CHA Floor Is Still Crowded

Despite less showfloor space and traffic in the aisles, most exhibitors and attendees said they still were doing the business they expected and were satisfied with the Craft & Hobby Assn.’s CHA Winter Convention & Trade Show.

The show, which took place Jan. 25-28 at the Anaheim Convention Center, had about 227,000 net square feet of exhibit space, compared with 274,626 net sq. ft. last year, said Tony Lee, CHA’s vice president of meetings and expositions. The number of exhibitors declined from 832 in 2008 to 628 this year. Lee said the decrease came from some consolidations and merger activity, plus smaller companies being unable to exhibit because of economic challenges.

As a result, unlike last year, there were no exhibits in the center’s Hall E.

“From feedback we have received so far, given the current economic climate,” Lee said, “the 2009 CHA winter show was a success and met exhibitors’ expectations with many companies reporting that they had good sales and made good contacts.”

The show’s attendance was down, compared with 2008, but final figures were not available by press time. Lee said he estimated buyer attendance only fell about 5 percent. Last year, 5,754 buyers attended the show, he added.

“What’s down are the business networkers,” he added, referring to educators, designers and speakers. Lee said the show has retained its core exhibitor and buyer base, meaning the mission of the tradeshow – buying and selling – continued on the floor.

And while the scrapbooking and paper crafts section of the show at the back of Halls A through D has long been the part of the show that boasted the most exhibitors, largest booths and biggest crowds, this year was a little more subdued.

“It does not seem as busy,” said exhibitor Megan Thurman of Wilsonville, Ore.-based Paper Trunk. “It’s the economy.”

She added retailers told her they brought fewer people to the show than in previous years, and she thought people were being more careful with their money – and orders.

Even though the economy is factoring into exhibitor and attendee behavior, Thurman said Paper Trunk, a newer company, expanded its booth this year to a 10’x20’ from last year’s 10’x10’.

“It started out kind of slow and then picked up in the last couple days,” Thurman said. “I think, overall, the show is going well (for the company).”

At Victoria, British Columbia-based Upsy Daisy Designs, co-owners Teri Deacon and Nicole Nyvall said selling products wasn’t at the top of their list of priorities when they booked their 10’x10’ space.

The two recently purchased the business, and “our biggest goal is to get people to know who we are,” Nyvall said. “I think we are accomplishing that.”

At Crate Paper in the back of Hall C, exhibitor Lisa Parkin said her company was trying to economize. Crate Paper had a 30’x20’ booth in last year’s show, but scaled down to a 20’x20’ booth this year and brought only new products, she added.

Although there was less traffic than at previous shows, Parkin said the retailers who were buying were placing bigger orders, compared with other years the company exhibited.

However, Parkin added she wasn’t seeing new retailers as she had in the past and worried that 2009 will be a tough year for them.

“It’s more about supporting (the retailers) at this point,” Parkin said of Crate Paper’s role.

Exhibitor Denna Williamson, president of Monument, Colo.-based Traditions Studio, said she wouldn’t have bought a booth at this year’s show if she had known beforehand that it wouldn’t have much traffic.

“I’m sure the economy has a lot to do with that,” she added.

Many of the retailers who visited her booth, Williamson said, scrutinized what they were ordering and took forms home to order later.

Traditions Studio had the same booth size as last year, 10’x20’, but Williamson said she cut costs by bringing two of each display item instead of four as in the past.

Buyer attendees, on the other hand, were more positive about the show.

“The show itself is brilliant,” said Wendy Gale of U.K.-based The Stamp Attic. “It always is.”

She added the show was smaller and quieter, but was worth the cost of the trip to the United States.

“I’m placing a lot of orders,” Gale said.

Before flying over, Gale added, she thought about several factors, including the weakness of the pound against the dollar, the cost to attend – about £1,400 ($1,996) – and rumors that not as many exhibitors would be at the show.

Even so, she said, “I’m glad I came.”

Paul Sadowski, owner of Picture Pages, also said the show was valuable.

“It made us,” he added. “This launched our product.”

Sadowski said he holds the patent on a framed scrapbook, which hangs on the wall and holds pages in place with magnets. He licenses his invention to Creative Imaginations and was displaying it in the company’s booth in Hall D.

At this year’s show, Sadowski said he was looking for additional licensing partners and retailers for his product.

Melody O’Neal and Joy Buss of the Bonney Lake, Wash.-based Ben Franklin Crafts franchise said they came to the show with a different focus than usual – to get ideas to sell and promote the products they already stock – but the show was enjoyable.

“We’ve had a good time,” Buss said.

Both said the show was slower-paced than previous ones, but that made it easier to move around the showfloor.

“I’ve actually enjoyed this show more than I have in the past,” O’Neal said.

For his part, CHA’s Lee said he thought there was an upbeat feel on the showfloor.

“The serious buyers are still here,” he added. Plus, with fewer networkers, exhibitors had more time to spend with those buyers.

“There’s a buzz out there,” Lee said. “You can measure tradeshows by numbers, but you can also measure by what you hear.”