Specialist Exhibition company Reed Gift Fairs of Chatswood NSW has published the results of a survey designed to identify the current and preferred seasonal buying preferences of retailers and their planned gifts and homewares trade fair visitation in 2009.

The results say that most retailers currently buy stock for the main Christmas period buying season during August (70.1%) and September (69.4%) with the next most popular month being later in October (31.3%). Their preferred month for buying was August (31.3%) with September a close (27.8%) followed by October & July (almost equal and both at half those levels). Reed emphasises that the survey results show that the current cycle of trade fairs is already accurately timed.

Reed have been ramming this message home to all exhibitors at the Melbourne trade fair with huge billboards and by mail-out direct to all exhibitors. No doubt as a result of their hopes to keep the windfall September Sydney fair to themselves now. Reed seem to be determined to further embarrass their competitors GHA, following the GHA’s failure to secure enough exhibitors for September 2008 and simultaneous announcement that they were planning to do July trade fairs in Sydney instead from 2009, launching on the same date as Reed’s Brisbane gift fair.

Disillusioned GHA Members who had booked to exhibit at the Sydney September 2008 fair at the Showgrounds at Homebush were forced to pay almost double the rate at the Reed venue at Darling Harbour, mainly because the GHA (Gift & Homewares Association) is a not for profit organisation. Reed have since switched their Brisbane 2009 gift fair date to reduce the possibility that GHA’s Sydney July Home & Giving fair may draw exhibitors away from the Brisbane fair.

Key issues for GHA exhibitors now are; will the September gift fair now be worthwhile when the costs are almost double? Will Reed put the prices up further if they keep a monopoly on the more popular Sydney September fair dates? And can exhibitors afford to give up the September booking to try the cheaper July Sydney Fair? Or should they just scrap both? The problem for most exhibitors is that the costs of exhibiting at the smaller fairs are often not covered by sales results.

An interesting battle looms between July and September fairs and these two organisations as there does not seem to be room for two annual Sydney trade fairs within 3 months. The experienced hard nosed management at Reed have proven to be formidable in the recent past by winning over many GHA exhibitors even though GHA are able to offer exhibition sites at almost half the costs.