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Thousands of visitors welcomed the future of NY NOW ® during its Winter Market this February, with new pavilions, activations, and leadership discussions from recently acquired wholesale marketplace, Bulletin, powering impressive growth in both attendance and exhibitors.
New York, NY, February 16, 2023 – NY NOW ® and Bulletin are thrilled with the success of February’s 2023 Winter Market, where a fresh crop of brands and makers brought a sense of innovation and transformation to this reimagined event.
Emerald X recently acquired the curated wholesale marketplace, Bulletin, whose team and leadership played a key role in planning, marketing and staging the country’s largest gift and home show. The show featured elevated lounges, packed networking happy hours and engaging panels from partners like Sackville and Co., Edie Parker and Chillhouse. Bulletin’s B2B marketplace and commitment to small businesses will continue to play a significant role in making NY NOW a more tech-powered event, with even more changes slotted for Summer 2023.
Alana Branston, Group Vice President, Gift & Home, attributes the event’s growth to category expansion with the launch of the Play category, which caters to the growing toy selection, as well as the introduction of cannabis brands to NY NOW. “The biggest thing is people are excited to be back in person,” she says. “They’re flocking back to the show and ready to be connecting in person again.”
The Bulletin Pavilion, an incubator space at the show’s center featuring emerging wholesale brands, was a great contributor to the show’s sense of discovery and community. This was not only the place for buyers and brands to connect, but also participate in modern activations. This year’s key activation was “The Smoke Shop,” a series of intimate conversations presented by leaders in the booming cannabis space. These panel discussions covered topics including marketing to Gen Z, the evolution of wellness, the power of design, and representation within the cannabis industry.
This new addition to the market has had a significant impact on exhibitors, including Divya Guruju, owner of the stationery brand MELLOWWORKS, who perfectly encapsulates the pavilion’s mission: “I feel like the Bulletin pavilion will become a destination for buyers who are looking for trendy well-made products.”
This year’s show also saw increases in qualified show attendance, including buyers, press, and exhibitors, with 34% of the brands being new to the show. Providing new and exciting offerings to buyers was a key priority for the success of NY NOW. Many of the first-time exhibitors were drawn from Bulletin’s B2B community and provided the ideal solution for buyers looking for emerging vendors.
Exhibitors and buyers were greeted with a visual rebrand that perfectly reflected the sky peering in through the Jacob K. Javits Center glass ceiling, as well as a reorganized show floor, elevated food and beverage offerings, and a true sense of discovery.
Exhibitor Testimonial: “The Bulletin and NY NOW teams did a fantastic job choosing the brands, making a physical layout that truly felt like a community, and creating good vibes for the winter showcase. They also did an incredible job providing support to exhibitors before, during and after the show.” – Sophie Silverstein, Founder of Take Shape Studio
Attendee Testimonial: “It’s great to see the progression of how many brands were here at NY NOW. This is my third day here and I still haven’t been able to see everything! I really like the saturation in each category. If you’re a buyer that’s just looking for jewelry, there’s so much here to choose from. If you’re looking for gifts or accessories, you can find anything that you ever needed. I think it’s important that we get back out there, hear people’s stories, touch the product even if it’s something that can’t be sampled. Just being able to see the product makes such a difference. I will definitely be coming back to NY NOW this summer!” – Molly Mathias, Owner of Go Easy
Throughout the event, exhibitors were celebrated and recognized by industry leaders for their designs, innovation, sustainability, and more. You can view finalists here and the brands that were awarded in the following categories below:
Best New Product Award: Kiwico Corporation (Brand: HMM), DINARI JEWELS, Tulika, Little Days, Matrescence, Essence of Harris, Flora Bhattachary Fine Jewellery, WorldFinds, Wooj Design, Alex Monroe, Manhattan Toy Company, Be Home
Best Selling Product Award: Cue, Lovers Tempo, ESW Beauty, Sew Heart Felt, Bari Moss Ceramics, Connetix Tiles, Salted
Emerging Brand Award: Matrescence
Sustainable Design Award: Bamboozle Home
Learn more about the Winter 2023 Market by visiting nynow.com and following along on social media across Instagram, as well as Bulletin on Instagram.
To inquire about exhibiting, please contact Kim Mancuso Telford at kim.mancusotelford@emeraldx.com or Indira Franca for International inquiries at indira.franca@emeraldx.com.
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About NY NOW + Bulletin:
NY NOW is the largest gift and home wholesale trade show in New York, where brands, buyers, and designers gather to connect and discover. Held twice a year in New York City, America’s design capital, NY NOW and online wholesale marketplace partner, Bulletin, connect 4,000+ independent brands with over 40K U.S. and international buyers from independent stores, museums, department stores, bookstores, galleries, general gift shop, art & entertainment venues and many more. For more information, please visit www.nynow.com and www.bulletin.co.
About Emerald:
Emerald is a leader in building dynamic, market-driven business-to-business platforms that integrate live events with a broad array of industry insights, digital tools, and data-focused solutions to create uniquely rich experiences. As true partners, we at Emerald strive to build our customers’ businesses by creating opportunities that inspire, amaze, and deliver breakthrough results. With over 140 events each year, our teams are creators and connectors who are thoroughly immersed in the industries we serve and committed to supporting the communities in which we operate. For more information, please visit www.emeraldx.com