Optimism, confidence and demand for fresh, in-stock product were the overwhelming sentiments of buyers and sellers at the first Atlanta Market of 2021, according to show organizer International Market Centers (IMC). The nation’s largest home and gift trade show reports healthy order writing, national traffic and positive projections for 2021 at the close of its eight-day market, January 12-19, 2021.
“Recovery from the pandemic is a journey, and after this week in Atlanta, I can confirm that we have taken a giant step forward,” says Bob Maricich, IMC CEO. “We provided the platform – with safety measures and the return of favorite market experiences – and our buyers and sellers brought the passion, inspiration and dedication that will bring the home and gift industry back. It is onward and upward from here.”
Positive movement toward recovery is evident with a more than 150% increase in attendees at the Winter 2021 Atlanta Market over August 2020, reports IMC. The show remains largely regional – with 76% of traffic hailing from the Southeast – along with an encouraging resumption of out-of-region attendance with a 500% gain in buyers from the Northeast and a 200% gain in buyers from the Midwest and West over the Summer 2020 Market. National attendance has returned with buyers from 49 states – all but Hawaii – plus D.C., Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands. Altogether, attendees came from 21 countries. Additionally, the number of new buyers is close to historic levels, representing 22% of the total buyer traffic.
While buyer traffic has not yet met pre-pandemic levels, spending is rapidly returning to normal, according to IMC. Anecdotally, brands reported 70-80% of their traditional order volume at market, with average order sizes growing 15% to 50%.
“Buyers came confidently to market ready to look, feel and place serious orders,” says Maricich.
Adding to the excitement was progress on IMC’s reimagining of the AmericasMart campus – the Atlanta NEXT initiative – with more work completed on the update to the Building 1 lobby and continuing remerchandising of the gift and home décor showroom collections in Buildings 1 and 2. The Atlanta Market temporaries, which were paused last summer due to the pandemic, returned to positive reviews in a layout optimized for social distancing.
Retailers and designers alike reported excitement for sourcing again at Atlanta Market. Whether they had attended the summer 2020 market or were returning to AmericasMart for the first time in a year, the response was the same: nothing compares to in-person product discovery and Atlanta Market is their venue of choice.
Jamie Pursell, owner of four Leaf & Petal stores in Birmingham, Alabama, says, “As a brick and mortar, our customers are seeing our merchandise in person, so we need to see it in person.”
The showroom sourcing experience is coming closer to its return to normalcy with 90% of the 1,000+ gift and home tenants open for market. Some 58 new, expanded and relocated showrooms opened at the market, highlighted by the new lifestyle collection anchored by Appelman Schauben and Ivystone on the 11th Floor of Building 2 and continued remerchandising of the Building 1 home décor offerings.
Tenants across the collections saw strong order writing with buying especially healthy in the home décor and decorative accents; gourmet, housewares and tabletop; and seasonal and holiday categories driven by trends in consumer spending during the pandemic, according to IMC.
“The traffic has been unbelievable, and the order writing has been phenomenal. Business is expected to be even with last year,” says Justin Kachan, CEO of Sagebrook Home. The home décor company presented some 625+ new SKUs in its new location in Building 1.
“We broke our record for an Atlanta show on Thursday,” says David Lee, director of business development for Crestview Collection, which relocated to Building 1 from Building 2. “With the new showroom setup, I think we definitely reached some audiences that we might not have gotten at the old space.”
Gift buyers used the Winter 2021 Market to expand their product mix into gourmet, housewares and tabletop according to representative groups, such as Kitchen2Table. “Ninety percent of the buyers who walked through our doors placed an order. We have seen gift retailers put their toes in the water with gourmet during the pandemic and are now saying that they want to increase that product.”
The Atlanta Market temporaries returned after their summer hiatus to great excitement from brands and buyers. Strategic realignments created new synergies throughout the 400+ temporaries and eight socially distanced exhibition halls.
Across all locations and categories, exhibitors expressed gratitude that the temporaries had reopened and intentions to show again at Atlanta Market this summer. "We are absolutely killin' it at this market,” says Jared Mehr of Pura Vida Bracelets. “We did more business in the first day than our entire show last show. Super happy this market was put on."
Kellie Carlson of O-Venture noted, “Every day we've done more business than last January -- much more. We think that July will be even better.”
Atlanta Market made major strides in the return of market experiences with a new virtual adaptation of the Demonstration Kitchen, the launch of new Juniper ”Preview Pods” and all-new Instagrammable installations at market.
The Winter 2021 Atlanta Market followed IMC’s Together Safely protocols with on-campus safety procedures including the required use of PPE, temporal checks, capacity limits and social distancing measures.
IMC's next market at AmericasMart is Spring Mini Market, Wednesday, March 3 – Friday, March 5, 2021. Spring Mini Market is a mid-season event for buyers to lock in seasonal buying for 2021 from top lines in holiday, floral, gift, garden, seasonal, gourmet, entertaining, tabletop and home décor. For more information, visit AmericasMart.com/Markets/Spring-Mini-Market.
The next Atlanta Market is Tuesday, July 13 – Monday, July 19, 2021. Temporaries are Wednesday, July 14 – Sunday, July 18, 2021.
