Giftware
US Consumers Plan Holiday Shopping at Small Businesses, GoTo Survey Shows
At a time when the majority of consumers are concerned with rising inflation and economic uncertainty, a holiday shopping survey by business communications and IT support platform GoTo shows that 3 out of 4 Americans still plan to spend with small businesses. An impressive 41 percent are even willing to pay more to shop small than they would at a larger retailer.
GoTo’s recent survey of 1,175 U.S. consumers found that Americans are willing to prioritize holiday shopping small despite 61 percent saying they were more concerned about their finances than a year ago. Among the key findings, the survey revealed that over half of consumers (54 percent) say they make an effort to shop locally at small businesses over large retailers and 28 percent say they shopped more at small businesses in the last year. The survey also showed that reliable customer support has the largest impact (46 percent) on consumers’ decision to shop small.
“At a time when people are watching how and where they spend their money, it is encouraging to see this overwhelming support for small businesses. At GoTo, we are dedicated to supporting these growing businesses and the essential connections they need with their customers,” said Jamie Domenici, GoTo’s chief marketing officer. “Small businesses can build on this opportunity by ensuring they have the technology and resources needed to reach their customers however they want to connect.”
For news of interest to the housewares industry, subscribe to Kitchenware News & Housewares Review.
Transpac Acquires Season’s Designs
Transpac, a leading supplier of seasonal and everyday gift and home décor company with close to three decades of global sourcing and manufacturing experience, has acquired Season’s Designs. Transpac has bought all Season’s Designs product offerings other than the Sports Licensed portion of the business. Season’s Designs compliments Transpac’s already strong market presence by expanding their key product categories, such as light up décor and stunning glass ornaments, while adding Christmas Trees and over-sized outdoor décor categories that are new to Transpac.
Season’s Designs will integrate into the Transpac organization leveraging the same sales representatives and Transpac’s strong infrastructure and market presence. Mike Davis, owner of Season’s Designs, will become part of the Transpac organization with his new role as Vice President of Product Development and Importing and will continue to assist in managing the overall success of the Season’s Designs brand.
“We are tremendously excited about the acquisition of Season’s Designs,” says Laurie Gilner, president and CEO of Transpac. “Season’s Designs has over 20-years of history of delighting retailers and consumers with wonderful seasonal products. We are very excited to expand our portfolio of products with such a well-respected company. We have looked for some time for the right partner and could not be more excited to have this new offering as a part of our organization along with the excellent sourcing and product development expertise that Mike brings to the company.”
Transpac expects a smooth transition and it will be business as usual for Season’s Designs. Season’s Designs will remain in the current location in Atlanta (Building 1 – 19th Floor, Suites B1-B3-B5-B7) and will be exploring opportunities for future market growth.
“Transpac offers Season’s Designs the opportunity to expand our product line to other seasons along with financial, operational, and leadership excellence that Season’s Designs can flourish under,” Davis said. “It also offers us national exposure with a strong network of outstanding sales representatives. We look forward to bringing even more innovative and unique product to market that we have long been known for. These are exciting times for Season’s Designs and our loyal customers.”
Gift for Life Raises Record Donations
Gift for Life, the gift and home industries’ sole charity, marked its 30th anniversary by raising more money than ever for charitable causes. The total of $160,495 raised was through 15 fundraising campaigns held during 2022 including several new initiatives. Since its founding in 1992, the all-volunteer organization has motivated the gift and home industry to donate more than $6 million in connection with at-market events, cause marketing initiatives and direct donations.
“This year was record setting in several ways,” said Peter Schauben, Gift for Life founder. “We raised more money, we held more fundraising events and we launched new initiatives in order to help more people. It’s immensely gratifying that representatives from all areas of our industry – brands, buyers, sales agencies, market makers, media and industry suppliers – have stepped up to support our efforts so whole-heartedly.”
The record-setting 2022 fundraising benefitted Gift For Life’s current pandemic-inspired focus on crisis-related hunger relief as well its legacy mission connected to HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention, education and advocacy. The majority of funds was raised for World Central Kitchen through more than a dozen fundraisers. In addition, a record $48,091 was raised by the 2022 Gift For Life/NY NOW AIDS Walk New York team.
Two additional fundraising initiatives – Crystal Media’s 10th Anniversary campaign and H.E.L.P. by T. Jazelle’s “Give Back Collection” custom-designed bracelet – will extend into 2023.
In the meantime, donations in honor of Gift for Life’s 30th Anniversary will be accepted through year-end at https://donate.wck.org/GFL30.
Read more about Gift for Life in the January issue of Kitchenware News & Housewares Review.
Snappy Names Ry Sullivan Chief Product Officer
Snappy, a New York-based tech gifting platform, has named Ry Sullivan as chief product officer. Sullivan joins Snappy from Carta, where he spent over five years leading platform product, design, UX and customer operations.
Sullivan will report to co-founder and CEO Hani Goldstein and will lead Snappy’s product team to its next phase of hypergrowth on its mission to be the world’s leading gift-giving platform.
“We truly believe Ry is the right person to take the product helm here at Snappy. He cares deeply about putting customer needs at the heart of our product and embraces our core values at every level,” Goldstein said. ”We’re committed to building a product that continues to spread smiles across the world, and I know Ry’s expertise will be invaluable to our team, customers, and partners as we head into our next phase of growth.”
Sullivan will be responsible for guiding the vision and strategy of product roadmap to drive growth and innovation. The new hire also reflects the company’s desire to create an even bigger impact for their customers so they can spread more delight through their gift-giving platform than ever before.
“It’s a privilege to join Snappy during this time of explosive growth, and I’m looking forward to helping grow our Product, Engineering and UX teams globally,” Sullivan said. “I truly believe Snappy has a real opportunity to build the #1 gifting platform in the world, and I’m honored to be a part of the journey.”
Founded in 2015, Snappy completed a $70M Series C funding round in May of 2021 and was recently named the fastest-growing company in the Northeast for the second year in-a-row by Inc. Magazine with a two-year revenue growth of 5184%. Snappy has become the trusted partner to over 2,500 enterprise customers including Microsoft, Salesforce, Comcast and Uber, and has sent millions of gifts worldwide.
Kitchenware News & Housewares Reviews covers the giftware industry. Subscribe today!
IMC’s Fall Market Approaches
International Market Centers‘ Fall Market provides home and gift buyers with three days of tailored education, amenities and events alongside 400+ showroom resources, Sept. 19-21 at AmericasMart Atlanta.
“Fall Market is the perfect time for designers and retailers to come together not only to learn about upcoming trends in design but also to source and shop,” said Dorothy Belshaw, IMC chief marketing and digital officer. “We are looking forward to another incredible season of education and order writing with the industry at AmericasMart Atlanta.”
Fall Market education will take place as “Lunch and Learn” seminars Monday through Wednesday, with lunch at 11:30 and education at noon, in the Building 1, Floor 14 Seminar Space. The sessions, which will address social media algorithms, design coaching and turning key challenges in your business to wins are brought to Fall Market by JuniperMarket.
An entertaining and interactive game show opens the event schedule on opening day of market. On Monday, Sept. 19 at noon, MC’s first Fall Market Gameshow will be an educational and interactive panel over lunch.
On Tuesday, Sept. 20, Paula Ersly, head of social strategy at Acadia, will present Social Media: How to Beat the Algorithm. This session will cover strategies to outsmart social media apps and remain in control of the audiences that see and engage with brands online.
On Wednesday, Sept. 21, Gail Doby, business coach and consultant, will present How to Build an Amazing Team in a Competitive Market. The session will address expectations of prospective hires; when, who and why to hire; and mistakes to avoid when hiring. The seminar will conclude with a Q&A session.
Buyers and suppliers can mingle and celebrate with the industry over light bites and crafty cocktails at the Fall Market Celebration, Monday, Sept. 19 at 2 p.m. in the newly renovated Designer Workspace, located in Building 1, Floor 15.
Buyers can enjoy daily amenities during Fall Market, beginning with cappuccinos and iced coffee by Café Fwi in the Building 2 lobby from 9-11 a.m. Additionally, retailers and designers can relax and network over Bourbon Slushies in The Gardens on Monday from 2-4 p.m., Cookies & Milk in Building 1, Floor 16, on Tuesday from 10-11:30 a.m. and Petite Fall Desserts in Building 2, Floor 17, on Wednesday from 3-4 p.m.
Fall Market at AmericasMart Atlanta is being held in partnership with DISCOVER ADAC at the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center for the fourth consecutive year. The two design-focused markets will offer top-of-the-line product selections from leading home décor, lifestyle, furniture and rug brands, providing attendees access to AmericasMart’s 400+ Open Year Round showrooms as well as ADAC’s 65+ showrooms.
Buyers at the Southeast’s premier dual-venue design destination can draw inspiration from unique “Behind the Windows” vignettes showcasing the exclusive and complementary design resources available across both venues. The two coordinated vignettes will be merchandised and curated by leading Atlanta interior designer, Lia Shin of C+H Interiors. To facilitate cross-campus sourcing and shopping, IMC will operate free shuttles between AmericasMart and ADAC on Sept. 20-21.
Additionally, participants in Fall Market will have access to complimentary parking in the American Cancer Society lot, directly across the street from AmericasMart Atlanta, throughout the duration of the design event.
For updates on the housewares and giftware industries, subscribe to Kitchenware News & Housewares Review.
You must be logged in to post a comment.