SPRING FAIR FEATURE
Spring Fair, the UK’s leading marketplace for wholesale Home, Gift and Fashion returned to the NEC Birmingham from February 5-8. The trade show closed on a high with buoyant feedback from buyers and exhibitors
s the definitive ‘shop for shops’, Spring Fair has supported the retail industry for over 70 years. On February 5, it opened its doors to thousands of UK independent retailers and multiples including Homebase, John Lewis, Harvey Nichols, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Dunelm, TK Maxx and more. “The atmosphere has genuinely been magical over the last four days.
The stories we’ve heard from our fantastic visitors and exhibitors has highlighted what an awe-inspiring, diverse, inspirational, collaborative, and friendly community Spring Fair offers. The scale of business being done across all our Gift, Home and Fashion sectors underpins the value of incorporating so much variety and cross-buying opportunities. It is incredible to hear about so many life-changing connections and micro- communities being developed,” says Nicola Meadows, portfolio director of Spring Fair.
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s the cost-of-living crisis continues to pinch consumer incomes, businesses are having to adapt to a shift in buying habits.
Within Home, Living & Décor and The Summerhouse buyers discovered newness and the most stylish and on-trend furniture, textiles, housewares, art, and decorative interior and outdoor accessories from the UK and around the world. The Summerhouse welcomed back Malini, Bloomingville, MyGiftsTrade (including Urban Nature Culture), Hot Tomato, The Libra Company, Terrace & Garden / Casa Verde, Present Time, Jellycat, Stone Glow Candles, Hug Rug, RoseHill, Biggie Best and Morgan Wright brands including Also Home and Rain & Humble, DeluxeHomeart, VanillaFly, and Gallery Direct who celebrated its 50th anniversary. New to Spring Fair, visitors were delighted to discover one of Scandinavia’s leading wholesalers, Wikholm Form, bringing its comprehensive range of products, decorations, furniture, and accessories made from ceramics, glass, wood, metal, basketware,
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Consumers are looking for energy-efficient, cost-efficient products, and it is the responsibility of the business to make their customers aware of which products fit these criteria. Arun Bhatoye, head of marketing at Hisense UK, says “Here at Hisense, we have always championed manufacturing products that are affordable yet high- quality, and this is more important than ever as we head towards the winter months amidst a national cost-of-living crisis. Right now, it is our number one priority to help the nation to understand how to best use their appliances to continue with their necessary household chores and reduce their bills as much as possible.” Founded over 50 years ago, Hisense is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of televisions and home appliances. Hisense has a core range of televisions and cooling appliances alongside a portfolio of cooking and laundry products featuring hobs, hoods, ovens, dishwashers and washing machines. Educating the consumer Bhatoye says “As energy bills soar to an all-time high, monitoring our gas and electricity usage has never been more important, and so consumers are looking for alternative solutions to cut down on their energy usage – and in turn, their energy bills. This doesn’t mean that consumers aren’t buying, but the path to purchase is much more considered. Customers
Arun Bhatoye, head of marketing at Hisense UK, highlights the support businesses can provide consumers amidst the challenging cost-of-living crisis.
leather and textiles. Spring Fair welcomed back an array of home and outdoor lifestyle
brands for the 2023 event in February, including Coach House, McGowan & Rutherford, Art Marketing, Kaemingk, Mint Interiors by Kettle also featuring Mambo Outdoor Living, London Ornaments, Bakers, Ascalon, Ivyline, Minster Stylish Living, Dutch Import & Daughters, Waltons of Yorkshire, Lows of Dundee, Sparta Decor, Tweedmill, Chic Antique, Fifty Five South, Hanlin, and Hill Interiors. Voyage Maison rejoined the Spring Fair line-up at the front of Hall 6, while lighting industry leaders Searchlight presented a mixture of decorative lighting. Hunter Price and its new Billie Faiers range was also found in Home, Living and Décor sector. Serving up the best in culinary must-haves, from the latest
innovations in cookware to the most beautiful table décor, visitors to Housewares encountered kitchenware and dining ideas from Apollo Housewares, Honest Bottle, Artisania, Kin Limited, Captivate Brands, David Mason (Design), Goodtobee, Jomafe, International Cookware, Juice and Jam, Kuhn Rikon, Olivawood, Pendeford Housewares, T&G Woodware Ltd, RKW, Ultimate Products, Blue Stem Group, JVL Products, and Ulster Weavers. The BIRA/BHETA Village also returned. New to the show was Pure Table Top, pitched as ‘the home of beautiful tablewares’, its collections feature much-loved brands including Joules, Olly Smith, and Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, each with their own signature style.
Inspiring Retail Stage Featuring leading industry professionals and rising stars, the Inspiring Retail Stage line-up featured over 40 speakers, sharing exclusive market intelligence, insights and valuable industry information all designed to provide buyers with the opportunity to increase their knowledge,
SPRING FAIR Combat the Crisis
look to invest in appliances that achieve the best results whilst using the least amount of energy, to help with cutting down bills. During the cost-of-living crisis, retailers and suppliers should be looking at ways in which they can help educate and inform their customers on the best appliances for their individual needs, and support them as much as possible to find the most cost-effective solution. Here at Hisense, energy efficiency has played a large role in product development as we look to new launches in future years. “It’s likely that any appliance which doesn’t need to be switched on for a long amount of time during usage, for example a microwave or toaster is the most efficient small appliance, as it only uses energy whilst it is switched on. It’s also very much dependent on usage – every household is different and has different needs. For example, single-person households may have a large capacity oven and batch cook to make the most of their oven being turned on, whilst larger families might opt for a larger capacity washing machine to bundle loads together. Generally speaking, tumble dryers tend to be the most expensive appliance to run, so switching up this part of your laundry routine to drying your clothes on a traditional clothes horse or drying rack is an easy way to help cut down your energy bills. Of course, defining what the most expensive appliance to run will ultimately come down to usage habits. If you have a larger household, it’s likely to be more cost-effective to invest in a larger capacity washing machine, so that you can fit more clothes in one load,
housewareslive.net
housewareslive.net
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