Already registered for next month's National Stationery Show? If so, terrific! If you haven’t arranged yet for your badge, you can do so easily through our registration page. The important thing is to be there to shop for the most exciting array of paper products you will have seen in years. Each year I think it can’t get any better than this and, voilà – 2015 is going to knock your socks off!

Paper – it’s more popular today across all ages and demographics. Gen Xers, a most robust demographic group, are consuming it wildly. So, carrying a great selection of greeting cards, beautiful wraps and ribbons, stationery and journals, alongside fabulous gifts, is a sure win for them – and for your other loyal customers.
 
When you do attend, I hope you will adopt a “write the order at the show” approach. Exhibitors spend enormous amounts of money designing, building and merchandising their booths to inspire you and to generate sales. They come to the Show for a week with their teams, and I know that there’s nothing more rewarding to them than leaving the show with stacks of orders along with great leads to follow up on.

My final advice: spend at least two days shopping the show. The floor plan footprint is packed and there is a lot to see. Walk the show at least twice – starting at different ends the second time. You’d be surprised at how much you’ll discover that you didn’t see the first time around, particularly if your second day is later in the week.

We’re excited to see you next month! 

Paper on the Avenue

"In many ways, the National Stationery Show is the highlight of my year as a business owner," asserts Gentry O'Neill, president/owner of Paper on the Avenue in Richmond, VA. "It's a time to reenergize, not just in terms of product, but to boost my enthusiasm and freshen my perspective. I love the anticipation of discovering new products and seeing the latest production techniques for custom invitations."

O'Neill, who has been attending the NSS annually since 2007, says she and her staff actually "get a little giddy" when the pre-show mailers start arriving. "In fact, we wait to open them when everyone is around so we can all savor the 'mailbox moment,'" she shares.

O'Neill describes her 1,200-sq.-ft. shop as an "authentic stationery store," in which you won't find much that doesn't directly relate to paper. Top-sellers for imprintables here include Faux Designs, Stevie Streck Designs and Rosanne Beck; while Smock, Checkerboard and William Arthur are among the best-selling wedding invitation lines. O'Neill's more-recent finds from the NSS include custom albums from Kramer Drive, Felix Doolittle and AR-EN Party Printers, which, she says, "have all outperformed my expectations and our customers are wild about them."

Such great lines have helped Paper on the Avenue to thrive in an ever-changing industry. "The evolution of digital printing has had a significant impact on our business," acknowledges O'Neill. "Holiday photocards were our largest product category in 2005; today we only have a small group of repeat customers who enjoy the 'ritual' of collaborating with us on a custom holiday card." On the flip side, she says, digital printing has enabled tremendous growth for "day-of" wedding accessories. "The fast turnaround, low minimums, and high profit margin of digital makes it easier than ever to add on sales to a wedding order," she relates.

One of O'Neill's first stops at this year's NSS will be the Best New Product display. "Inevitably, I lay eyes on a few must-have items and beeline it right to their booths!" she states, noting that she has recently been obsessed with desktop accessories and hopes to discover a "special treasure or two" to dress a desk in style. Additionally, she always looks to pick up three to five small, new greeting card lines to keep her selection unique and fresh.

Adds O'Neill, "The NSS is valuable for more than just sourcing new products. It’s an opportunity unlike no other to network with colleagues, strengthen relationships with vendors, participate in seminars – even take away merchandising ideas from the incredible booth displays."

Notes & Queries

Looking at the successful business of Notes & Queries today, it's hard to believe that this leading importer of design-led paper products from Europe began in 1980 with just a single pushcart in Boston's Faneuil Hall Marketplace, from which owner Alan Harnik sold handmade papers and cards. "That is where my father learned not only the craft of 'selling' but, most important, gained a deep understanding that what consumers wanted was a handmade feel of a card at a commercial price," states Vanessa Harnik, the company's v.p. of sales and marketing.

During that time, a friend of Alan's from England sent him a catalog from the London Design Center that featured design-driven paper goods. "My father then approached several of those companies, including Roger la Borde – which became his first major English publisher that he distributed in the American marketplace," Vanessa recalls.

Notes & Queries currently carries about 25 different publishers primarily from the U.K., including longtime best-selling lines Archivist Press, The Art File, Bug Art, Caroline Gardner and Paper D'Art; and is launching products from new publishers Rosanna Rossi, Nineteen Seventy Three, Eloise Hall and PoiZIN Pen. The company also represents Israel-based Turnowsky; and distributes Quire Publishing and Catch Publishing, both based in the Netherlands.

While trends from across the pond used to take some time before making their way to the States, Vanessa notes that the Internet has made it much easier and faster for U.K. trends to make their way here, and vice-versa. "There is a lot more interchange now with trends in the U.S. taking off in the U.K. marketplace," she says, noting that more U.K. publishers are introducing letterpress-printed cards into their collections, and that retro looks are now influencing imagery and color palettes there.

Another recent trend the Harniks have observed in the U.K. stationery market is the use of higher-quality foil, embossment and flitter. However, not everything trending in the U.K. always translates well to the American marketplace – such as their humor cards and more "cutesy" designs, Vanessa remarks.

Notes & Queries, which has exhibited at the NSS since 1990, is back in the Show this year after a two-year break it took to reevaluate its own marketing efforts, according to Vanessa. "The National Stationery Show had always been an important venue to test out new products, and we believe there are additional opportunities based upon the timing of the show that would not be captured at any other time of the year," she states. "More than anything, we are super-excited about our wide selection of new designs and think the NSS is the best platform to introduce the 800-plus new items!"

Unicorns

The mystical appeal of unicorns never seems to wane, as evidenced by the number of unicorn-themed products taking flight at the upcoming NSS. Find these and many more great products appearing at the Show using the free NSS Planner online tool.

Erin Stephan

Erin Stephan, product marketing manager at SnapRetail, is presenting "Your Perfect Social Media Fit" on Tuesday, May 19, at 11 a.m. As popular social-media sites such as Pinterest, Facebook and Instagram continue to evolve, and new platforms rapidly gain popularity, it's becoming increasingly difficult to decide which to use to engage with customers and to drive sales. At this informative session, attendees will learn which social-media sites will work best for their store type and target audience, and they'll walk away with tactics and strategies that can be implemented quickly for their business.

At SnapRetail, Stephan helps retailers maximize the value they get from email and social-media marketing every day. A graduate from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Stephan has a background in Entrepreneurial Studies and Business Management. She enjoys working with independent retailers, building relationships and using her marketing knowledge to help educate others.

Tickets to this and all other NSS seminars can be purchased when Buyers or Exhibitors register for their badge. The full Buyer Education Program lineup can be viewed here.

NSS Teams with Gift for Life on AIDS Walk

The NSS will renew its partnership with Gift For Life – the gift, stationery and home industries’ charitable organization – to participate in the 30th annual AIDS Walk New York on Sunday, May 17, the opening day of the Show.

Now in its fourth consecutive year of the collaboration, the joint Gift for Life/NSS team will recruit walkers to raise funds for the fight against HIV/AIDS, with participants either walking the actual 10K course that starts and ends at Central Park or taking a “virtual” walk through the aisles of the show at the Javits Convention Center. To sign up to be a walker or virtual walker, and/or to donate, click here.


LOUIE Awards Gala is May 17

The 27th Annual LOUIE Awards Gala – at which the winners of the Greeting Card Association's prestigious LOUIE Awards competition will be announced – takes place on Sunday, May 17, at The Edison Ballroom in New York City. The evening includes cocktails and hors d'oeuvres beginning at 6:30 p.m.; the awards ceremony and dinner at 8 p.m.; followed by desserts and celebration at 9:30 p.m. Tickets to the event are $185 each and can be purchased here.

Schmooze & Network

NSS-SURTEX Happy Hour
Monday 6-7pm
Concourse Level, Javits Center

Exhibitors and attendees, schmooze with your industry peers and have a drink on us! Stop by the NSS-SURTEX happy hour before you leave Javits Monday night!

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