Blacker and Kooby’s trip to the AmericasMart in Atlanta

We just returned from AmericasMart in Atlanta, the home of an exciting trade show for the gift market.  The show is huge and dense, with vendors from all over the country and the world.  The Mart honestly combines the best of all trade shows under one meandering roof (three buildings.) It is one stop shopping on the wholesale level, and enables us to bring the best product and price to our sophisticated clientele.

After four days of perusing and buying, we concluded that retail is alive and kicking in Atlanta. The show is perfect for buyers of gifts, table top, fashion, home furnishings and stationers.  The display space is a bit overwhelming when you first arrive.  For our purposes, we were told to start in Building 2, make our way to the West Wing, and then to the temporary exhibits in Building 3. The hallways were a bit confusing to navigate at first, because each show room winds and winds and has several entrances and exits.  After the first two hours, we finally figured out how to plot an efficient course for our buying needs.

The staff of the Mart, dressed in blue polo shirts, is helpful and polite, and NECESSARY when you get lost going from building to building.  Parking is convenient and inexpensive, right in the heart of Atlanta.  Our friend, Albert Maslia, who does marketing for the Mart, made sure that we covered the show in the best possible way.  He made our stay and our first time to market a true pleasure. Because Albert enticed us to go to Atlanta, we will certainly be making the trip to AtlantasMart once a year going forward.

We found wonderful new sources for handbags, totes, international greeting cards, toys for pre-schoolers, eye glass magnifiers, iPad and iPhone cases, 3D stickers and glitter tattoos.  All this new product will soon be gracing our shelves at Blacker and Kooby.

Enjoy the photos from our visit, including my new llama friend, and come see our new lines!