MARKET’S BLIZZARD BLUES
Byline: Amanda Meadus and Wendy Hessen
NEW YORK — Although it’s generally one of the busier buying times of the year, last week’s January accessories market was characterized by a sparse retailer turnout and spotty buying action — thanks to the Blizzard of ’96.
The Accessorie Circuit and Fashion Accessories Expo (FAE) trade shows, both of which opened Jan. 7 and ran three days, got caught right in the middle of it.
Vendor showrooms were quiet throughout the week due to broad cancellations or postponements by merchants. Manufacturers were not thrilled with the effects of the blizzard, even though they said that many merchants had rescheduled their appointments for this week.
“This kind of situation can’t be a good thing for the industry as a whole,” said fashion jeweler Erwin Pearl. “For myself, I think we’ll be able to recover most of the business we lost this week, but for vendors whose lines did not sell well for Christmas I think this is just going to make their situations worse.”
Elaine Gold, chairman of scarf company Collection XIIX, said many of her customers were not able to make it in to see her merchandise.
Still, as Gold pointed out, not everything was bleak.
“Those who did make it in were very optimistic, mainly because scarves sold very well for the holidays,” Gold said. “Generally, this was not the greatest of market weeks, but it also could have been worse, and regardless of weather or whatever else, stores will have to do their spring buying at some point.”
Some retailers, such as Paula Portera, accessories buyer for Jenss, a four-unit department store company based in Amherst, N.Y., were going on with business as usual and shopping as many showrooms as possible.
Portera said she was expecting hats and scarves to be clear winners for spring.
“We have a very strong group of millinery customers, so we can sell virtually any style of hat, and as for scarves, they were very strong for fall and I think that will carry into spring,” Portera said.
The weather was a mixed blessing for the trade shows. Many exhibitors noted that the merchants who did attend the shows acted efficiently and definitively, owing to schedules cut short by the storm.
In the case of the FAE, for example, some exhibitors said they did brisk business on opening day with buyers who were worried about getting snowed in at Piers 90 and 92, where the show took place. The show’s venue on the Hudson River makes its difficult to get to without public transportation.
“Buyers were writing orders right away because they were concerned that with the unpredictability of the weather, they wouldn’t have any extra time to come back twice to any booth or return to the show,” said Yvette Fry, owner of a manufacturer’s representative showroom that bears her name.
Some exhibitors at the Accessorie Circuit, held at the Plaza, noted that they even benefited from last Monday’s storm since they had something of a captive audience in buyers who were staying at the hotel and got stuck inside all day.
“I was flabbergasted at how well we did,” said jewelry designer Gerard Yosca, who had a room at the show. “We definitely didn’t get as many buyers coming in as we have at other shows, but the ones that did come in, especially on Monday, wrote much bigger orders than usual because they weren’t in such a rush to get to another show or showroom.”
Here, a closer look at both shows.
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Accessorie Circuit
Both the turnout and the activity were far better than most exhibitors had anticipated, given the conditions at hand. The attendance was about 2,500, according to ENK Productions, which produces the show. This was down from 3,100 at the same event last year.
Some retailers ended up doing more ordering than they had expected.
“My airline lost my coat and luggage on my way here, so I’ve spent my whole trip at this show,” said Helen Sinclair, owner of two boutiques called Helen Suzanne in Honolulu, noting that she was also staying in a room at the Plaza. “I was planning to shop some of the other shows in town as well, but I have instead been here the whole time and have had to buy as much as I could in order to make the trip worthwhile.”
Sinclair said that among the vendors she bought merchandise from were fashion jewelry firms Siman Tu and Lunch at the Ritz Earwear, as well as crystal minaudiere designer Kathrine Baumann.
“My clientele is primarily tourists, and so I look for rather seasonless merchandise that has a festive look to it,” she said, noting that business at her stores had been very good recently.
Lynn Joelson, the owner of a boutique called Ladyfeathers, in Lake Almanor, Calif., said she had already done most of her buying for spring and was just picking up some add-on fashion jewelry at the show.
“I’m sticking to my usual direction, which is versatile, whimsical and affordable,” Joelson said, noting that she had written orders with Elements by Jill Schwartz and Lunch at the Ritz Earwear.
Overall, vendors said they were relatively pleased with the results of the show.
“Of course, we would have done even better without the storm, but we aren’t unhappy about our results,” said Maxine Coppersmith, coowner with fashion jeweler Dayne Duvall of the manufacturers’ rep showroom Notanonymous. “All of our lines sold well and I sensed an overall optimism among the stores that were here. Everyone seemed to feel pretty upbeat about the spring season.”
Fashion Accessories Expo
After a relatively strong opening day, activity virtually ground to a halt because of the weather. Overall turnout was so low, Conference Management Co., which organizes the FAE, did not keep a tally of attendance.
“Despite traffic not being great on the first day, we did more business than we did for the whole show a year ago,” said Irwin Feld, president of Marcy Feld Accessories. But, he pointed out, the second day of the show told a different story. Initially, show management announced it was canceling the show that day, but eventually opened it two hours late, at 11 a.m. By that time, however, word had spread that the show was closed and few buyers or exhibitors ended up going.
Some retailers who did shop the show said they were not able to find as much new merchandise as they had hoped.
“I was looking for the next version of the ‘Y’ necklace, but didn’t find it,” said Helen Welsh, senior vice president and general merchandise manager for Accessory Place.
“The show did solidify some of my trend ideas, however,” Welsh added, noting that her key directions for spring will be black and white; Olympic-inspired red, white and blue; insects, and prints with retro motifs.
Dianne Wilkins and Jan Witten, owners of Carlisle, a better-to-bridge boutique in Columbia, S.C., were eager to find new designers since their accessories business is up compared to a year ago.
However, Wilkins noted, “We found that there were few new lines here this time, and some of the trends, like flowers and all the plastic looks, were just not sophisticated enough for our customer.”