Direct from Market: Los Angeles

By Maria Weiskott and Bessie Nestoras --
Gifts & Decorative Accessories, 7/23/2007

July 23, 2007 — If anyone was thinking that the Los Angeles gift market is becoming “regional,” we believe that they will have to stretch their vision of "regional." Gifts & Decorative Accessories was in Los Angeles visiting the three venues that comprise summer market in California's fashion forward city: the L.A. Mart, the California Market Center and the Convention Center. On the shuttle bus running between the convention center — the California Gift Show venue, which is run by George Little Management — and our hotel, we met two retailers who hailed all the way from New Zealand — Auckland, New Zealand, to be precise.

CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’
All in all, traffic seemed to be steady with vendors reporting good sales. Though some market goers seem to feel that the Los Angeles market is becoming more of a regional show. In terms of product, there was a lot to see. We found plenty of new things at the CMA showroom in the California Market Center. Black and white, glitz and glamour are just as popular on the West Coast as they are in the rest of the country. Something that we didn’t see elsewhere were fountains. One of the showroom managers explained that fountains are selling really well for them and showed us a selection from Thomas Collection. They ranged in size and style, including fountains shaped like apples.

Heavenly Hostess came on the gift scene with a line of high end aprons that could easily be mistaken for skirts and dresses. The company has just added coordinating headbands and is doing extremely well with them. Said Cynthia Wadell, “This has always been a good show for me. I always get new customers.” The company also introduced a new line of men’s aprons.

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