Saturday, January 21, 2012

AmericasMart - and Selling Wholesale

I have been working on gathering info about selling at large gift shows, I wanted to  make this series the best it can be. I know a little about the gift and home markets.  I have visited the AmericasMart in Atlanta 18 times, Surtex in NYC with the National Stationery Show once, The Gift and Home Market in Las Vegas once, the Furniture Market in High Point, NC several times, the Canton Fair in Guanghzou China once, and Maison & Objet Paris once. The company I work for has permanent showrooms in Dallas and Atlanta and sets up in several other shows every year. I've seen indie artists in all of them, and have personally watched several make good at shows. Like Boston artist Curly Girl, she had a temp booth, then her line was picked up by one of the big buying companies (more about those later) and now she has her own showroom plus other showrooms carrying her line.

Of course, with that kind of volume, your wares are probably going to be mass produced. You can always stick to small orders in specialty shops if you want to keep producing your art yourself.  

I have never set up my own booth to sell.  So I'm not  really an expert.  But, I DO know a bit about the gift markets, and I've seen makers break in more than once.  It can be done.  

So, with that said, I will try to get the first of the series up before the weekend is out.  Please share with your friends, it is always helpful to get comments and share experiences and ideas.  

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