In what can only be taken as a positive sign for the industry, the general feedback from most exhibitors across the first two days of the Sydney fair has told a story of retailers looking to buy and invest for the Christmas period.
While many exhibitors reported smaller orders being placed by buyers, given the tough economic conditions most suppliers were pleased that retailers had opened their cheque books.
Leading Brands
A number of larger, established distributors were quite pleased with the way their new releases were embraced by buyers, with Worth and Douglas enjoying success with the newly launched Hobbit jewellery, which in turn was rekindling interest in its already hugely successful Lord of the Rings jewellery.
RJ Scanlan was pleased with the uptake of its latest Dora lines to hit the market, with Chris Scanlan saying that the Geo range, which was at a new price point for RJ Scanlan, had done well in particular.
Sams Group managing director Steve Der Bedrossian reported similar results, saying after a soft launch earlier this year at the Brisbane Fair, the new Blossom range had performed even better at Sydney, while Tresor Paris and new range Pink Kimberley had also sold well.
"Today [Monday] was busy, but yesterday was a thumper, it's been great. We have had a good fair," Der Bedrossian said. "People have been looking for new concepts and new brands at a good price point. The price point has been very important."
As well as big brands, buyers seemed to be looking for eye-catching pieces.
Something different
Himalayan Jewellery's Brendan Wilson was more than happy with the results of the fair, saying he had done business with a lot of retailers looking for a “traffic stopping piece” for prominent window displays.
"The thing that sold well were big, standout pieces people can put in their windows to stop customers. Big strong colourful pieces," Wilson explained. "When you are in a marketplace you need something that goes “bang” to get people to stop. My approach has always been to work with big colourful stones."
Wilson said he had put a lot of time and effort into the product line this year as well as pre-fair marketing to retailers to let them know ahead of time what to look for.
"I advertised before the fair and we also have about 500 people on our database that we send our own emails. The more people we can connect with the better," Wilson explained. He said it was good to hear most people saying they had enjoyed a solid fair as he believed a fair was only ever what you made of it yourself.
"So long as you keep coming up with new things people will stay interested. It’s up to the stall holder, you can't blame the fair if you do not do well, if you are selling product that not many people want you can't blame the fair, it is your product."
Best stands
Another brand that reaped the rewards of solid pre-fair preparation was Chamilia, which won the Best Large Stand Award.
Chamilia general manager Mike Russell said six months of preparation had gone into the brand's Sydney exhibition so he and his team were very proud to have been acknowledged with the award.
"We are growing massively and we just want to celebrate every success and this is a milestone for us," Russell said. "We have worked so hard over the last 12 months and the people overseas are putting a lot of support behind us and it is nice to pay them back. We are here to build our brand in the long term in the Australian and New Zealand market, so this [the stand] is about making a statement about who we are."
Peekay Findings picked up the award for the Best Small Stand with its crisp, white brightly lit concept and eye catching display cases.
Russell said he had come into the fair with high expectations and they had been met after a busy opening day and a solid day of business yesterday, with the brand's Swarovski range in particular doing well.
For a number of first time exhibitors at the Sydney fair, including many international brands, the event is a learning experience and most were pleased with the initial reception.
Danes on the march
Julie Sandlau made its Australian debut with CEO Martin Glisby saying that the Danish brand had met its target before the close of business yesterday.
"The experience has been really good, our turnover rate has been fantastic, we have had a considerable number of visitors and probably about 50 per cent of those visitors have ended up buying the concept," Glisby said.
He expected some retailers to be a little apprehensive about something new to the market given the difficult trading conditions, but he explained that the brand aimed to provide full support to the selected group of stockists in this opening year.
"Some people are a bit scared of the matte finish, but some see it as the next big thing. We are after retailers who see possibilities where perhaps others don't," Glisby said.
Another new Danish brand attending the fair for the first time was ByBiehl. Company founder and designer Charlotte Biehl arrived in Australia on Sunday in time for the opening and said she had been surprised by the positive feedback the brand had received on the first two days.
Local supplier, Webber & Tonkin, secured distribution for ByBiehl earlier this year.
"People here are very open and very happy to see new things. I was actually asking Lily [Webber] and Jane [Tonkin], are Australian’s just polite or do they actually like it, because the feedback has been so positive."
Interestingly Biehl launched her company after a career in the corporate finance industry and said two years of designing and testing had gone into the products prior to release. The range has been on the market in Europe for two years and is currently sold in eight countries.
Biehl said she was inspired to create the range because she identified a gap in the market for jewellery that was elegant enough to wear with a suit at work but priced accessibly for a larger market penetration.
"I could see there were lots personal jewellery ranges, but it was not my taste. I wanted something more elegant and more stylish and something I would like to wear at work while wearing a suit.
"There were some brands that I could wear like that, but they were far too expensive. I thought there must be something in the middle, something that I can still afford but nicely designed, stylish and simple."
The fair will conclude today and while many exhibitors are expecting it to be a quieter than Sunday and Monday, Expertise Events’ announcement of the winner of the car should ensure excitement levels stay high to the end of the event.
In what can only be taken as a positive sign for the industry, the general feedback from most exhibitors across the first two days of the Sydney fair has told a story of retailers looking to buy and invest for the Christmas period.
While many exhibitors reported smaller orders being placed by buyers, given the tough economic conditions most suppliers were pleased that retailers had opened their cheque books.
Leading Brands
A number of larger, established distributors were quite pleased with the way their new releases were embraced by buyers, with Worth and Douglas enjoying success with the newly launched Hobbit jewellery, which in turn was rekindling interest in its already hugely successful Lord of the Rings jewellery.
RJ Scanlan was ple