Independent housewares retailers converged at the Dallas Total Home & Gift Market this week to renew face-to-face planning with vendors and focus on replenishing inventory and getting a jump on new products.
The GC Buying Group Start The Year conference at the Dallas Market Center registered some 60 independent retail store members to see about 75 vendors at the group’s annual vendor showcase. While concerns about the continuing COVID 19 pandemic kept some retailers and vendors from attending the market, Janis Johnson, president of GC Buying Group, said she was encouraged by the strong, determined turnout at the group’s conference.
“You can’t undervalue the importance of coming to this event in January 2022,” Johnson said. “Stores were here to see what’s in inventory, to find what’s new and to gauge the opportunity for new categories. The stores and vendors were here to do business… to get back to how they can work together to take care of their customers.”
Art Nading, co-owner of Extra Ingredient, a gourmet housewares store in Greensboro, NC, said he was in Dallas in part to get a jump on replenishing inventory. Noting how he ordered aggressively early in 2021 in anticipation of supply chain disruption, Nading said he expects to apply a similar approach to securing stock in 2022.
“Inflation is not my biggest concern… Supply chain is,” Nading said. “It’s important to be here to connect with vendors.”
Blair Dolinar, co-owner of the Nibblins store in Winchester, VA, also said he was focused on filling inventory gaps in such key categories as cutlery and bakeware. He added he was exploring potential new category opportunities for the store, noting how Nibblins pivoted to sell more candy and other specialty foods to help offset narrower stock in certain segments of its core housewares selection.
On the vendor side, Jeff Malkasian, president of retail brands at Clipper Corp., which markets Viking kitchenware, said he took aggressive steps a year ago to bring in goods and give its retail customers access to solid stock levels throughout 2021. “We’re planning to do that again for this year,” Malkasian said.
Pamela Stafford, managing director of premium cookware maker Hestan Culinary, said, “It’s important to be here, supporting these retailers and sharing success stories about how to grow this business.”
Bobby Griggs, vice president of Heritage Steel cookware and Hammer Stahl cutlery, credited independent store owners for their creativity and resilience during the pandemic, which he said was demonstrated by their attendance at the Dallas market.
“The pandemic shook these retailers, and it made them more aggressive,” Griggs said. “When you put pressure on great people, they rise.”
Dallas Market Center officials reported a 41% increase in buyer attendance during the first two days of this week’s winter market versus January 2021.
“This is the strongest January Market opening we have experienced in years,” said Cindy Morris, president and CEO of Dallas Market Center. “Buyers are arriving early from across the country in order to see new products first and place orders first. The marketplace is already full of buyers, and the energy level is high.
