Although you are now in full Christmas mode, reaping the benefits of wise product choices made earlier in the year, you are probably also taking note of buying trends and planning ahead for the 2013 festive season.
A not-to-be-missed date for your diary is Harrogate Christmas & Gift (13-16 January 2013) - a fantastic opportunity to see exciting new product launches months before the crowds arrive at trade fairs in the spring.
Harrogate is one of the fastest growing shows in its sector, catering not only for Christmas (with probably the greatest selection of trees, lights and festive decorations in the UK) but novelties and gifts for every occasion from Hallowe’en and Mother's Day right through to furniture, ornaments, flowers and giftware for the home and garden.
In fact, Harrogate Christmas & Gift has seen a steady increase in all gift and homeware ranges, attracting discerning buyers from large department stores, novelty and souvenir shops, traditional gift stores, as well as DIY stores, garden centres, museums, country estates, castles and farm shops. Be sure to join them in 2013!
Register Now and plan your visit.
Premier Decorations are leading designers and importers of Christmas lighting, trees and decorations; garden lighting and outdoor living products; and Hallowe'en products and party decorations. Garden centres voted them Greatest Christmas Supplier of the Year in 2010 and 2011. Their products regularly feature in the GTN Bestsellers Christmas Top 50.
www.premierdec.com
SOLEX AT THE NEC is LOFA’s summer outdoor and indoor leisure event, now an established fixture in the trade show calendar, bringing together the world’s leading garden and leisure furniture and barbecue brands under one roof. The show moves from Telford to the NEC, Birmingham, next year (8-10 July 2013).
www.lofa.co.uk/solex
Vision Commercial Kitchens have helped many UK garden centres to launch, enhance or re-fit their catering operations, offering everything from an initial expert consultation to a full installation. They pride themselves on helping garden centres make the right decision for their businesses. The kitchens at the fabulous catering operation at the award-winning Barton Grange Garden Centre at Brock - the Riverside and Willows restaurants - were supplied by Vision.
www.visionforgardencentres.co.uk
The sponsors of this category are Snowtime, leading suppliers of Christmas lights, fibre optics, illuminated décor, artificial trees and floral products. In 1995 they pioneered the supply of fibre-optic Christmas trees to the UK market.
Snowtime have the UK’s broadest and most comprehensive range of high-quality artificial trees. The hottest Christmas product in many years is their range of Thomas Kinkade-designed fibre optic tapestries, which are licensed to Snowtime and were introduced two years ago (example below). Many retailers had sold out by the end of September. There are some cheap copies on the market but it's the signed originals that are selling.
www.transcon.co.uk/products/snowtime
The Arena ice rink installation at Van Hage, Great Amwell in 2011
The Arena Group has a 250-year history supplying specialist infrastructure to live sporting, music and public events. In 2012 clients included The Open, Wimbledon Championships, X Factor, the Diamond Jubilee celebrations and the event of the year, The London 2012 Olympic Games.
Arena Group provides turnkey solutions to install ice rinks and pop up cafes at Garden Centres, building partnerships with clients to create temporary event environments that are fine-tuned to reflect their aspirations. Visit http://www.arenagroup.com/index.php/products/ice_rinks for further information. Follow Arena on twitter @arena_group.
