The Sydney Gift and Life Instyle Fairs held over the last few days were small, tiny compares to past years (except for 2020 of course) but they were valuable to attend.
Suppliers were happy to see retailers. Plenty reported excellent sales.
I picked up several new suppliers, who have never traded with newsagency related businesses. I also got to re-connect face to face with some existing suppliers.
I liked the smaller format but it did highlight a sameness among lower-end suppliers and in some categories like candles and fashion jewellery. Do we really need more candle makers? No, we don’t.
I planned a full day and was done in four hours. Several good new suppliers like you say.