Dorothy Belshaw: Gifted With Success

The retail sector of the economy has seen better days. Consumers have all but put away their wallets and stopped making purchases.

The newfound frugality has hit the gift show sector particularly hard, which hasn’t been good news for George Little Management, a dmg world media company.

In most cases, GLM’s West Coast and Canadian gift shows have seen double-digit declines in attendance, but seemingly immune to the bad news has been the company’s shining gift show star – the New York Intl. Gift Fair, held semiannually at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center of New York and Piers 92 and 94.

The show slipped only one place last year for both of its editions listed on the 2009 Tradeshow Week 200 – No. 28 for its February edition and No. 30 for August. The combined editions drew nearly 70,000 attendees and 6,000 exhibitors, taking every last available square inch of the Javits.

Overseeing all of that success is GLM Senior Vice President Dorothy Belshaw. She’s led the show for almost three years, and, in that time, she’s kept in step with not only changes in the retail industry, but also within the gift show world itself.

As a result, the show’s weathered the economic storm so far. Belshaw talked with Tradeshow Week Senior Editor Rachel Wimberly about how she’s stayed on top of the trends and what’s in store next for the show.

Tradeshow Week: In the (almost) three years you’ve been at the helm of the New York Intl. Gift Fair, how has it evolved?

Dorothy Belshaw: Probably the biggest impact on the show has been the evolution in the retail sector as there has been a fair amount of consolidation. … In response to that, the show has looked to drive increased attendance in vertical markets.

In doing so, we have really strengthened and built up some of the categories within the fair that has enabled us to reach into those vertical markets – specifically as it relates to textiles to home furnishings to personal care and to handcrafted.

TSW: The showfloor has changed in the way exhibitors are grouped. What kind of impact has that had?

Belshaw: The show has been categorized for a number of years, but what we have worked to do in recent years is to further define those category delineations and also to encourage exhibitors within those categories to make larger and more dramatic presentations and to bring their full line to the show. … It does enable us to drive buyers to market that would not otherwise think of coming to a, quote, “gift show.”

As an example, as a specialty textiles buyer, you may not ultimately think of the gift show as a strong resource for you. But, NYIGF presents roughly 250 high-end, luxury textile and accessory manufacturers, so ... it does warrant a buying trip from leading textile buyers.

TSW: How does categorization benefit buyers and sellers?

Belshaw: It really helps buyers that are buying either within a category, or across categories, to shop more efficiently.

It’s not like a scavenger hunt, where all of a sudden they stumble upon something fabulous. That does still happen to a certain extent, but they are able to take a division of the fair and find a concentration of resources that are relevant for them, which makes their overall buying experience more efficient.

TSW: Were buyers more conservative at the February show?

Belshaw: Absolutely, yes. I do think we’re seeing that buyers are a little freer now than they were three months ago. ... In the winter time frame, I think there was a real sense of uncertainty about what was going to happen economically, politically, on a number of different fronts.

While buyers were coming to market, they were very, very cautious in their buying while at market. In the months following the show, they began to more cautiously place their orders.

I think we’re seeing that’s loosening a little bit right now. So, we are cautiously optimistic about the upcoming August market. We feel that retailers need inventory and that buying levels will be a little bit more robust than they were in the winter.

TSW: Has the retail industry finally bottomed out?

Belshaw: Wow! The Magic 8-Ball is what I need right now.

I think so. The only information I have right now is purely anecdotal, and it’s based on conversations we’re having with retailers and manufacturers. It does seem that retailers feel that store activity (and) consumer confidence is picking up, and, as a result, manufacturers are seeing more buying, ... certainly in March and the beginning of April. … I think we will begin to see an increase, but it will be cautious and calculated. I don’t think anyone is going to rush forward.

TSW: How will that impact the August show?

Belshaw: Buyers are not going to do the old style of buying, (which) was to come to the winter show and drop your whole open to buy, stock your store up and then come back and maybe do a little bit of reordering in between, and then come back six months later and shoot the wad again.

What we’re seeing now is more frequent orders that are more controlled. As a result, what the show needs to be for its exhibitors and its retailers is more of a 365-day-market platform.

So, we’re looking to extend the life of the show outside the five days that it’s on at Javits and the Piers through some of our online products to help buyers and sellers connect with each other in the months following and leading up to a show.

TSW: Will that include social media?

Belshaw: It will begin to. We are going to begin tweeting at the August event.

We (also) have a product in place, and have had it in place for about a year, that’s really begun to generate some significant results, which is our online catalogue gallery.

We’re now generating each cycle around 4.5 million page views and about 8,000 to 9,000 qualified leads for our participating exhibitors, and many of the exhibitors that are featured in the catalogue are converting a very high percentage of those leads.

TSW: Both editions of the NYIGF slipped one place on the 2009 TSW 200, while other gift shows fell quite a bit further down the list. Why is NYIGF so successful?

Belshaw: It’s really pretty straightforward. We have, first of all, a tremendous (amount), in sheer numbers, of resources we present. It is possible as a buyer to come to NYIGF and really see everything you need to see for your store. …

What makes us unique, besides our size, because obviously there are other gift shows in the industry that are as large or larger than we are ... (is the) quality.

Over the years, because of our space constraints at Javits and the Piers and because of demand in the marketplace … we’ve been able to be very selective in terms of who we present in the market, and, as a result, it’s really an edited version of the classic gift fair.

We’re (also) in a very target-rich region, and, in times of economic trouble, retailers tend to stay close to home and shop markets that are within driving distance.

TSW: The World Market Center in Las Vegas is entering the gift show market. Are you worried about having a new competitor?

Belshaw: Not for us, no. I think, even on the home furnishings side, … what they’re presenting is not probably at the same price point or in the same design aesthetic as the resources that we present in New York. … We are significantly different on the home furnishings side.

Also, ... regionally, we are so far apart. I don’t think there a lot of buyers that will travel to Vegas, instead of New York. They may, if they have the budget, attend it in addition to. As far as West Coast retailers go, for a luxury, high-end specialty retailer, NYIGF is a must-attend, and I think we offer a range of products in that category that isn’t presently, and won’t be duplicated, in Las Vegas.

TSW: Now that the Javits finally announced it will add 40,000 net square feet of temporary space, will that make a difference for NYIGF?

Belshaw: It will. The temporary space will be added so our footprint will not be diminished while they repair the roof because, as they repair the roof, there will be segments of the street-level floor, Level 3, that will be unavailable to us.

We will still be able to present the full extent of the show, but we will have to do some redistribution of space on the floor. We look at it as a (possible) opportunity to freshen the floorplan.

TSW: The more significant news may be the planned 215,000 net sq. ft. expansion at the Piers by its new manager, Merchandise Mart Properties Inc. What kind of impact would that have on the show?

Belshaw: In a stronger economy, the demand for space really swells considerably for New York, particularly at the Piers, where we feature home furnishings exhibitors that have a need for larger footprints to present their lines.

Something that will be a benefit to the Piers as well is the fact that MMPI is really looking to improve that venue (and) to really reinvent that venue as a tradeshow venue.