See what the UK’s premier garden centre & gift exhibition has to offer in these crucial market sectors
Not only have many of the UK’s garden centres become amongst the most successful destination retail outlets in the country, but gift stores have also seen their audience increase as consumers look to source, more than ever, unique and heartfelt gifts for loved ones and to mark special occasions. The diversity of the ever-growing giftware market will be well reflected at this year’s Glee, due to run in late June for the first time, from 28th-30th June at the NEC, Birmingham.
As the most important trade event for the gardening, leisure and outdoor living sectors, Glee brings together the whole of these vibrant and eclectic industries under one roof and serves as the central hub for face-to-face trading, networking, and the growth of new ideas across eight dedicated show sectors.
This year Home, Gift & Clothing will take pride of place alongside Garden Care, Landscaping & Garden Decoration, Food & Catering, Retail Experience & Services, Outdoor Entertaining, Plants and PAW (Pet and Animal Wellbeing). This year’s show is set to welcome over 400 exhibitors, of which an estimated 40% never before seen at the show, making this year’s event bigger and more vibrant than before.
Giftware buyers will be able to access a wide range of brands offering everything from outdoor clothing ranges and picnicware to seasonal decorations, games, toys and books, as well as complementary brands and products from Glee’s wider offering. All these brands are keen to do business with gift buyers from both garden centres and gift shops, with a combined offering that is designed to work both this season and beyond, thanks to new dateline which has positioned the show within a more convenient time within the annual buying cycle.
Brands returning to the Home, Gift & Clothing sector will include Woodmansterne (pictured top) with its new plastic-free range of beautiful, artistic greetings cards; Museums & Galleries, with a beautiful selection of jigsaws, water bottles and cards featuring art licenses, APAC, distributor of leading home fragrance brand, Bolsius Candles (pictured); sock specialists, HJ Hall; Tilnar Art (pictured), which has a beautiful range of environmentally friendly and fairly traded gift and homeware products; and the multi-award-winning publisher, Willsow, with its range of plantable children’s books.
New brands set to make their debut in the Home, Gift & Clothing sector of Glee this year include Vent for Change, with its high profile range of ethical and eco-friendly stationery; organic tea suppliers, English Tea Shop; the sustainable ladies’ fashion experts, M&Co; indoor play specialists, Kidzplay; Summit/PMS International with an excellent and broad-ranging selection of camping equipment and the biggest publisher of greetings cards in the country – UK Greetings – with its huge range of award-winning greetings cards, gift dressing and social expressions.
This year’s edition of Glee will have a real summer festival feel and promises to be an enjoyable event for visitors, as well as offering a superb product sourcing platform. Making the most of the summer weather will be a new outdoor demonstration area – Fire, Grill & Chill – which will do exactly what the name suggests whilst giving outdoor entertaining brands a chance to show what they’re made of!
As ever, Glee will continue to be a hot bed for all the latest product innovations to hit the market. Whether it’s new additions for the autumn sales period, updates to bestsellers or even trend-led innovation set to shape spend in 2023, Glee will be home to it all. Don’t forget to also make a beeline for the Glee New Product Showcase where the newest inventions and novelties will be on display, providing retailers with unrivalled inspiration and the chance to grab the something unique for their 2023 retail offering.
