our servers in the past few months," says Toni Ivey, president of OmegaNet. "While some of this may be accounted for by growth in the number of our clients, the increase seems to be more than we would expect."

Comparing the first six months of 2007 with the same period in 2008, the OmegaNet system saw a 42% increase in the number of orders, from 9,082 during the first half of 2007 to 12,970 through June 30, 2008. Total sales increased more than $1 million for the period. The average amount of all orders was $395.

"May, 2008 was the busiest month ever, with over $1 million in orders being placed in our system", Ivey says.

Some marketing experts are saying that people over age 55 still prefer buying by traditional methods, half of those between 35 and 55 look online first, but 100% of people under 35 expect to be able to buy online.


Quick Industry News


New Step Stools. Sea Island Imports, Inc., designer and producer of unusual and original home accents is introducing several new step-stools to the existing line. Made mostly of acacia wood scraps from the construction industry and produced using almost no electricity, these little stools have found a strong market with life style stores, kitchen outfitters and gift shops. The latest additions to the collection are a sleeping fox, a fish, and a crab. Coming soon, horse and puppy. These may be ordered at www.seaislandimports.com or by calling 888-354-8484. (more)

Gently Spoken Sprouts New Magnets for Christians Gently Spoken, a leading publishing company dedicated to providing a source of encouragement and inspiration, introduces its new Sproutables™ magnets for Christians. This new collection offers some of the Bible's most loved and cherished passages, expressing faith, hope, peace, joy and thanksgiving. The growing collection features twelve favorite verses, beautifully scripted and accented with bright, colorful borders.

A perfect accent for any refrigerator, the Sproutables™ magnets for Christians also make great gifts. Slip one into a greeting card or to give them as a set -- these new inspirational magnets offer expressions of love and faith as well as help encourage and facilitate memorizing scripture. Each magnet features a laminated surface and magnetic backing, sized at 3" x 3" and with a very affordable suggested retail price of $2.50 each -- choose a favorite or collect the entire set! (more)


RGC Gifts Introduces "The Signature Collection" RGC Gifts has introduced "The Signature Collection", a line of all occasion frames and plates that can be signed and retained as a keepsake. The 11'X14" frames come in 8 different occasions and are priced at $10.00 wholesale. The frames contain an opening for a 4"X6" photo of the consumer's choice, and then can be personalized with any permanent marker. The best feature of the Signature Frames is that each frame contains from 3 - 7 occasions in each frame which the consumer can customize for the exact occasion needed. Three of the frames, Wedding, Birthday, & Retirement, are also available in a 16"X 20" size for $15.00 wholesale.

The 13" Signature Plates are also available in 8 different occasions and are priced at $15.00 wholesale. These plates all come with a permanent marker and an easel, as well as having a hanger on the back of the plate to hang the plate on a wall. Each plate is fun, colorful, and comes gift boxed. (more)

Hysterical Ephemera® Line Continues to Steal the Show! Fiddler's Elbow has added brand new Retro Humor designs to the already very popular line using licensed artwork from Ephemera® by artist Ed Polish. The hilarious retro modern product has earned a spot as a classic among customers and gift buyers. The designs feature retro images of 1940/50s perfectly coifed housewives and now including a man, set against authentic graphics patterns and juxtaposed against modern and very funny (laugh out loud) captions. (more)

Tessuta Debuts Licensed Collegiate Products The Tessuta Collegiate Collection features a wide range of accessories from purses to pillows to photo albums just in time for college football season. Tessuta is debuting a number of new collegiate accessories, including small memo boards for the dorm room and office, cosmetic cases and logo-ed ribbon of your favorite college, ideal for giftwrapping and party decoration. All Tessuta products feature its distinctive woven gros grain ribbon fabric. The company is licensed with more than 60 major universities.

Mud Pie "Doubles-Up" with New Laugh Out Loud Collection New tween gift items feature popular text acronyms LOL, LYLAS and more!
Tucker, Ga. -- OMG! The award-winning international gift company, Mud Pie, debuts its first-ever tween gift collection, Laugh Out Loud. The new collection offers products the younger generation will love, and lingo the older generation won't understand. Girls who-just-wanna-have-fun will enjoy the tween-themed vibrant photo frames, pillows and t-shirts declaring "BFF" (Best Friends Forever), "LYLAS" (Love Ya Like a Sister) and "Friends are FOREVER, Boys are WHATEVER." The new collection also boasts hip polka dot boxer shorts, stylish colorful t-shirts and magnet boards that are ideal for the bedroom door or locker. And for all those things she wouldn't dare tell the 'rents, Laugh Out Loud offers a fun selection of personal diaries to keep all her secrets!

Mud Pie's Laugh Out Loud Collection