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Lyndal Thomas, founder of LyndalT, began selling artisan flowering tea and glassware in Sydney 14 years ago, expanding into fine china in 2015. For most businesses two years of Covid has been tough and like many other people in the industry Thomas was very excited to exhibit at the Sydney Gift Fair, which was held from 18 to 21 February.

“It has been lovely to be back and meet some old favourite clients,” she enthuses.

“They have been all happy to place an order and see the latest collection because I haven’t seen them for two years.

“We have a new range of heritage colours. Previously we had pastel and bold primary colours, so now we have the new mustard, aubergine, crimson, lavender, mint green and olive green. The response has been fantastic.”

Thomas says she has noticed a significant change in the kind of buyers attending the fair compared to before the pandemic.

“It has been a mixture of buyers—two thirds have been existing, a third have been new and a lot of those have been online-based, which is remarkably different to two years ago when we last exhibited.

“Pleasingly, the orders have been on the larger size and that could partly be due to the higher number of SKUs since we doubled the number of colours within the range. There has definitely been some good spending over the last four days, that is for sure.”

One of LyndalT’s latest collections, a limited design range, is a collaboration with Chris O’Brien Lifehouse. A donation of $5 for each product sold from this collection will be given to Arterie, an art and craft initiative for patients and their families coping with cancer treatment, a cause very close to Thomas’ heart.

She has been involved with Lifehouse since 2017. “A cup of tea can make all the difference between feeling overwhelmed and being reassured. Drinking tea from fine china is a special invitation to calm nerves and offer inclusion within a community.

“Staff can share teatime with a colleague over a cuppa which is both supportive and restorative, enabling a moment to converse and talk about what’s going on in life.

“I enjoy going to Chris O’Brien Lifehouse. It is a positive institution where specialists and community come together to fight cancer, providing hope.”

Thomas adds she loved her experience at the Sydney Gift Fair and all the positive feedback regarding her brand.

“The AGHA fair has been a really lovely community—the support is beautiful and we all share the same problems. As a result, I have come away with a lot more solutions, so it is great to work with like-minded businesspeople.”

Read the full story here from Australian Giftguide  and view LyndalT website here.

AGHA’s next event is Melbourne Gift Fair. LEARN ABOUT EXHIBITING or REGISTER TO ATTEND.

The decision to go ahead with the Sydney Gift Fair last month paid off for many exhibitors including home furnishings company Inertia Handicrafts. Owner Vivek Jain says that he was writing orders on each of the four days of the show, which hasn’t happened before.

“After two years and a lot of cancellations, the show has been a lot better than I had expected,” he says.

“I must congratulate the AGHA for going ahead with the show and even on the fourth day I have made very good sales, which I have not experienced at previous fairs.

“I had one sale on the second day from an existing customer who would normally spend $5,000, and this customer spent more than $20,000.”

Jain comments that having only one show instead of two had its advantages. “With only one show, there was definitely a decision by many buyers to spend all of their money at this show rather than across two. As a result, I believe there was a higher overall order value. Although the number of visitors was lower, we found that the quality of buyers was strong.”

Inertia Handicrafts always launches new designs at the fair and then after the show Jain adds them to his website and social media channels.

“There are four or five designs that are now completely sold out because I make only 200 pieces of each, so for the buyers there is an incentive to visit my stand at the fair.

“I have noticed an increase in online retailers attending the fair and an increase in the number of people who have already started their businesses and others who are about to start a new business. Another trend is store owners with a single store supported by an online business.”

Jain believes that the industry should support and frequently attend fairs.

“Each time I attend I acquire new customers and I increase the size of the order because it is not possible for me to create this type of display anywhere else in Sydney. When the buyers come to the fair, they come prepared to spend money.

“I have seen more new customers than old customers, the ticket size went up and by meeting in person it helps improve the bonding with the customer, and it is the decision maker who comes to the show and they are looking to make an order.”

Read the full story here from Australian Giftguide and view exhibitor Inertia Handicrafts website here.

AGHA’s next event is Melbourne Gift Fair. LEARN ABOUT EXHIBITING or REGISTER TO ATTEND.

No one expected the Sydney Gift Fair to be the same size as two years ago before the Covid pandemic hit and trade fairs were cancelled. However, the fair itself might have been smaller in size, the quality of buyers has significantly been higher, while exhibitors have also delivered a very high level of presentation, says AGHA president, Michelle Lawson.

“This is the first show of the year and the first one in a long time and it has been a great brand identification exercise for the AGHA as a standalone show, and as a result we have seen approximately 70 per cent new buyers coming to our stand compared to 30 per cent previous or existing buyers,” says Lawson, who also runs gift and homewares business, Darlin, with her husband Phil.

“The environment at the Sydney Gift Fair is beautiful and very calming, and the buyers have not been rushed or stretched with time having to go from one venue to another. We had a number of customers who came and had a look around on one day and have taken away catalogues, and then come back the next day to place an order.”

Lawson adds there has been a huge need to catch up face to face, rather than being on zoom or on the phone.

“It has been a great opportunity for buyers to touch and feel and see products that you can’t completely understand just from viewing them online or in a book.”

“There were many times on our stand where people came up and said, ‘I had no idea that was as big’ for example—so the desire to see things in person is huge as the proportion or size of a product is impossible to understand when purchasing only online.”

Looking forward to the Melbourne Gift Fair in August, Lawson advises exhibitors and buyers not to miss out due to Covid fears.

“The exhibition centres now have wider aisles and have Covid marshals and support for visitors. We normally have an enclosed stand, and like many others, we opened up our stand to make it more socially distanced. Fear causes a lot of procrastination and procrastination kills dreams—so let’s get out there and do it.”

Read the full story here from Australian Giftguide  and view exhibitor DARLIN’s website here.

AGHA’s next event is Melbourne Gift Fair. LEARN ABOUT EXHIBITING or REGISTER TO ATTEND.