As the premier event in the garden retail sector gets set for its 50^th anniversary, the best of home, gift and clothing suppliers are gearing up to join the Glee community at the NEC, Birmingham, from 10^th-12^th September. Many companies exhibiting under the Home, Gift & Clothing banner are exclusive to Glee this season, ranging in size from artisan British producers to some of the biggest suppliers in the business and nationwide buying groups.

With the garden industry performing better than most retail sectors and consumers still striving to merge their indoor and outdoor spaces, there has never been a better time for home and gift retailers to gain market insight at Glee, where they’ll discover a lot more than fertiliser and seeds! State of the art garden solutions will share exhibition space with fantastic gift ideas that will delight the millions of amateur gardeners who live in our green and pleasant land. Outdoor clothing and greetings cards, toys, home fragrances and lighting will all be there on the show floor, alongside decorative accessories for Christmas and spring seasons.

Commenting on the importance of gifting in garden centres, especially at Christmas, GCA CEO, Peter Burks, says: “Giftware is fairly steady throughout the year, with a 20% rise above the average in March/April due to Mother’s Day and Easter but then 40% of the total years sales are done in Oct-Dec, with December being well over double the monthly average. These non-gardening categories are seen as very important to our members as a way of getting both the weather impact and the seasonality of gardening reduced”.

Home, Gift & Clothing at Glee

Returning to Glee in 2024 is Cardgains (Stand 9C85), the national buying group for independent retailers selling cards, gifts and associated products, and a very familiar name to the home and gift retail community, for whom it’s been central to the independent trade for 35 years. This underscores the ever-growing importance of garden centres to the UK’s world-leading greetings card trade.

Cardgains MD, Penny Shaw, commented: “At Cardgains, amongst many other card and gift selling retailers, we support quite a few independent garden centre members and will be looking forward to seeing them at Glee.  We also hope to get to know many more garden centre people at the show. We know that Glee is a great show for both retailers to visit and suppliers to exhibit at, so we’re hoping to engage with those already associated with Cardgains and those who want to find out how we can work together. I will be on the stand at the show with our Financial Director Helen McManus and our Sales Manager, Charles Dyson.  We’re excited to welcome everyone to the Cardgains stand in Hall 9, stand C85

As well as being represented by Cardgains, Woodmansterne, Noel Tatt and UK Greetings will have their own stands at Glee, offering a golden opportunity for retailers to view their extensive new collections in a major exhibition setting. They are joined by the master of humorous greetings cards, Emotional Rescue, whilst major stationery brand, Robert Frederick, will bring an exceptional collection of licensed paper products and gifts to the powerful Glee audience.

Matthew Mein, Glee Event Director, commented: “As the GCA trade barometer consistently demonstrates, home, gift, clothing and related product categories are of great importance to an increasing number of garden centres, which especially rely on the Christmas gift trade and typically inspire buying with fantastic in-store displays. The presence at Glee of major industry suppliers from non-horticultural sectors is further indication that gift shops in garden centres are very much here to stay. With so many exceptional brands and products to source from, the 50^th anniversary of Glee is a must-attend show for both garden centres and high street gift shops who want to find something new and exciting ahead for the Golden Quarter of the year when the bulk of profits are made. We are looking forward to welcoming many of them to the show in September!”

Preview the Exhibitors: NEW & EXCLUSIVE TO GLEE

Visitors to Glee’s dedicated Home, Gift & Clothing sector this September will be treated to a wealth of established brands and new names, including the likes of Creative Products, UK Greetings, Rouchette, Woodmansterne, Blade & Rose, Tilnar Art, Seedball, Freckleface, Biohort and Turtle Mat. Here we shine a light on those brands that are not only new but exclusive to Glee, meaning you won’t find them at any other UK trade show this year.

Annie Bennett Jewellery: Stand 9A70

Annie is a Bristol-based jeweller whose jewellery is made entirely from recycled silver giftware, silver jewellery and silver electronics. Packaging is also recycled and recyclable, meaning that every part of the making and packaging process is eco-friendly and sustainable. Annie's designs are inspired by geometric shapes found in nature as well as by abstract art.

By Jo Crafts: Stand 9E62-D63

By Jo Crafts is a small business run by two ladies who enjoy bringing colour and beauty into people’s homes, whether that's with coasters, hessian bags, scarves or Christmas decorations, we have amazing products with vibrant designs to suit every home, every room, and every season. Jo comes from a family of artists with her background in teaching Art & Textiles, whilst Gem's experience of working in the corporate world brings organisational skills and business acumen to drive the business forward. The result is that By Jo Crafts is a multi-award winning company with products sold across the globe. Jo & Gem are both mothers and wives who love spending time with their families.

Candle Academy (Wacky Wax): Stand 9C83

Wacky Wax is all about spreading joy, one hand-dipped candle at a time. Their vibrant and whimsical taper candles are designed to add a touch of personality and colour to any space, whether it's a cosy living room or a special occasion dinner.

Emotional Rescue: Stand 6A67

Emotional Rescue has the largest, award-winning humour portfolio in the greetings card industry, across Birthday/Blank, Relations, Occasions, Age, Spring Seasons and Christmas. The award-winning publisher is constantly updating existing ranges, so they are packed-full of contemporary and topical material, as well as working hard to introduce new ranges to the market.

Häago: Stand 9D70

At Häago, the journey began with a simple mission to create eco-friendly solutions for outdoor enthusiasts, whatever activity they’re doing. Today the company is proud to be a leader in the eco-friendly product industry, providing an extensive range of retailers, television production studios, garden centres and individuals with high-quality warmers and tableware that are both effective and environmentally conscious.  Dedication to sustainability remains at the core of everything they do, and they are constantly working to find new ways to reduce our environmental impact and promote positive change while making the great-outdoors just that little bit more comfortable.

Invisible Creations: Stand 9E80

Invisible Creations specialises in the design of stylish and accessible products for the home and garden. The attractive designs offer the safety and support of traditional grab rails while seamlessly blending into the surroundings, avoiding the institutional look: for beautiful homes without barriers.

Jemsox: Stand 9D80

Jemsox is a small family ran sock brand who highly focus on being as sustainable, eco-friendly whilst ensuring they give their customers pure comfort. Jemsox thrive on ensuring it produces high quality, on trend socks whilst working closely with its factories to ensure the fabrics and process of creating Jemsox socks are made sustainably.

Littlemore Candle Co: Stand 9C63

Littlemore Candle Company is a family run business based in rural Oxfordshire, specialising in home fragrances with unique decor including foraged botanicals, eco-glitter and healing crystals. Signature products include crystal jar candles, tealights and wax melts all made using natural, plant based soy wax, with sustainability and individuality held at the forefront of the company values.

Monique Me Retail & Concessions: Stand 9F75

Monique Me Retail & Concessions is a UK ladies and men's wear clothing concession. Its offering includes MONIQUE a stylish Italian clothing range, ME a modern classic made in UK range, and MNQ MAN a contemporary men's wear range.

Pawprint Family: Stand 9C70

Pawprint Family’s quality pins and patches feature a selection of favourite literary and heritage brands. At pocket money prices, it's just the item to help boost the gifting area in stores or shopfront.  Featured brands include Wallace & Gromit, Julia Donaldson books, The Smurfs, Moomins, Care Bears and many more.

Sandart: Stand 9F82

The Sandart story began in 2002 in a beautiful coastal town known as Wilderness, found along the Garden Route in South Africa. Now, twenty years later, they employ eight full-time staff members and supply over 150 local and international distributors. Sandart was acquired by Turrim in 2021, joining the TOWER and Kidico brands. SandArt has been

developed for 20 years with proven success in providing high-quality creative craft products.

Slipfree: Stand 9B75

Slipfree is on a global mission to keep children (& adults) safe with its unique, sustainable non-slip swim shoes for beach, pool & home.

Soctopus Ltd: Stand 9D62

The family-run, Leicestershire-based company makes socks identified by their bold design steeped in British, European and contemporary humour and history. Socks are either a cotton or bamboo blend retailing from £8 making them the most perfect gift.

SÒLAS Home: Stand 9B70

SÒLAS Home create luxury home fragrances which look and smell great as well as being planet friendly. They are handmade in its Warwickshire studio from eco-friendly, sustainable, vegan and cruelty free ingredients. The range includes candles, reed diffusers, wax melts, room sprays and gift sets, all CLP compliant, with a new pick ‘n’ mix wax melt range launching exclusively at Glee 2024.  

Sow Easy: Stand 9L74

Sow Easy are a sustainable promotional products supplier specialising in creating fun, seed-based plantable promotional products that grow into flowers and vegetables.

Stands Out Ltd: Stand 9B77

Stands Out offers fresh, colourful and fun gift ideas that suit any retail outlet, from family attractions to garden centres, gift shops and grottos. The team prides itself on displaying products at their very best with wooden display units that are created at the Stands Out HQ.

Register now for Glee 2024!

Registration for Glee 2024 is now open, with a number of exciting registration incentives set to launch soon. To find out more, and to secure your free ticket to the 50^th edition of Glee please visit www.gleebirmingham.com/visitor-registration

Find out more

Glee connects the garden industry to inspire change, drive growth, and promote innovation. To find out more or to register your interest in exhibiting, which will take place 10^th – 12^th September at the NEC, please visit www.gleebirmingham.com or call +44 (0)203 3545 9752.