Stephanie Corbin

Economy Won't Clip Crafting
March 6, 2008

With the housing crisis, the weak dollar, record-high oil prices and the impending recession, the economy’s a hot topic in the media.

So when I went to the Craft & Hobby Assn. Winter Annual Convention & Trade Show, it was one of the things those of us in the office wanted to know: How do exhibitors expect their industry to do in an economic recession?

I was the perfect person for Tradeshow Week to send into the crafting trenches. If it’s not a craft I’ve done, I can guarantee I’ve seen my mother try it. So, had I searched my memory, the answer exhibitors gave for their outlook on the industry wouldn’t have surprised me. In fact, it made a lot of sense after hearing it the first time, not to mention the 10th or 11th times.

“People stay home and make things,” exhibitor J.R. Dryden of Falk Industries, a textile company, told me. He also told me “the craft business boomed” during the last major economic downturn he remembered in the early 1980s.

Exhibitor Richard Berman of Kokuyo USA said a poor economy doesn’t hurt the industry but, in fact, he implied that it may help it.

“Traditionally, in an economic downturn, hobbies go up because people start making gifts,” Berman said. “Scrapbooking really lends itself to that.”

Tony Lee, CHA vice president of meetings and expositions, said there are a large number of independent retailers in crafting and, like all small businesses, a faltering economy can affect them more than larger companies.

But mostly, “in times of recessions, the craft industry does well,” Lee said.

Despite the economy, Lee estimated the net square footage of the show and attendees would remain similar to the 2007 show, which spanned 311,000 net sq. ft. with 956 exhibiting companies and attracted 16,364 attendees.

The number of exhibitors was a little lighter this year. Exact numbers weren’t available at the end of the show, but Lee attributed that slight drop to mergers and acquisitions – not companies floundering during difficult economic times.

And as an avid crafter, that’s news that was good to hear.

Posted by Stephanie Corbin on March 6, 2008 | Comments (0)