Can it really be 70 years ago that Harrogate in January first opened its doors to the toy trade that even back in 1950 included a number of tinsel-type Christmas products as well as baubles and no doubt a few lights.
Throughout their history along with a number of name changes the Directors of the show have always endeavoured to make Harrogate not only the first show of the New Year, but also a most friendly show for both the exhibitor and the visitor.
Back in those early years, you could almost always count on snow, that would not only see car drivers suffering some hairy moments, but also the local buses skidding all over the place, endangering life and limb for the hardy exhibitors and visitors.
Perhaps to illustrate how the social scene has changed, Harrogate was a six day show with official dinners and functions almost every night. Tuesday was the Organisers ‘do’ at the Royal Hall. Busloads of the local nurses from Leeds would come in and perhaps appropriately with the success of ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ there was always a ballroom dancing show, not featuring Anton du Beke of course, but the then current World Champions giving us all a demonstration of how it should be done.
The Wholesalers association, the Toy Importers and of course the Fence Club all ran official dinners along with a number of the larger companies such as Waddingtons organizing a fantastic night out.
I digress!
Moving on to 2020, the show is housed in modern exhibition halls, which compared to the use of all the local hotels in bygone years is a Godsend, so there is much to look forward to. The show is full and as you will find in the 80 pages of this year’s edition, plenty of fantastic new products to whet the appetites of even the most demanding of buyers.
Sales for the industry in 2019 I believe have been tough for everyone. The uncertainty of Brexit, the then looming General Election all played their part in affecting sales. With the Pound at almost an all-time low, suppliers have had to pay more for their products, although talking to many of you, deliveries have been pretty good in the main. One company bucking the trend is Giftware Trading. M.D. Ben Jeffery told me “It is the best Christmas to date. We brought in our deliveries much earlier than last year, which really worked well for us , leading to increased sales.â€
With the Election over and Boris with the biggest majority since Maggie’s golden era, at least Brexit will be well on the way to being finalized and whether you voted ‘for’ or ‘against’, at least many of our M.P’s who prevaricated and almost paralysed Parliament can do no more.
The show has a number of first-time exhibitors including Christmas Inspirations from Holland, who are exhibiting one of America’s largest suppliers Kurt Adler. On the many occasions that I have visited America and I always call in at several of their specialist all-year-round Christmas shops, Kurt Adler almost dominate a number of the main categories of Christmas. They are showing on B.8.
I’m also pleased to welcome back, after a gap of a few years F.D.L. they are showing in Hall ‘M’ stand M27.
The editorial content gives the reader an early ‘in’ to what they can expect to see when they arrive in town This year we have added a number of ‘Question and Answer’ articles that has seen our Editor Sarah Welsh kept very busy.
Our two retail interviews are with Dobbies, who in April acquired 31 Whyvale Stores, their Creative Manager Ian Mitchell tells all. The second interview moves up to Scotland to interview Phylip Mullan-Read of the Sterling Furniture store group. They have eight stores in Scotland and Ian tells us that he adores Christmas. Ian emailed me earlier this year to say that he always looked forward to reading Christmas in January and would we consider interviewing him for our next edition. Turn to page 58 to find out more.
Our ‘Coffee Break’ interview on page 10 features Simon Joy of Culinary Concepts, a company creating quite a buzz with their quirky Christmas offerings. 2020 sees their biggest range yet.
To celebrate the show’s 70th year, the Organisers will be holding a drinks event on either the Sunday or Monday after the show and our front cover advertiser Riffelmacher will be inviting customers old and new to their stand in Hall ‘A’ on the Sunday evening from five onwards for some sparkling German cheer and nibbles.
Finally, learning of the ban on using Glitter in Christmas products such as snow globes and lanterns, I understand that initially this was driven by schools and later taken up by the ‘Green’ lobby. Evidently, Glitter is not biodegradable, but come on, is glitter that is encased in these products really a threat to our planet – Get a life for Christ’s sake!
We shall once again be in our usual position just inside Hall ‘A’ and look forward to meeting everyone as usual. For those exhibitors at Spring Fair, it is not too late to be included in our Christmas in February edition with both advertising and editorial space.
