spring fair review Spring has sprung in Birmingham
The Spring Fair at the NEC has a long tradition of showcasing innovation, colour and design – and there are electrical brands involved making the trip a useful one for retailers. Sarah Selzer reports. RKW, whose own brands include Tower
Home, which houses mammoth stands for key distributors RKW (12), EPE (10), ESG (11) and Ultimate Products (12). They are in an adjoining exhibition space to hall 9 which is Kitchen, Dining & Housewares – worth a walk through to see some strong kitchen trends highlighted like eco and plastic- free, colour palettes and celebrity tie-ups (established ones like James Martin and Jamie Oliver but also a new tableware collection launching later in the year from Captivate Brands for the doyenne of baking, Mary Berry). There were also some interesting new companies making their way into the UK market like Western International with a range of SDA and MDA, while new to the show was a fascinating smart home company Enerj with everything from wireless switches, smart wifi solutions and home security to lighting, taps and infra-red heating panels. A fun quirky gift element is on offer from PSA Parts which provides predominantly batteries and consumer electronics from brands like Duracell and Oral-B but has just brought the Buqu brand of power banks into the UK. Stand- out designs include a gold pineapple, pig and a glow in the dark ghost! Retail prices should be approximately £15.00 each. The show gives a good opportunity
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to see major SDA brands in one place, through distributors and in some cases brand owners. Brands represented (often on more than one stand) included: Kenwood, De’Longhi, Tefal, Swan, Tower, Beldray, Hairy Bakers, Panasonic, Morphy Richards, Pifco, Daewoo and Russell Hobbs.
he main area of interest for an SDA retailer at this UK event is probably halls 10,11 and 12 Volume Giſt &
and Akai launched an expanded Rose Gold collection alongside a new Marble effect range and previewed some standout ranges for launch later in the year – Urbano (dark grey, ribbed) and Scandi (grey or white matt with lightwood accents). EPE was using the Spring Fair to showcase
the latest brand to join its line-up, Panasonic, as well as a new show initiative ‘deal of the day’ (when IER visited it was Kenwood food prep). EPE general manager Mark Cox said the SDA market was still growing and it was the middle market showing that growth. “Those consumers who are looking for good quality, durable, cost- effective products, we have the products for them,” he said. “We only work with 100 per cent established brands and we work closely with them, they are our strategic partners.” Visitors to the EPE stand would also be able to learn more about the Buyer’s Choice promotions which are now twice a year. “We have also expanded our sales force and ‘rebanded’ the areas – Geoff Eden is our country manager for Scotland and Ireland, while Simon Dawson covers the Northern territory. But we are joined now by Gorav Varma for the Midlands (Wales to Eastern England) and Mark Terrell for the Southern band (South West across to Kent).” Ultimate Products is another distributor
like RKW which includes housewares products (cookware and kitchen accessories), giving an overall co-ordinated approach. But a key focus at this show from the company, which is looking to work more with electrical buying groups this year, is the Beldray brand. This now appears across a host of different SDA, flooring, air treatment and heating.
Mark Cox, general manager at EPE, with the deal of the day and the Buyer's Choice promotions initiatives
Sales director Valentino Ricioppo said the brand was all about USPs but at an affordable price. “We’ve developed Beldray to be a John Lewis product but at a Tesco price,” he said.
“Purchases have become more impulse and we want to give customers reasons to choose our products – we have got some funky ideas!” This includes a compact handheld garment steamer, fires with Bluetooth speakers, a small heater (about the size of paperback book) you can plug into a socket and rotate it depending on where the socket is and the ‘ice cube’ air treatment product that has interchangeable containers to deliver progressively colder air. Many of these brands were heading straight from the Spring Fair to Ambiente in Frankfurt and in March (2-5) to Chicago (reports to follow in IER). So yet more innovative events to plan in! Sarah Selzer is Managing Director of specialist homewares PR agency PR Direct and is a regular visitor to these trade shows. You can find out more about brands mentioned above on
www.springfair.com
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hello@prdirect.net February / March 2019
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