CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS
Exhibitor Testimonial:
“We saw a lot of traffic flow, and the overall spatial layout of the trade show made it conducive for buyers to walk around at their own pace to explore all the vendor booths.”
Buyer Testimonial:
“I was able to connect with buyers from existing gifting clients like Goody & Food52 while also making tons of new connections. Sampling chocolate was a hit and led to order writing during the show and even pre-orders for Easter and Fall!”
Exhibitor Testimonial:
“Wow, this ended up being a great show for us – I definitely hit my sales goal! All but one retailer ordered with us directly at the show via linesheets… I am feeling so inspired.”
“Kitty Kardboard is having a fantastic market. The buyers are loving the product – from small specialty boutique to trendy curated ecommerce stores, all the way to mass retailers and big box stores. I’ve talked to paper stores, Ross, Bloomingdale’s, Bed, Bath and Beyond, Uncommon Goods and they all want to carry it in their stores. I can’t wait for the NY NOW Winter market when I have an even bigger booth.
Buyer Testimonial:
“I’ve been coming to NY NOW twice a year for 15 years. It’s a can’t miss show for me because you get to enjoy the energy of the show and the excitement, in a magically creative place,” said Barbara Mooney, Owner, Daisy’s. “NY NOW is important for us because we need to bring the newest and the most exciting products to our customers and this market stays very current with what’s happening. One of the most important things that you get from coming to NY NOW is seeing what the color trends are going to be. And for all the other shows and experiences of buying, NY NOW is where you come to see what that is going to be first.”
We’ve had a really great first day of the show. Lots of people back who we’ve seen in the past but also a lot of new buyers. It’s been busier than our average first day to be honest with you. It’s been great. Our first few hours were busier than the first few hours of the NY NOW before.
We’ve been traveling to various US shows for several years and found they all pale next to NY NOW. There is simply nothing else like it. Not only in the calibre of buyer it attracts but in the quality of exhibitors and show experience. If we only did one show, it would be NY NOW.
As a first time exhibitor at NY NOW, it was the perfect fit. It’s a beautifully curated show and our experience has been so beyond anything I could have imagined. The buyers are here. They’re excited, they’re looking for new products and they’re here to buy! We’re writing orders, we’re making new contacts and it has been an incredible experience. We are ready to sign up for the Winter market!
I was very pleasantly surprised with the outcome of the show, I really didn’t know what to expect and we have been very overwhelmed by the success of our show. We have actually had the busiest gift show we have done ever. We are seeing a lot of our old accounts and we’ve opened a lot of new ones – I think people are really needing to buy and touch and feel and see the product. I am looking forward to having a great Winter show.
This is my first show in a year and a half and the reason I’m here is because I want to be direct with the manufacturer and the representatives to see what’s available right now, what goods are coming in that I can buy immediately, and what goods I can forecast for fourth quarter.
So the first impression when I walked into this building was oh my god so much space it’s so breathable. I can see everything. The point of view and the perspective is incredible. And as I’m walking through even if the booth is busy, because I’m far enough away from the booth, I can still see into the booth. Where before, if you were walking by you were just trying to avoid the crowd as you walk by you were missing stuff. Because it’s so beautifully spaced the flow has been incredible. The visualization of the show is spectacular. In terms of writing the vibe of energy in here, every booth is busy, everybody is happy to do business… the power of buying is intense, and walking around talking to some of my friends who have booths here, people are saying it’s best show in the past 10 years and how it is better than Atlanta. Everybody is saying that they’ve been non-stop writing orders from the moment they walked into the show. Buyers have been writing deeper than they ever have before, the quality of the order writing has been better. It really is just so much easier to work because you guys have weeded through the attendees who don’t have storefronts so I feel like as a buyer I can get a whole lot more done. Oh by the way I love that there’s free food, I love the water stations, I love the coffee. Check check check”
Exhibitor Testimonial:
“NY NOW is our first ever trade show. We can’t believe how successful it’s been. We got enough orders by lunch on the first day to recoup our entire investment in exhibiting at NY NOW,” said Lisa Watkins, Co-found, Wanderfull Bags. “The volume of retail orders was huge, from small boutiques to large buyers like we the Marriott Hotel, a museum in Seattle and a bunch of chain stores in Texas. And we’ve made incredible connections at the market, someone who does special gifting for AMC Networks and another who knows the owner of a sports team and an inquiry to purchase 3000 units for a large corporation. Corporate gifting really wasn’t even something we thought about but being at NY NOW helped us realize that could be a viable channel for our business. So many amazing opportunities for us that have happened here at NY NOW. We are beyond thrilled.”
I think the most important part about being back at the live shows is that experiential buying experience, you want a chance to touch and to talk to the people and see the product live, there’s nothing you can do online in that environment, it has to be done in a live environment. Face to face relationships are only done in these live shows and what you’re doing here in New York is starting with the rebranding and revitalizing a market that is so much a critical part of our industry, we need New York to be a thriving environment for people to be able to see this experience. To see how you guys are coming back, and how you’re walking not running forward to grow us back together gives me confidence that the market and this industry is only going to have a wonderful revitalization.
The show was unexpectedly busy and incredible to see all of my long time customers come back and show up, and to be able to work with them and see them again was really so touching and amazing after this past year and a half of no trade shows. I can really see just the impact of meeting each other one-on-one and how valuable that is to everyone’s business.
We opened quite a few new accounts and we’ve gotten great reorders from our accounts that we have already established here. We’re so happy we showed up because it’s overall been a great success for us. We can’t wait to come back for the Winter market!
I have been attending NY NOW for many years because most of our favorite brands are only at this market and not anywhere else. I saw more curated brands which is important for us to find new product and always stay ahead of the competition. We met a lot of new vendors and were able to see a lot of our repeat vendors that we can only find at NY NOW. Overall had a very successful show.
What we were surprised by our first time at NY NOW, was not only the buyers and new clients we have but also the connections you make even with your neighbors, so I’ve already got collaboration in the works with some of my exhibitor neighbors, so I’m very excited. We have set up accounts with Princeton University Art Museum, The Chicago Art Museum, the Senate, the Capital Building Gift Shop. We got new customers from the east cost, the west coast, all over. I also have a customer that’s asked me to design a piece that will possibly go to Andi Garcia’s wife. As a new exhibitor, we are thrilled with how successful this market has been for us.
This is the best show we’ve been to.
Our show was great. We formed fantastic connections with buyers; we were able to expand our brand to different states and different markets. We’ve seen a couple of international brands are very serious about Harlow + Bentley, and we’re seeing a great return on investment here. We met Anthropologie, Macy’s, Blue Mercury, Hotels in Vegas, a lot of boutiques that are along the lines of our demographics. It’s been a perfect collaboration.
We are so excited to be back here in New York City exhibiting at the NY NOW show. We’ve had a wonderful array of stores, interior designers, and people of the trade. It’s an exciting show, and we are so happy to see old faces and to meet new buyers—what a great show.
I would like to thank NY NOW for giving me the opportunity to introduce my brand to the world and I can’t be more thankful. For people that are starting out like us, there is so much support here and so much energy that don’t be afraid to take that first step – you know we’re only six months old here we are. We’re really making sales, like six months in this is supposed to be impossible for us, we’re supposed to be still on the drawing board, people aren’t even supposed to know who we are, but because of where we are there is possibilities that we may become international and we may be in other places. We are given opportunities and that right there is only something you can dream about. I will say I was apprehensive of doing this, you know we’re a little young we’re not really ready and we just did it, and I’m glad he pulled the trigger because we would have missed this opportunity. It speaks to your team here, you know, it seems daunting, and even seeing people build out their sets we were like oh my god this is like a whole other level, but we feel right at home. Even the promo videos you did of the friendliness and people helping each other, it really is like this, it’s not something people do to just make you want to come to your show. I want to really thank my team, Darlene and Izzie, I couldn’t have done this without them. The simple help of them just helping me believe in my dream – priceless. The fact they are helping me go to other places I could only dream of – priceless. It’s the right time to bring the right friends together and the right brands together. We are so happy with the show, this is my first trade show ever, when I am done with this I’m telling all my friends who have a business you should definitely do something like this. Like you guys email me, make me feel comfortable, you show me the ropes. I was nervous about everything that was going on, and you were like calm down everything will be perfectly fine, just do this and this and this and just show your personality and you were right.
The show has been fantastic, it was so great to see all of the buyers that I knew from a year ago come back out to New York. They were so giddy and so excited to be here and so relieved that there was a show again. It just gave the whole show vibe a whole other level, aside from being able to come and shop they were relieved to have a market again, as we were too, we missed being in New York. We had a great bunch of return buyers, which was reassuring. Because one of the things I worried during Covid was how many of these stores are really going to come back, but I am so happy to say that the attrition has not been what you would have thought and they’re coming back excited, ready to buy, and making good commitments, and really focused on what they want to bring into their stores. It has been really fun to watch. We really got a nice cross sections, great gift stores all from the north east and otherwise, we got some chains come in like Chicos, we did hotel groups which we have really wanted to find but it has been hard to find at the shows, so that has been really exciting, some editorial opportunities and even some of the buying platforms that are out there that we didn’t know existed, and now is a better time for us to consider those direct to consumer. We’re bullish on trade shows, we really feel it’s the most important way to reach our customers, because they get to touch everything so we are very much committed to the NY NOW market.
I told my husband if I got two orders and some press, I’d be happy, and I got six.
“The show was incredible. I almost ran out of order writing paper!”
I love the NY NOW show. The Brooklyn Museum is an encyclopedic institution that represents an incredible range of histories, narratives and cultures so for us, NY NOW is a must-see/buying destination for finding products that reflect and support all of the stories we are charged with telling. A product image can’t compare with the experience of touching and seeing a product in person.
I’ve attended NY NOW for a very long time and never miss a show. I’m more interested in the Handmade Collection and appreciate how NY NOW organizes the market. The Handmade Collection offers artisans a great platform and I really appreciate the effort put into bringing it together.
Coming to NY NOW always sends me home with great new inventory, education, and inspiration. Not to mention I get to have a fantastic few days in the city.
We have 130 retail stores nationwide so NY NOW is a really important market for us. We come here twice a year to meet new vendors and find new products that we’ve never seen before. As a buyer, the most important thing for our business, is that we have new product to show the customer! When we came in February, I thought it was the best it’s ever been in terms of the offerings.
We have been attending the show for several years. It has grown tremendously and covers so many areas. We applaud the show team for the inclusion of Fair Trade. NY NOW is our primary source for products for our retail business. We expect to increase our products for the launch of the online division of the business and there is no better market to do that than NY NOW.
I really enjoyed the show this year- it’s been wonderful to not have to rush through everything. I’ve been able to really source out some new products and meet with vendors and feel like I wasn’t trying to rush to get everything done before I left. A great experience.
It’s really nice to get back to in-person, connecting with vendors I’ve haven’t seen in a while, catching up and hearing about what they’ve been going through and also just it’s just really nice to connect with people.
Its been a fantastic show we’ve had so much fun and it’s so nice to be back in-person interacting with all of our customers and designers and new accounts. It’s been a wonderful show, thank you so much. We did meet quite a lot of new people, they did notice the show is a little different, but it’s exciting because there are resources here they don’t find at other shows.
We’ve been coming to NY NOW since 2010. Seeing so much in one space is awesome. This market has so many different product categories represented here so we can find everything we need for our lifestyle store.
At every NY NOW market, I find new vendors and products. I like to see all the new trends and visually, I can get through so much here. It’s incredibly gratifying.
NY NOW is close, convenient and has all the vendors and products we need to put in our boutique and be on-trend and profitable.
NY NOW is our #1 market! We do most of our buying at NY NOW. You feel like you’re right in the hub of retail and design. More than any other show, I feel like I’m really seeing what’s coming next, what’s trending.
We have been coming to this show for 10 years! Every time, we find helpful employees, the vendors are friendly + the merchandise varied and appropriate for our synagogue shop. Thank you, NY NOW!
NY NOW is always a great multi-faceted market. And it’s in NYC – need I say more! I love that there are also vendors from other countries as well as handmade + free trade vendors.
I have been attending NY NOW for many years because most of our favorite brands are only at this market and not anywhere else. I saw more curated brands which is important for us to find new product and always stay ahead of the competition. We met a lot of new vendors and were able to see a lot of our repeat vendors that we can only find at NY NOW. Overall had a very successful show.
I visit the NY NOW market twice a year. I purchase from my regular vendors and view new items in person which I prefer. The show is highly organized and professional and I always find new products. There is a large group of fair trade & handmade items which my shop specializes in. I highly recommend NY NOW!
NY NOW is really the most wonderful show that a retail buyer can come to to shop. I always find new exciting products and artists that represent my customer demographic because of the breath and assortment of merchandise on display. For me, NY NOW represents success for a new decade.
NY NOW is the most important show for us to come to as buyers because it’s on the pulse of what’s happening now in the marketplace. It’s so relevant to what the customers are looking for and gives us an awareness of what we are missing in our stores as well as helps us to expand our offerings. NY NOW offers a whole new vision of how we can innovate what retail is for us now and in the future.
NY NOW is always full of great, innovative merchandise. It never ceases to amaze me as to the vast amount of products available to choose from. Love NYC!
I’ve been been coming to NY NOW for many years and it just keeps getting better!