Sponsored by
Only 346 days until Christmas... so retailers start stocking up
IT BEGAN life shrouded in mystery as toymakers secretly displayed their wares to buyers in order to avoid competitors stealing their ideas.
But 60 years later companies are clamouring for one of the 150 stands at the Harrogate Christmas and Gift Show – one of the biggest commercial events of the year – with the sole aim of standing apart from their rivals.
This year's four-day event, which began yesterday, is a glittering display of Christmas decorations and gifts, attracting about 4,000 of the UK's retailers and wholesalers to Yorkshire as they try to predict the most popular trends for 2009.
With the retail industry being one of the hardest hit by the economic slowdown, it is more important than ever that stores pick the right products.
Janet Morley, who has organised the show for last eight years, said: "There are Christmas trees of various colours, shapes and sizes, outside lights, baubles and other decorations.
"Last year the big thing was to have an upside down Christmas tree. The year before it was black trees."
John Athwal, chairman of the show and managing director of exhibitor Premier Decorations, said: "This year is very much LED-led. It's all about the lights.
"We have blankets of lit grass and 15ft artificial outdoor Christmas trees covered in lights. There is also a big push for Christmas kitchens.
"Last year chocolate brown Christmas trees were very popular and this year we have extended the range to include cream, pink and rust colours."
Harrogate Christmas and Gift Show began life in 1949 and has had several incarnations over the years, with five different names along the way.
It was first called Harrogate International Toy Fair but has changed its name to the Harrogate International Toy and Christmas Fair, 1st Fair and now Harrogate Christmas and Gift Show.
The names reflect the exhibition's shifting emphasis down the years, with the toys making way for a broader range of gifts and Christmas products.
Mrs Morley said: "The show has had to change its emphasis. Kids used to play with toys until they were teenagers but now from the age of about seven they are more interested in electrical products.
"The Christmas side of the fair has really taken over and the toy trade has been hit quite hard."
The fair initially took place in hotel rooms across Harrogate, with toymakers using it as a first opportunity to show their new products to distributors by appointment.
Stands were closed rooms so retailers had to knock and make an appointment. Eventually a more open atmosphere emerged and now it is all open plan.
Some of the stands now have more than 5,000 products on show and the emphasis is on making them stand out from their rivals. But the event still attracts fierce competition.
Mrs Morley said: "People can still be quite secretive about things because they are conscious of other people copying. If there is anything really secret then they take people into another room and show them in secret."
Joe Manby, one of the UK's biggest independent exhibition contractors, has spent two weeks constructing the exhibition. The firm has provided stands, stage sets, lights, signs and floors for the last 35 years.
The show, which takes place in eight halls at the Harrogate International Centre, St George Hotel, Cairn Hotel and Old Swan Hotel, is one of the main events of the year for the Harrogate firm.
Director Richard Manby, who runs the company with his brother, Andrew, said: "It's always rather strange for us. Just as we're taking our own decorations down, we're putting the show's Christmas decorations up again.
"From our point of view it's one of the major shows of the year and we're delighted it still remains one of our key portfolio shows."
Email to a friend
Print this page- Rival chips in with £500,000 to restore the original Harry Ramsden’s
- NHS spends £20m a year on translators and interpreters
- Visit from Princess as Serbian culture celebrated
- SportsTalk: Leeds United’s manager search, Super League and Calcutta Cup
- Air power used for repairs to eroded Three Peaks paths
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Yorkshire
Tuesday 07 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -8 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: -5 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South
