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Sourcing New Products

Home and gift categories have become increasingly important for retailers seeking to attract new customers and retain current customers by offering them a broader array of product. In a highly competitive retail environment, savvy retailers are making product decisions based on consumer-based needs rather than on supplier-driven perspectives. What is the ideal product mix from the consumer�s perspective? If a customer is out shopping for a pair of jeans, might they not also pick up that photo frame rather than waste gas and time having to drive to another store? Experimentation is the name of the game.

            But for retailers, sourcing new products requires finding new vendors, which takes time and money. To ease this burden, the Off-Price Specialist Show�Home & Gift co-located with the Off-Price Specialist Show�Apparel at the August show in Las Vegas. This premier event for the off-price specialist industry was held August 25 � 29 at the Sands Expo & Convention Center. With the co-location of the Off-Price Home & Gift and Apparel Shows, retail buyers now have a broad base of vendors from whom they can shop for and experiment with a variety of product categories.

            For the past three years, the Off-Price Specialist Center has co-located the May Home & Gift and Apparel Shows at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. Crossover traffic between the two shows has been substantial. At the May 2006 event, 48% of buyers identified themselves as �apparel only� buyers, 31% as �home & gift only,� and 21% as being �interested in both home & gift and apparel. Women�s specialty store buyers, in particular, are looking for home and gift merchandise to broaden their product offerings.

            Apparel and home & gift vendors at the August Show had access to over 10,000 buyers looking for great deals on quality merchandise. According to Bill Jage, CEO of the Off-Price Specialist Center, �One-stop shopping can only benefit our exhibitors, who will gain new audiences and outlets for their goods, and our buyers, who will gain buying efficiency by having both Apparel and Home & Gift under one roof. Now our attendees can shop apparel, footwear, accessories, and jewelry, then step over to an adjacent show and shop a wide array of home and gift merchandise�all at tremendous savings. The retail market is evolving, and as show organizers, it is our responsibility to evolve with it.�

 

What the Retailers Are Saying

�[The co-location] benefits me personally because I can go out and spend some time on the apparel side and then spend some time on the home side of the equation. I don�t have to make two separate trips to two separate shows. It�s more convenient for our people in that we can do some cross-merchandising. The May Show has been very beneficial to us because we are able to work with a lot of new vendors. We spend time developing new resources, which is very important to us.�

Peter Hayes

Chief Operating Officer

Variety Wholesalers Inc.

 

�We�ve always been of the opinion that the more lines that we carry, the better. Give the customer a wide assortment. We experiment. We buy a lot based on our gut feeling. If there�s a product we don�t know but seems like a good value, we�ll test it. The Off-Price Show is a good place to pick up product for experimentation. For me, in particular, the co-location is very good�not having to make two trips. We usually end up doing just the apparel show because it�s more important for us. But being able to combine forces, buyers and management, for both shows in one location sounds like a great thing to me.�

Abe Cohen

Executive Vice President

The Conway Stores

�The small mom and pop stores only have a few days to do their buying. A lot of these people only get to make two buying trips a year. If it�s all under one roof, it�s a lot easier for them. It�s not cheap and it�s hard for a small mom and pop store to spend $3000 on an apparel buying trip then have to do it again for home d�cor. I think [the co-location] is going to be very convenient for them.�

Alex Mahfouz

Owner

Styles Fashion Outlet

 

What the Vendors Are Saying

�The first May Show we attended brought in a number of accounts that we had never heard of before. For each show in the past three years, we�ve doubled our volume. I think that the co-location of the Home & Gift show is going to be fantastic for my friendly competitor who doesn�t have apparel but wants to offer his other merchandise to the apparel retailer.�

Mark Ginsberg

President

CWD Inventories

�I think adding the Home & Gift Show is wonderful. It�s an advantage for retailers who already carry it. They can see what�s available. And its� a wonderful opportunity for those who are contemplating expanding their product base. When we go to the ASD Show, we always get the most unexpected customer who comes up to the booth and buys product you wouldn�t think they would want.�

Larry Manus

Co-owner

United Auctions LLP

�When we attend the [May Apparel and Home & Gift Shows] sometimes there�s crossover traffic. We met [a large apparel retailer] there that carries fashionable throws. We would never have met that account had we not attended the show. The August show will be much larger.�

Stephen Dweck

Vice President

S.S. Dweck & Sons

�I love having the Home & Gift exhibitors at the Apparel Show. I think they�ll have a good show in August and that it will also help [the Apparel] Show. The major stores will have to bring more buyers out to cover the whole market. The Show is really becoming a one-stop shopping area for an entire chain. It makes the Show stronger and helps us by having non-competing exhibitors who are important to our customers.�

Harry Levinson

Owner

Levinson International, Inc.