WAG recently headed down to NY NOW, the mega-trade show held each February and August at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan.
The winter edition of this show, long known as the “gift fair” and now billed as Retail Renaissance, was again designed as a showcase of home, lifestyle, handmade and gift products, a place where shops find their inventory and businesses sell their wares.
The expansive layout always makes for a busy day, but it’s always highlighted by catching up with local companies we’ve worked with before, meeting new local sources and sometimes, just bumping into those from local shops who are walking the show themselves.
This time we caught up with quite a number of companies, artists and designers, including Ridgefield-based jewelry designer Amy Kahn Russell; Harry Haslett of Hawthorne’s Island Imports, who travels the world to source distinctive accessories; and Kara Garecht of Anne Koplik Designs in Brewster, daughter of the namesake founder of the woman-owned, family-run jewelry business where all work is handmade right in the company headquarters.
We had the chance to be awed by the always-impressive oversize booth, more like a series of themed booths, of Two’s Company, the Elmsford-based accessories and home accents company; meet and chat about jewelry (a favorite topic) with Barbara Ross-Innamorati of Évocateur (profiled this month in WAG) and Benan Cakar of Chakarr, now in Rye and also a past story subject.
We also had time to say hello to Kerri Rosenthal, the Westport-based artist and interior designer also profiled this month.
We also noted that the following day – a sign of their place in the industry – Grace Kang, owner and founder of Pink Olive (we featured her Cold Spring location back in 2017) and Lisa Lori, owner of The Perfect Provenance in Greenwich (also featured in WAG, were to speak on “Retailtainment: How To Create An Inspirational and Fun In-Store Shopping Experience.”).
In the end, it was a productive day – one in which we saw many new things coming from the countless creative minds who call WAG country home.
For more, visit nynow.com.
– Mary Shustack
