L.A. MART® ANNOUNCES FREE SEMINARS FOR THE UPCOMING
GIFT & HOME FURNISHINGS MARKET™, JAN. 18-25, 2005
LOS ANGELES (Oct. 28, 2004) — The L.A. Mart® is pleased to announce its lineup of top seminar speakers to appear during the January 2005 Gift & Home Furnishings Market™, Jan. 18-25, 2005. The seminars are complimentary to attendees and just one of the many amenities offered to guests during Market week at the L.A. Mart.
Seminar categories range from creating winning gift baskets and incorporating innovative ways to improve your business to how you can use the trends to improve sales in 2005. Details of each seminar are listed below:
Gift Basket Buzz …
Shirley Frazier, gift and gourmet expert, speaker, author
Tuesday, Jan. 18: 10-11 a.m.
“Gift Basket Marketing Strategies”
Learn the steps to create a profitable marketing plan that will make your business blossom in 2005. Shirley Frazier, author of “The Gift Basket Design Book,” will help you design a strategy that incorporates goal-setting, customer acquisition, inventory selection and timetable planning. Beginners and experienced designers will walk away ready to put their plans into action!
Vivian Shiffman, award-winning gift basket designer
Tuesday, Jan. 18: 1-2 p.m.
“Gifts On A Shoestring/Budget Baskets with Flair”
Everyone has a budget, and “budget” can mean different things to different people. Vivian Shiffman, award-winning gift basket designer and 2001 Designer of the Year, will feature ideas for consumers to help make the most of their money. Known in the gift basket industry as the “Gift Basket Queen,” Shiffman will assist you in stretching those dollars, while still creating worthwhile designs!
Best of the Business ...
Tami Clark-Alexander, Tabecca Bay Gift Baskets, former president of the Gift Basket Professionals Network
Saturday, Jan. 22: 2-3 p.m.
“Growing Pains”
Growing your business can be exciting. Establishing clients and building a strong market are what we all strive for. However, growth also can create unseen dilemmas – space, labor, inventory control and delivery issues, to name a few. Learn how to grow your business to mammoth size while minimizing the growing pains!
Mort Haaz, OTB Retail Systems
Wednesday, Jan. 19: 10-11:30 a.m.
Sunday, Jan. 23: 10-11:30 a.m.
“How Much Should I Buy?”
This 90-minute workshop will detail the needs, benefits and workings of the “open-to-buy” process. Retailers will learn how to set up a buying plan to ensure leaner, better-balanced, faster-turning inventory with fewer markdowns and a positive cash flow. Whether your store is new or old, or large or small, if you want to improve your bottom line, this is the seminar you must attend!
Marilyn Nason, author, “Inside Retailing 101,” publisher of Today’s Hospital Gift Shop Business and contributing editor, Giftware News
Friday, Jan. 21: 10-11 a.m.
“Using Your Business Plan As A Successful Marketing Map”
Please join this industry veteran as she guides you to develop a practical map for the day-to-day marketing of your store – a surefire way to compete in today’s ever-changing market.
Signs of Design ...
Olga Krasnoff, award-winning allied ASID designer, columnist, lifestyle consultant, tabletop landscaper and event planner
Wednesday, Jan. 19: 2-3 p.m.
“Imagination-Innovation and Ideas for Dining by Design”
Olga Krasnoff presents a slides seminar and tabletop demonstration showing you how to entertain with style and panache. Learn how to turn an ordinary table into an extraordinary work of art!
Jim Carper, editor, Home Décor Buyer
Thursday, Jan. 20: 11 a.m.-Noon
“Styles & Trends In Home Décor”
Find out what’s hot and what’s next in home décor products, colors, styles, and materials. Home Décor Buyer editor Jim Carper analyzes results from the magazine’s recent survey of retailers.
Anita Rosenberg
Thursday, Jan. 20: 2-3 p.m.
“Feng Shui for Better Business”
The ancient Chinese art of placement is a powerful tool taken seriously by successful professionals such as Donald Trump and Donna Karan, and companies like Shell Oil and the Bank of Hong Kong, to name a few. In a one-hour introductory lecture, learn how to apply simple and practical techniques to enhance productivity and profits, reduce stress, improve synergy and creativity, and improve employee relations.
Anthony DeMasi, president, DeMasi Marketing; executive director, National Tabletop and Giftware Association; editor, Souvenirs, Gifts & Novelties
Friday, Jan. 21: 11 a.m.-Noon
“Trends in Housewares, Tableware, Giftware, the Economy & Beyond!”
Trends Alive for 2005! From customers to colors, the overall market to merchandise, this seminar will cover the hottest trends that will have the biggest impacts on the gift industry in 2005. It will put attendees on the cutting edge of what to stock, what to expect, how to reach "hidden" customers and generate new profits throughout the year.
ABOUT THE L.A. MART
As the pre-eminent West Coast location for buyers and designers to source the finest gifts, home décor, furniture and lifestyle merchandise, the L.A. Mart has been in business since 1956, and is the largest permanent market center in the Western United States. It is the must-shop resource for buyers and designers who visit Los Angeles and is centrally located in the heart of the Furniture & Decorative Arts District at 1933 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, California, 90007, at the corner of Broadway and Washington Boulevard.
For more information about the L.A. Mart or to register for the January 2005 Gift & Home Furnishings Market, visit www.lamart.com (click on L.A. Mart under “Properties”) or call 1-800-LAMART-4.
The L.A. Mart is a registered trademark of Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc. (MMPI). The Gift & Home Furnishings Market is a trademark of MMPI.
Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc. (MMPI) is a trade show and property management firm, specializing in managing buildings devoted to wholesale showrooms and commercial office space. MMPI produces more than 300 trade shows, market events and conferences each year.
MMPI manages The Merchandise Mart, Chicago Apparel Center, and 33 North Dearborn in Chicago; Market Square, the Suites at Market Square, Hamilton Market, Plaza Suites, Furniture Plaza and the National Furniture Mart in High Point, N.C.; the Architects & Designers Building in New York; the L.A. Mart in Los Angeles; and the Washington Design Center and Washington Office Center in Washington D.C.
Vornado Realty Trust, owner of MMPI, based in New York City, is a fully integrated real estate investment trust. Vornado’s common shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange and are traded under the symbol VNO.
MEDIA INQURIES ONLY:
Joanna Mineau
Director of Public Relations
Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc. (MMPI)
Phone: 312.527.7074
E-mail: jmineau@mmart.com
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