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From the Desk of Trevor Cohen

Insights from the one person involved in every aspect of the Giftcraft Business! CEO Trevor Cohen shares informative business updates each month in "From the Desk of Trevor Cohen"

Archive

• Welcome to the New &... March 18, 2011
• The Makings of a Gre... March 25, 2011
• Staying One Step Ahe... May 02, 2011
• The Good Ol’ Summe... June 28, 2011
• A Year to Remember..... December 01, 2011

A Commitment to Excellence

I am excited and proud to announce that Giftcraft has been named one of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies and the first in the giftware industry to win the prestigious honour! The award recognizes Canadian-owned companies that have successfully implemented innovative and world-class business practices to create value and long-term growth.

We are honoured to share our Best Managed award with you, our valued retail partners. Without your on-going support, receiving this award would not have been possible. Your patronage of Giftcraft and our industry-leading selection of innovative lifestyle and giftware products tells us that you believe in what we are doing and appreciate the value Giftcraft’s products deliver to the market place, as well as our role in helping you achieve your business objectives. For all of this, we are humbly grateful and I assure you every member of the Giftcraft organization will work hard to earn your continued trust and support.

The spring shows were a strong indicator that the retail environment is rebounding. Giftcraft as well as all of the suppliers were pleased with both the increased attendance and activity at the shows both in Canada and the USA. We were very happy to see many customers, both old and new and thank you for visiting us in our showrooms.

I would also like to again take this opportunity to share how excited we are to have George Kacic join the Giftcraft organization. As announced earlier this month, George has been appointed President of our US Operations and has been tasked with further strengthening our presence in the US market. With over thirty-five years of experience in the gift industry, George brings a wealth of knowledge, insight and a well-established sales leadership presence in the market. This key appointment is further evidence of Giftcraft’s commitment in investing in resources to create value for our customers and long-term growth for the organization.

So as we collectively celebrate this wonderful achievement, I’ll close with this; being a Best Managed company is not an ending but a beginning. Although significant and a welcomed recognition for all of our efforts, the award will serve as a constant reminder of what it takes to be recognized as one of the best and reinforce the commitment from every member of our team to excellence. Ultimately, this is what will ensure all of our success.

Until Next Time...

A Year to Remember...

Welcome Back!
As the year draws to a close, I’d like to take a moment to again thank you…our valued retail partners…for your continued loyalty and support of Giftcraft. To say it’s been a year besieged with economic challenges would be an understatement. However, if the record setting sales in the U.S. over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend are any indication, perhaps the economy is finally on the road to a long awaited, and much needed, recovery.

I am proud to say, that in spite of the many challenges in 2011, we are again on track to achieve our goal of growing the Giftcraft business and exceeding 2010 sales results. This is the result of three, equally important, factors. First, our on-going commitment to our core mission of providing the RIGHT product, at the RIGHT time and at the RIGHT price. This is evidenced by our continued investment in design and development, strategic product planning and providing you products with a proven track record of sales success.

Next, it’s the dedication of each and every member of the Giftcraft team. Their creativity, enthusiasm and commitment to excellence are what defines us as a company and makes me proud to be their leader. Last, but certainly not least, it’s you, our valued network of retail partners. We understand there are many choices when it comes to providing your customers with quality products and growing your business. We are truly honored you’ve chosen Giftcraft as your product partner and we will do our best to continue to earn your trust and your business.

This past August, our Vice President, Gary Polan, and I commemorated our twenty years in business together on safari in Africa. We, along with our adventurous wives, spent two amazing weeks in Botswana, up close and personal with nature and its inhabitants. Being an avid photographer, I was overjoyed at the opportunity to capture an amazing array of photographs. I’ve included a few at the conclusion of this note. I hope you enjoy viewing them as much as I enjoyed taking them.

As I watched these amazing creatures in their natural environment, I realized there are a number of similarities between them and those who are successful in business. Survival is contingent upon the ability to adapt to a changing environment, being confident and brave and knowing what dangers exist and how to best to manage it. It certainly was an enlightening trip…in more ways than one!

So as 2011 draws to a close, let me take this chance to again say thank you. I look forward to seeing many of you at the upcoming gift shows in Atlanta, Toronto and at our Open House. We are introducing our largest assortment of branded proprietary collections to date, our 2012 holiday collections, as well as introductions in every one of our major product categories. If you’re not able to join us at an upcoming show, your Giftcraft Sales Representative will be contacting you to schedule a time to present the line to you.

On behalf of the entire Giftcraft family, we wish you and your families a very happy and safe holiday season and many blessings and successes in the New Year.

Until Next Time...

The Good Ol’ Summertime

From the Desk of Trevor Cohen...
Welcome Back! As we wish a cold damp spring a fond farewell, I thought I would take this chance to discuss what’s on most of our minds…summer’s arrival. Yes, it goes without saying we all have our own ideas of what makes for a memorable summer, but for Giftcraft, and many of you I’m sure, summer signifies a shift in consumer buying habits.

While some consumer segments “cool off” in the summer months, others heat up; most notably, garden and outdoor living. This sector of the industry has shown significant growth over the past three years and analysts forecast a steady and continued growth. Driven both by the economy and the movement to reconnect with family and friends, consumers are looking for ways to expand their living spaces beyond the confines of their homes’ interiors and showcasing their personal styles and aesthetics.

Interestingly, garden buying patterns are no longer limited to late winter/early spring. The segment has transitioned to a year-round business with consumers not only “self-purchasing” but also viewing garden as a viable gifting solution.

Our industry leading assortment of products to support this category are strategically designed and inventoried to ensure we can support the year-round buying trends of your consumers. We offer a vast array of colorful, inspiring and textural designs and our unrivaled ability to be “first to market” with our assortments of affordable garden and outdoor products, representing the top-selling product categories, gives you limitless options when it comes to offering your customers what they want.

Many of you have shared with us how well our current garden collections are performing in your stores. A fact confirmed by the level of replenishment orders we are seeing. Earlier this month we introduced our 2012 Garden Collection. I’m truly excited to introduce you to our unrivaled assortment of outdoor living and garden products; representing the top-selling product categories and reflective of the latest trends in the market. I’m also pleased to announce our garden launch includes our largest ever assortment of proprietary branded garden collections. In true Giftcraft style, you can be assured to find a vast array of themes and designs, competitively priced and produced to the highest quality standards.

I invite you to see the 2012 collection, as well as additions to our other key product categories, at the Atlanta or the Toronto CGTA shows or contact your Giftcraft representative to schedule an appointment.

On a separate but equally important note, I’d also like to take this opportunity to welcome a number of new Sales Executives and Territory Sales Managers who’ve recently joined the Giftcraft Family. To some of you, these will be familiar faces as we’ve been fortunate enough to recruit a number of Russ Berrie’s top-performing sales executives and associates. Collectively, this group represents some of the best in the business and we wish them a much success.

Until Next Time...

Staying One Step Ahead

From the Desk of Trevor Cohen...
Welcome to the latest installment of my monthly Giftcraft business update. I’m happy to report that the enthusiasm, positive response and momentum we saw to our major product launch this past winter continues to grow. We are seeing growth in all of our key product categories and have had a tremendous response to our seasonal introductions.

This leads me to this month’s topic. We’re seeing a fair amount of contradiction in the marketplace. It’s no secret that significant cost increases in fuel, raw materials and overseas manufacturing are driving production costs to levels never before seen. Conversely, the retail environment is stabilizing and consumer optimism is slowly rising which leads me to believe that consumers are willing to spend their hard earned money on the right products for the right price.

In these confusing and challenging times, it’s paramount to stay one step ahead. While conventional wisdom leads many companies to take a “wait and see” attitude, at Giftcraft, we are anything but conventional. We believe that in times such as these, success driven companies need to be bold, strategic and take actions to determine their own fate.

That’s why we’ve doubled the capacity of our design team, focusing on proprietary and exclusive design across all of our key product categories. Earlier this month, we launched introductions into several of our key categories including our proprietary line, Bella Boutique™. The Bella Boutique™ collection of artistically stylized decor and fashion accessories continues to enjoy significant growth and we are strategically expanding the offerings into other top-selling product categories.

We also expanded the offerings in several of our best selling home decor, gift and jewelry categories; analyzing the past performance of each product category to determine what makes most sense from a price and design standpoint, thus mitigating the risk of not having the RIGHT product at the RIGHT price. We also expanded our highly successful Romero Britto® line with the introduction of Framed Posters and Pet Accessories. The Britto® line has quickly transitioned from a niche, collector oriented gift and decor line, to a lifestyle brand. The expansion into these two growth categories reflect the consumers demand to have an array of product for which they can incorporate into every facet of their lives.

I’m also extremely pleased with the continued growth of our jewelry line. Our jewelry category offers a vast array of designs, finishes and pieces, each with excellent price points and phenomenal margin opportunity. If you are not already carrying any of the Giftcraft jewelry lines, I encourage you to consider doing so. They are most impactful when presented as a comprehensive collection vs. isolated or random pieces and your Giftcraft representative can help you to find the collection that is right for your store, as well as review the benefits each program offers.

As you can see, my team and I continue to focus our efforts on providing you with exciting new saleable products. Our next major launch is scheduled for June, with introductions across all of our key product categories, most notably in garden. We’ll again be showing in both Atlanta and at the CGTA Toronto shows and I invite you to visit either showroom and please make a point of introducing yourself.

Until Next Time...

The Makings of a Great Year

From the Desk of Trevor Cohen…
As I sit here and draft the first installment of my monthly updates, I’m struggling on where to begin. Not because I have little to say or nothing exciting to share. Quite the opposite, there’s so much fantastic news to share that it seems nearly impossible to rank it any particular order so I’m not even going to try.

Let’s just start from the beginning. We kicked off the New Year in Giftcraft style with major launches in all of our key product categories. Our Home Decor category saw significant expansions to many of the top-selling statements, as well as the premier of several new collections. We expanded our seasonal offerings with fourteen distinct holiday collections, featuring a festive array of traditional, contemporary and whimsically inspired holiday themes, each showcasing an assortment of decor and gifting designs.

We also introduced exciting new themes, formats and collection expansions in our exclusive jewelry line, City Gypsies, our diverse Gift Gallery gifting category and decor and giftware launches for Halloween, Harvest and Easter.

The Giftcraft Romero Britto® collection continues to expand in both diversity of product assortment and distribution. We expect to see continued and significant growth in the Britto line with the surge of national and international exposure he’s received. Most notably, the opening of the first Britto Gallery at Sea on Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Sea cruise ship. Making her maiden voyage last December, the world’s largest cruise ship exposes The Giftcraft Britto collection to the 6,000 guests sailing weekly, many of whom seek the product when they return home from their vacations.

Also making its debut at the Spring Shows, The POZY Bears™ Collection. A heartwarming collection of bear figurines inspired by artist David Miller’s original hand-carved teddy bears. Not only a talented artist, but David’s extensive background in the gift industry gives him keen insight on what makes for a successful gift line. The POZY Bears’ themes and sentiments appeal to a wide demographic of gift-buying consumers and is a welcomed addition to the Giftcraft best-in-class offerings of giftware solutions.

Licensed brands, such as Romero Britto® and The POZY Bears™, represent a growing segment of the décor and giftware industry and we are committed to strategically growing this segment of our business. I say strategically because we only want to align Giftcraft with those artists who have a definitive point of view and whose work is unique and enhances our current portfolio of products. It’s also critical they share our passion for innovative design and product innovation.

January also saw the launch of our new home decor division, Que. The new division focuses on high-end, comprehensive, designer décor and furniture without the high-end price tag. Jan Kerr, a well known and respected designer, spearheads the design efforts, as well as the day to day operations of the business and wasted no time making a name for our newest division at the Atlanta & CGTA Gift Shows.

Que’s state-of-the-art eCommerce website, www.QueSpaces.com, offers registered retailers, decorators and designers the ability to not only purchase Que décor on-line but also offers a multitude of client management and marketing tools. We expect great results from Que as it next shows at North America’s largest home décor show in High Point, North Carolina in early April.

I and my dedicated head office team are hard at work to continue to bring innovative and creative products to you. Our next launch is scheduled for April 4, 2011. So as I end this communication and get back to the tasks at hand, please again allow me to thank you, our valued customers, for your continued support and loyalty.

Welcome to the New & Improved Giftcraft.com

From the Desk of Trevor Cohen…
Welcome to the new and improved Giftcraft.com! I hope you find the contemporary new look of the website as refreshing as I do and come to view it as a valuable resource in keeping current on the latest Giftcraft product launches, industry trends, news and events.

Each month, my From the Desk…update will share information on exciting new Giftcraft initiatives, key product launches, success stories and more. My thirty plus years of merchandising, design and manufacturing experience has taught me that the key to success, both personally and professionally, is to surround yourself with like minded individuals who share your passion, vision and enthusiasm. I am proud to say that we live this each and every day at Giftcraft. From our exceptionally creative team of dedicated employees to our vast network of valued retail partners around the globe, our unified mission to exceed expectations is unparalleled and defines all of our shared success.

On behalf of the entire Giftcraft team, thank you for your continued support and patronage. I personally assure you that your partnership is valued and never taken for granted and that my team and I will remain steadfast in our mission to bring you the industry’s most innovative and affordable lifestyle products which not only meet, but exceed, your and your customer’s expectations.

Until Next Time,