Unique Products and Abundant Resources Spur Traffic and Buying At The July 2010 Chicago Market: Living and Giving^®

The Chicago Market: Living and Giving^® delivered a comprehensive line-up of brand named products and new to market resources during the July Market. With new showrooms added to its permanent collection and sold out Temporaries, The Chicago Market offered buyers and retailers highly sought after product lines and unique specialty resources that helped differentiate retailer and buyers’ business.

The Chicago Market also offered retail driven business seminars to help retailers grow their businesses in a variety of strategic areas. Highlights included an inspirational and educational keynote presentation with Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, and retail seminars with relevant topics ranging from Fair Trade, merchandising, sales techniques, latest trends and more.

Additional highlights included a Designer’s Day seminar sponsored by Traditional Home magazine, a Chicago Market Twitter campaign sponsored by Midwest - CBK, and a First Floor Lake Living display created by Chicago-based designer Mick Santiago.

The Chicago Market also welcomed new showrooms this July, including Wilco Imports, Hanna’s Handiworks, and!Sales and Diverse Marketing, TJ’s Christmas and Pictures and More.

Wilco Imports, showroom 13-620. Founded in 1978 as a family business, Wilco began importing wicker products from China. Over the past 30 years, their line has grown to include not only wickers, but candles, gift packaging, furniture and accessories, resin containers, and a variety of seasonal merchandise. Wilco Imports introduces new items quarterly, and works with major retailers on importing exclusive items designed specifically for them. www.wilcoimports.com

and!Sales, showroom 14-109. and!Sales is a rep organization specializing in home lines and serving the Midwest territory. Their goal is to bring a broad range of products and style to Mid-America. Home decor, indoor and outdoor, fashion and trend. www.andsales.com

Hanna’s Handiworks, showroom 13-217. www.hannashandiworks.com. Hanna’s Handiworks has been a staple in the seasonal gift and home décor industry for the past ten years, with an exceptional selection of Seasonal/Holiday, Fall, Halloween, and everyday merchandise. Hanna’s is also proud to offer Licensed Collegiate merchandise, now representing 48 universities and over 500 new items for 2010.

Diverse Marketing, showroom 1431. Diverse Marketing was started in 1959 in Dallas, Texas and is now one of the largest rep groups in the United States. Diverse Marketing currently has showrooms in Dallas and Minneapolis and now in Chicago at the Merchandise Mart. At this time, Diverse Marketing operates in 17 states and is the only company that focuses on book, gift, toy, and trend product. Diverse Marketing can also boast that they carry three of the hottest lines on the market today: Innovations First, Inc., Learning Curve, and Room It Up. www.diversegift.com

Pictures and More, showroom 13-624. Pictures and More is a wholesale provider of framed prints with a reputation for quality, variety of products, value, and excellent customer service. www.picturesandmore.net

TJ Collection (TJ’s Christmas), showroom 1473. TJ Collection offers a wide variety of holiday décor and gifts. www.tjcollection.biz

Highlights of the July 2010 Chicago Market included:

Country Business magazine Award Winners
Country Business magazine announced their Retailer and Vendor of the Year Awards at the Lunch N’ Learn seminar on Sunday, July 25.

Retailer of the Year Award finalists
The Olde Wicker Mill, New Hartford, NY - Winner
Homestead Collection, Findlay, OH
The Glue Factory, North Chili, NY

Vendor of the Year Award finalists
Crossroads Original Designs, Bucyrus, OH - Winner
Capitol Earth Rugs, Little Rock, AR
CWI Gifts & Crafts, Reynoldsburg, OH

Jerry Greenfield– An Afternoon of Social Responsibility, Radical Business Philosophy & Free Ice Cream
Jerry Greenfield delivered a rousing tribute to America’s entrepreneurial spirit to over 400 attendees. His presentation was full of anecdotes and radical business philosophy illustrating one of today’s successful business models. Retailers learned how Jerry and Ben built a store front venture into a $300 million ice cream empire covering the promise and pitfalls of a “value-led” business strategy along the way. After the presentation, Jerry and attendees enjoyed an ice cream reception, featuring Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream.

Beckman’s™ Handcrafted Show
The Chicago Market is the market leader in offering the best in handcrafted products and was excited to offer new Beckman’s™ Chicago exhibitors at the July Market. Buyers and retailers saw more than 140 Beckman’s Chicago exhibitors, many who were local artisans with product that could only be found in Chicago.

Shop Late Night event
The Chicago Market’s “Shop Late Night” charity shopping event on Saturday, July 24, 2010 was a great success. Attendees of the “Late Night” enjoyed an evening of late night shopping, celebrity chefs, international wines and great entertainment, on floors 13, 14 and 15.

Designer Day with Traditional Home Magazine
The Chicago Market was excited to partner with Traditional Home magazine to bring Market attendees a day of design inspiration. Monday, July 26 was dedicated to all things design, as The Chicago Market invited interior designers and high-end specialty retailers to shop its designer friendly resources, including new-to-Market products in the Temporary Suites HOME section and in select showrooms.

New Mobile App introduction
The Chicago Market’s exciting new Mobile Application Tool allowed buyers and retailers an easy and convenient way to access The Chicago Market: Living and Giving^® product locator using Smart phone technology. This new online Mobile App allowed buyers to take advantage of the benefits of the online product locator to search for showrooms, exhibitors, product lines and more using their BlackBerry, iPhone or Droid.

For more information on The Chicago Market: Living and Giving, please visit www.shopchicagomarket.com or call 800.677.6278 (MART).