In Living Color
Color expert Rebecca Ewing of the Color Marketing Group will show you how color unconsciously affects feeling, behavior and physiology. Learn to use these predictable and universal color responses to attract, inspire and compel customers and clients.
This seminar is worth .2 CEU credits.
TIME: 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
LOCATION: Home Furnishings Center, Building 1, Floor 14 Seminar Room
Coffee and muffins will be served. 

Benjamin Moore Color Pulse
Join Randy Smith of Benjamin Moore as he presents the upcoming color trends for interiors and exteriors.
TIME: 1 – 2 p.m.
LOCATION: Living. Outdoor/Indoor.^® The Gardens.^®, Building 2 WestWing, Floor 10 Seminar Room
Coffee will be served.

DON’T WAIT! MAKE YOUR PLANS TO ATTEND TODAY!
Seating is limited. For more information and to RSVP, contact:
Meagan Maron: 404.220.2104 or mmaron@americasmart.com 

And while you’re here…
Refresh, Renew and Reenergize your store or client’s home with the latest in home furnishings, gift, gardens and more when you shop Market Wednesday in Buildings 1, 2 and 2 WestWing.

JingleNog’s booth at the Spring Atlanta Gift, Home Furnishings & Holiday Market caught the eye of judges, who were tapped to identify the best displays in the Market Temporaries, with an unexpected and fresh take on holiday product. The winner of the AmericasMart “Best of Show” Visual Display Award this spring, JingleNog showcased the best use of space, product arrangement, lighting, flooring and signage overall.

JingleNog’s handmade glass ornaments are the product of owner and creator Melissa Byrne’s stories and drawings. The glass blown ornaments showcase her twenty years of experience in the Christmas and Gift Industry, as well as the tradition of European glassmaking.

The JingleNog booth brings the product packaging to life as a whimsical, winter circus wonderland on a green and cream palate. Against the candy green striped curtains lining the space, white wire display trees and unexpected faux-grass flooring, JingleJog ornaments came to life and transformed this temporary booth into a fanciful fairytale.

This outstanding and unique display showcased JingleNog’s creativity and supported the playful nature of their product. Congratulations, JingleNog!

Be sure to join us for more creativity and excitement next Market!

In 2010, if you didn’t use social networks like Twitter and Facebook to market your store, network with your community and find ways to grow your business, then that’s ok. It’s ok because in 2011 you’re going to do things differently. You’re going to embrace social media and use it as a daily tool to help you grow, learn and succeed! (If you did use social media in 2010, leave a comment on how it helped your business; also assess what worked and what didn’t, then make a 2011 Plan of Social Media Action.)

To get started, here are 5 ways to use social media to ensure a successful show this January.

1. Pictures! If you don’t have a phone with a built in camera, make sure you bring your digital camera to the show because you’re going to want to make your customers so excited for your new products they can’t stand it! Take pictures of some new items or lines you bought at market. Post to your Facebook page and let your networks know that in a matter of days they could get their hands on those items. Posting pictures of the showrooms and people shopping at market is also a great way to let your customers in on your business, taking your relationship with them deeper.

2. Follow Vendors and Sales Agencies. The best way to stay up-to-date at market is to be monitoring your favorite vendors and sales agencies on Twitter and Facebook. You might even find show specials posted on their social media outlets. To find their accounts (if you don’t know them already) visit their websites, go to search.twitter.com and enter the company name or try Googling their name +Twitter.

3. Hashtags! You might not know what a hashtag is, so let me first explain.  Hashtags were developed as a means to create ”groupings” on Twitter. Through these you can tag a post with a keyword so it can be found or referred to later. You create a hashtag simply by prefixing a word with a hash symbol:  #hashtag. Here are a few examples:

via @AmericasMartATL: AmericasMart launches HD Home juried home furnishings/lifestyle collection: http://bit.ly/hFp0ty #atlmart

Via @AlexasAngles: “To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; credible we must be truthful.” #quote

Via @snapretail: Cute Displays for the #Holiday Season http://ht.ly/3ipaP #retail#marketing

4. Connect with other retailers. Running a successful retailer store can be hard. One way to learn what works is by talking to a retailer that has proven success. You can find these retailers online and set up a time to share a coffee, walk showrooms together or grab dinner after market. Continuing that conversation throughout the year will help you stay on track and feel the support of someone who knows exactly what you’re going through. A great way to find these retailers is by following the #atlmart hashtag. Another way is by sending out Facebook posts and Tweets that you’ll be attending the market and you’re looking at connecting with other retailers. Finally, go to AmericasMart Facebook page and see who they are talking to/who is posting on their page and reach out to them.

5. Attend a social media seminar at market. As you return to your store after the shows, you should be asking yourself: how will I market the products I just bought? It’s important to create a 2011 marketing plan and make sure social media is a part of that plan.

There are lots of good seminars at Market. I will be speaking on Thursday, Jan 13^th in the Social Media Track. Please consider spending an hour with me on: Top 10 Facebook and Twitter Strategies to Drive Sales.

For a complete list of seminars visit AmericasMart seminar page and SnapRetail’s seminar series page.

If you can embrace social media in 2011, you will find how beneficial it is for your store. Just make sure you know what you’re doing, how to use the sites, and create a plan of action first that way you can track your efforts. Wishing you a happy new year and a successful 2011!

Also, attendees will have the opportunity to gain free education through our renowned AmericasMart University (AMU) program. AMU is an educational program that features classes during Market teaching fundamentals to equip retailers with the best tools and techniques to stay competitive and grow.

Everything a retailer and exhibitor can imagine will be going on at the January Market. Be here to discover it all! To see the entire list of events click here.

The New Year will bring new categories and new companies to Atlanta, including the launch of four new and newly re-branded product centers and the introduction of more than 500 new names of the 2500 companies in the Market Temporaries. Making their category debut at AmericasMart this January are HD Home, Birding & Backyard Nature, Global Designs, and Homemade Designs & Handmade Jewelry.

The Market Temporaries support and enhance the product showcased in AmericasMart’s 13 permanent product centers that also extend across its four-building campus. Together, the permanent showrooms and temporary booths produce a powerhouse for buying and selling.

Experience the first market of the year and discover what’s in store for 2011! For more information about the January Market, click here.

To read the entire release, click here.

Two new companies have secured space and are set to open their first Atlanta showrooms in the Holiday/Floral & Home Décor center, enhancing the already rich product offered within the half-million sq. ft. of this category. Egyptian Museum will be staged in a showroom on floor 20 (20-D-3) in Building 1, and d. Stevens will be located on floor 18 (18-A-10).

Further adding to the category momentum is the recent recommitment of two anchor showrooms in the Holiday/Floral & Home Décor product center: Accent Décor and Hill’s Imports. Accent Décor will relocate from floor 20 to 18 (18-A-23), enabling the company to more than double its current space. Hill’s Imports will now be housed on floor 17 (17-a-15)—moving from floor 19—in nearly 7,000 sq. ft of space.

The Holiday/Floral & Home Décor products, special offerings and events can be discovered on floors 16-20 of Building 1—the destination for everything HOME—this January.

To view the entire release, click here.

The Atlanta Fall Gift & Home Furnishings Market

A first-time exhibitor at AmericasMart, the winner took its booth to a new level, using only handmade product created by friends and family. Featured product included handcrafted bark wood frames, flowers in a beautiful arrangement from a friend’s yard, rod-iron displays, handsewn drapery and table linens and custom clipboards. The 2010 Best of Show award was presented to the Changa, a new line of changeable jewelry headquartered in Hendersonville, NC.

More information about Changa can be found on their website: http://www.changajewelry.com/.

I’ll be at AmericasMart on Sunday, September 12 and am encouraging you to visit and bring your guests and clients. I’m hosting Farm to Table, Y’all, and you won’t want to miss it!

Plus, samples will be served!

We will also have a drawing for a My Southern Pantry gift basket that includes a signed copy of Bon Appétit, Y’all!

I’ll be walking around before my demo, It would be a pleasure to meet you and talk to each of you on how we can work better together, so I can learn what you need me to do to help you sell your product and help you generate customers.

See ya’ll soon!

Don’t forget:
Sunday September 12
AmericasMart
Farm to Table, Y’all with Chef Virginia Willis
11:00 am -1:00 pm
Building 2 WestWing Floor 8
Demo Kitchen 

While each Market individually offers a unique showcase, together they create an unrivaled collaboration of debuts, top lines and dynamic product. Only here, will retailers discover new product launched within the last month and be able to take advantage of the last order-writing Markets of the year. The Markets present gourmet, home furnishings and gift in four buildings of permanent product centers, supported by temporary categories staged in Building 1, floor 7.

Plus, discover the creme de la creme of gourmet with the Best of Atlanta awards, learn how to build baskets and merchandise in today’s economy and find out more about social media and best business practices.

It’s all here this September!

For more information, click here.

This past week at the July 2010 Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market and Atlanta International Area Rug Market, AmericasMart celebrated the opening, expansion and relocation of 84 permanent showrooms with ribbon cutting ceremonies. Additionally, 33 individual showrooms and 18 temporary booths—including one spectacular Best of Show Booth—were honored with AmericasMart’s coveted Visual Display Award for outstanding visual creativity, use of space, product placement, signage, flooring and lighting.

Congratulations to all of our winners and new showrooms!

To find out more about the Visual Display Award Winners and showrooms that were acknowledged for their grand opening, expansion or relocation of space please click here.