Oser Communications Group

8 KITCHENWARE NEWS & HOUSEWARES REVIEW • MARCH 2020 • www.kitchenwarenews.com Strong Order Writing Drives Momentum at Atlanta Market Strong order writing, trendsetting new product introductions and major industry updates drove excitement at the winter 2020 Atlanta Market. The January 14-21, 2020, market saw buyers f rom every U.S. state and more than 60 countries sourcing a broad range of gift and home décor merchandise in more than 4,000 showrooms and temporaries. At the market, International Market Centers (IMC) celebrated the debut of its new Atlanta Market brand, the opening of the remerchandised "Open Year Round" home décor collection, the announcement of a new lifestyle collection in Building 2, and the launch of a wholly owned, standalone digital division, IMC_di. "The excitement at the Atlanta Market was palpable," said IMC Chief Executive Officer Bob Maricich. "The buyers were placing strong orders with new and established brands, filling seminars and learning opportunities and fully engaging with market events. IMC added fuel to the excitement by announcing multiple updates that will push the company and its markets into its next era of success." Atlanta NEXT Makes an Impact on the Market. IMC's strategic remerchandising of the 130 "Open Year Round" home décor showrooms to five contiguous floors as part of Atlanta NEXT Phase 1 had a positive impact on the market. The 35+ showrooms that signed new leases, relocated or expanded their footprints opened at the winter market to a great reception f rom buyers. "At this market it was so much easier to source home décor," noted Interior Designer Diane Hewitt. "I really appreciate the reorganization of the floors and look forward to shopping at AmericasMart year round." During market, IMC announced the July 2020 debut of a new lifestyle collection on Building 2, Floor 11, which will launch with industry leaders Appelman Schauben and Ivystone. The relocation of these two representative groups jumpstarts a reorganization of the Building 2 gift resources resulting in a new foundational gift, garden, seasonal and accessory floor on Building 2, Floor 18; the relocation of top accessor y brands Diamond Star Corporation, IMAX and Sagebrook Home to Building 1; and significant expansions by industry leaders including GiftCraft, Magenta, OneCoast and TAG. A full list of AtlantaNext updates is available online at AmericasMart.com/AtlantaNEXT. Social Media Growth This winter, IMC primed buyers for new product discovery both before market and on campus with new and interactive online tools. New product discovery and the sharing of market experiences drove increased buyer and exhibitor interaction with Atlanta Market's social media channels. The market's Instagram account @AmericasMartATL gained nearly 5,000 followers during the market week and logged more than 730,000 impressions and more than 4,100 mentions. Designer Amie Freling-Brown of Meme Hill Studio in Rochester, New York, posted "There's nothing to get your creative juices flowing like a few days at AmericasMart. Meeting amazing brands, getting inspired by speakers, seeing all the upcoming trends, catching up with friends and so much more." IMC_di and the Digital Evolution of Atlanta Market IMC is entering into a new phase of its business following the launch of IMC_di at the Atlanta Market. The new stand-alone division will enhance and extend the market experience through the development of an integrated channel-agnostic B2B commerce platform including a marketplace, marketing and sales automation software and smart showroom tools. With the announcement of the new division, IMC also announced its acquisition of two innovative technology companies, RepZio and Pharos, who will provide technical and industry expertise to accelerate the launch of the new digital platform. More than 500 market attendees joined with IMC in celebrating IMC_di at the market kickoff party where they were shown a video outlining the new platform. Overall positive reaction to the announcement shows the desire for buyers and sellers to connect throughout the year. KN Upcycled Treasures from Koru Street BY LORRIE BAUMANN Amy Stretmater had one of those advertising jobs where the job is only as secure as the account you're working on, and when she began to see that the account wasn't going to be there anymore, she decided to take the opportunity to pick up and leave the country for six months. "I thought, 'Where could I go that I can't go on an American two-week vacation?'" she said. Since she'd already done quite a bit of traveling in Europe, she decided to go in another direction. "Leaving in September, I thought it would be better to go to the Southern Hemisphere, if for no other reason than that I didn't have as much clothing with me," she said. She settled on New Zealand as a starting place, and then traveled into Asia. She was in Cambodia, about two-thirds of the way through her trip, when she noticed as she and her friend were taking a tuk tuk during a visit to Angkor Wat that she was seeing everywhere around her the workmanship of people who believed in re-purposing and reusing objects rather than simply throwing them away when they'd fulfilled the purpose for which they were originally created. It struck her that that's quite different f rom the American culture in which she'd grown up. "We trade in our phone if it's a year old," she said. That observation was still at the back of her mind when she left Cambodia to visit a f riend who was living in Delhi, India, as a consular officer employed at the U.S. embassy. There, she visited a native market and learned about Conserve India, an organization that employs and trains hundreds of people f rom Delhi's most disadvantaged communities to turn discarded plastic bags into upcycled products. The organization "works with artisans in the slums who are rag-pickers. One skill they have is where to find the good garbage," Stretmater said. Stretmater bought gifts for f riends as well as a few things for herself f rom Conserve's booth in the market, including a wallet that was in her hand when she paid for a meal after dinner with a f riend once she was back in the United States and wondering what she was going to do with the rest of her life. "I thought, 'I've got to find something to do with what I have learned,'" she said. "You don't come home f rom six months away and go back to regular life – you have to change one little thing." Her f riend noticed the wallet and commented on it, and it was at that moment that Stretmater knew what she wanted to do next, which was to help Conserve by importing some of its goods and selling them in a few local markets as a side project. "I thought it would be good to talk about in job interviews," she said. Then store owners who saw the Conserve products in Stretmater's market booths started asking if she sold wholesale. "Eventually, it became a full-time business," she said. "I never got around to looking for that full-time job." Today, Stretmater is the owner of Koru Street, and she's still traveling the world looking in local markets for artisans who create unusual gift items f rom recycled materials, especially materials that would normally go into the garbage. "I'm always trying to do things that are a little bit different, something more modern, something that I haven't already seen here," she said. "They do the design. The only thing I design is if I have to tweak something to make it work for the American market.... I want to use their skill set at designing everything." Among the items that Koru Street was offering this winter in the pavilions at the Las Vegas Market and in the Global Design area at The Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market was the klikety klik box, a gift box handmade in South Af rica f rom discarded plastic bottles. It can be used closed as a gift box, or when it's open, it can be used as a vase or an LED candle holder. Designs include birds, butterflies, flowers, seaside, kitchen and graphics. Three sizes are available, and retail prices range f rom $9 to $15. Stretmater is also still working with Conserve, and f rom them, she's importing bags in sizes ranging f rom small purses through messenger bags as well as wallets like the one that sparked the idea to start her business after her f riend commented on it. They're made f rom a variety of materials, including plastic bags, inner tubes, seat belts and tent canvas – all f rom India. Retail prices for the items range f rom $4.50 to $65, with the majority in the range between $4.50 and $15. For more information, call Amy Stretmater at 719.695.0065 or email amy@korustreet.com. KN

• Cover