I am grateful to have been at the Spring Fair in Birmingham last week. This is the biggest card / gift / homewares fair for the UK – over twelve massive halls, some with their own side hall extensions. Our largest fair in Australia is tiny by comparison.
In the greeting card space alone there were between 40 and 50 companies with creative product on display.
The halls are arranged by product category, making comparison easy and intensifying the competition.
The Fair was insightful in that I could see what some of our local distributors do not pick up for the Australian marketplace. It also introduced me to suppliers not represented in Australia and, of particular interest, product lines not currently available in Australia that could work well.
I especially appreciated spotting trends that I can expect to hit Australia in the second half of this year and into next.
Being able to connect with brands we already sell was terrific as it builds relationships not only for my but for the Australian distributors.
While I appreciate it is challenging for retailers to travel overseas for shows like this, I encourage people to consider it sad the insights are truly worthwhile for immediate business and into the future thanks to stronger business relationships.
While I have a bag of brochures and a stack of business cards to work through I have already connected several suppliers with local Australian distributors. I was not at the fair to source product to direct import but rather facilitate relationships that make it easier for me to buy what I like from Australian distributors.
I am excited for the opportunities I have seen as they will help continue to evolve the retail model that used to be called a newsagency.
From what I could tell, the attendees were mainly specialty gift, homewares, toy and garden retailers. I did not notice any newsagent attendees.