As the party industry prepares for the trade show onslaught that is the back-to-back Spielwarenmesse and Spring Fair, PartyWorldwide.net spoke to Palmer Agencies’ sales and marketing director Sergio Battaner to find out what he’s looking forward to over the coming weeks.
Hi Sergio! Are you busy with stand prep at the moment?
“Right now? I’m at Amsterdam airport actually, on my way to Nuremberg. I’ll be arriving late tonight and stand building tomorrow, ready for the next day. This is the calm before the storm!”
Are you looking forward to Spielwarenmesse then?
“I love it, this is my favourite time of year. It’s great to be able to catch up with customers – we see them throughout the year as well, but there’s something so exciting about having all the new product in one place and getting to see everyone’s reactions. It’s a genuine buzz.”
You have a new stand this year as well, don’t you. What will that mean for you?
“Yes, we are right in the middle of Hall 9 now, on C73, which is a bigger stand in a much more central location. It’s actually 50% bigger than our previous stand, so we’re able to showcase lots more of our decorations and masks. Costumes are having a bit of a tough time at the moment but there is still a great appetite for decor and higher quality masks as well as the more unusual items, like our new foam hat range.”
What do you expect buyers to be looking for at the show?
“We actually expect the foam hats to do well as carnival is a bit later this year, starting around three or four weeks after the show. When that happens it really influences the buying patterns, as smaller retailers will come along looking for something new and a bit different.”
What about Spring Fair? How different is the buyer profile there?
“Very! For us, Spring Fair is the primarily the trade show for the UK and Ireland, and these are quite different to the continental market. There’s an element of crossover of course, but the two territories have distinct fashions and colour trends. Halloween is only just starting to gain any real ground across Europe and the UK still can’t decide whether to embrace carnival or not!”
So what will you be focusing on at Spring Fair then?
“Our stand is much bigger at Spring Fair – it’s twice the size of the Spielwarenmesse booth, so we can showcase so much more. We’re right by The Stage and we’ll be featuring lots of costumes and masks in the catwalk shows as well. We have a fabulous IT mask which I think it’s going to be incredibly popular.”
Any other predictions for the coming weeks and months? We hate to say Brexit, but…
“Ce sera sera. People do have concerns, of course they do, but there is no point trying to predict what will happen. My European buyers keep asking how they will be affected – but it’s not them that will be affected, it is UK suppliers! We will just have to see what happens and deal with it the best we can.”
