Gary Fitz-Roy, managing director Expertise Events, said the focus was firmly on uniting the jewellery industry – especially given that it was Expertise’s first-ever event in South Australia, and the first time the Trade Days format had combined jewellery and gifts.
“It was slightly different from the other Trade Days events, but our goal [for these events] has always been unifying the industry, getting buyers and sellers face to face, and starting that reconnection and rebuilding process. From that perspective, I think it achieved the goal.”
Greville Ingham, national sales manager, Peter W Beck, agreed, telling Jeweller, “We found this event, along with the other jewellery Trade Days around the country, to be a really positive step to reigniting the industry. We have used this as our opportunity to connect with and show support for the industry after what has been an extraordinary 12 months of uncertainty and change.”
He added, “We absolutely would not have missed it for anything, connecting with retailers and showing our support for the industry is a huge focus for us at Peter W Beck. The biggest highlight for us was seeing the other suppliers, the buying groups and the retailers all with big smiles on their faces, a real show of industry resilience and camaraderie.”
Both Nationwide Jewellers and Independent Jewellers Collective (IJC) buying groups were present at the event.
IJC CEO Josh Zarb said the event provided a valuable opportunity to connect with the group’s South Australian members.
“The chance to catch up with our existing retailers was as important to us as the opportunity to meet new potential members. We have close to 20 stores throughout South Australia and I saw members from pretty much all of them.
“They came from all over – Port Lincoln, Wyalla, all the regional areas right through to Adelaide central and the Adelaide Hills,” he told Jeweller.
Fitz-Roy also noted the strong turnout from regional jewellery stores, revealing, “It had the drawing power for country retailers – we had a number that had driven two to three hours to visit the show.”
Zarb added that while Adelaide was a smaller event than the Gold Coast and Sydney Trade Days, which IJC also attended, it had provided new opportunities for business, explaining, “We had interest from stores that had not expressed interest previously and were not on our radar at all!”
Chris Scanlan, director RJ Scanlan & Co, said the Adelaide event compared favourably to the much-larger Sydney Trade Days.
“Overall, it was a pretty good Trade Days – I’d say it was better, for us, than Sydney as we felt there were more serious buyers in Adelaide. Our representative made several larger sales, some smaller sales, and established leads too. While it got off to a slower start on Saturday, our representative was busier towards the second part of the day, later in the afternoon,” he said.
Fitz-Roy noted several exhibitors expressed a desire for the Trade Days format to continue in Adelaide in the future, noting, “South Australia and Western Australia don’t have standalone jewellery events, as such, and Trade Days is a cost-effective way for suppliers to service those markets. I think Trade Days will play a role in the future.”
The final Trade Days event will be held on 10–11 April at Perth Convention Centre.
VIEW EXHIBIT PICTURE
More reading:
Melbourne Gift & Lifestyle fair builds momentum for Adelaide, Perth Trade Days
More positive feedback for Trade Days following Sydney event
First Jewellery Trade Days on Gold Coast declared a success, Sydney dates now sold out!