Gourmet, Housewares & Tabletop Thriving in Atlanta July Market brings New Names and Expanded Showrooms

Floor 8 of Building 2 and Building 2 WestWing, the home of Gourmet & Housewares and Living and Entertaining: Gifts, Tabletop & Accessories product centers, has a whopping 13 new and expanded exhibitors, building on the momentum of the January 2012 Market. Throw in the celebrity chefs, from Curtis Stone to Virginia Willis and Daphne Oz, who’ll be heating up the demonstration kitchen, and you end up with unmatched buying excitement.

These new and expanded exhibitors help solidify an already stellar mix of the top lines in the industry. Those on Floor 8 of Building 2 include Prouna, Design Design, Dartington, Hometrendz, Godinger Silver and Badash Crystal. On Floor 8 of Building 2 WestWing, the new and expanded exhibitors are KAF, Nusteel, Kerry Gourmet/Café D’Amore, Art Cuisine, Ben Tally, Sherry Matthews Marketing and Design Imports.

Design Imports is an exceptional purveyor of aprons, linens, napkins and other fine textiles. “Design Imports new showroom will transform into a showplace of traditional and cutting edge styles, with a fun and ever-growing merchandise mix,” says Kristin McDaniel, vice president of Design Imports’ catalog division. “We are excited to have teamed up with the strongest venue in the giftware industry and are very proud of our current collections."

Design Design, a multi-product showroom with everything from greeting cards to cocktail napkins, is also in on the Floor 8 excitement.

“We’re thrilled to debut our new showroom in the 8th floor Gourmet, Tabletop and Housewares area,” says Colin Littler, marketing director of Design Design. “The International Gift & Home Furnishings Market has consistently created fantastic promotional opportunities and sales lead generation for us. Now, as we move our showroom to Floor 8, we’re excited to add our brand and range of products to the mix and to see what the high traffic and power of this floor will bring.”

The full spectrum of leading edge exhibitors is even easier for buyers to shop, coming from any building on campus. The new broadened corridor on Floor 8 between Building 2 and 2 WestWing offers even better visibility and access from Building 1.

Floor 9 of Building 2 also has plenty to brag about – especially on the tabletop – with the recent expansion of WWRD (Waterford Wedgwood Royal Doulton), the classic purveyors of crystal and china. WWRD is located just steps off the escalators at the southeast corner of the building. A few of the many other notables on Floor 9 are Lenox, Lladro, Mariposa, Bray-Farmer Associates, Fieldstone Marketing and Murval.

The Floor 8 Demonstration Kitchen in Building 2 WestWing continues to be a hub of excitement as a showcase for a continually growing collection of lines. As always, AmericasMart welcomes some of the top names in the country to demonstrate the latest, greatest ways to capitalize on the popularity of cooking and entertaining. The Demonstration Kitchen will be glowing throughout the Market – including appearances by uber-popular Daphne Oz and Curtis Stone.

• Farm Fresh and Local, Thursday, July 12, 11 a.m.-12 p.m.
  Chefs Chris Hall and Ryan Turner of Local Three, Atlanta, will whip up some favorites using local produce. It’ll leave you craving cooking and a trip to the local farmers’ market.
• Daphne Oz’s Summer Favorites: Dishes with a Skinny Twist, Friday, July 13, 12-1 p.m.
  Daphne Oz of ABC’s “The Chew” shares her favorite summer recipes that will keep fans feeling great. Oz, author and healthy living guru, shares some of the tips she’s picked up from Dr. Mehmet Oz, her father. Book sale and signing to follow.
• Le Creuset, Marseille and Virginia Willis Together in the Kitchen, Friday, July 13, 1:30-2:30 p.m.
  Chef Virginia Willis shares her simple-is-best philosophy with tips, techniques and recipes. Her renowned knack for giving classic French dishes a down-home Southern feel will be on full display. There’ll be one-pot cooking, in Le Creuset.
• Curtis Stone: Cook ∙ Create ∙ Celebrate, Saturday, July 14, 2-3 p.m.
  Chef Curtis Stone of TLC’s “Take Home Chef” and host of Bravo’s “Around the World in 80 Plates” and “Top Chef Masters” will discuss his secrets to creating a great meal. He believes in keeping your recipes simple and allowing your food to cook for itself. Book sale and signing to follow.

While there are all kinds of creative ideas cooking in the kitchen, there’s another new addition to the building – Kosher food will be available as one of the Market dining options. The Kosher Gourmet will be located at Building 2, Floor 6 in the escalator landing, open Thursday, July 12 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Then, on Friday, July 13 through Monday, July 16 – excluding Saturday – hours will be 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

From new exhibitors to expansions of long-time exhibitors, both the Gourmet & Housewares and the Living and Entertaining: Gifts, Tabletop & Accessories categories are thriving in Atlanta. See it all this July.

The Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market runs July 11-18. Temporaries are open July 13-17. The Atlanta International Area Rug Market runs July 12-15. All Market dates and events are available at www.AmericasMart.com.

About AmericasMart
AmericasMart Atlanta is the nation’s only global wholesale marketplace housing the world’s single-largest collection of home, gift, area rug and apparel merchandise. The largest of AmericasMart’s 14 annual Markets and shows, The Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market and The Atlanta International Area Rug Market in January and July are the ignition switch for global retailing with buyers from every U.S. state and more than 90 countries discovering product in more than 1,400 showrooms and more than 2,500 temporary exhibiting companies. Located in downtown Atlanta, the AmericasMart complex contains more than seven million square feet of space. It’s a huge global stage on which manufacturers, designers and sales representatives unveil new lines, launch new designs and introduce new categories – all for the benefit of buyers seeking all that is fresh and first in the home, rug, gift and apparel arenas. For more information, please visitwww.AmericasMart.com.