AmericasMart Gardens intrigue shoppers this month

Atlanta market opens July 11

Casual Living Staff -- Casual Living, 7/2/2012 7:00:00 AM

ATLANTA - Wise buyers know that merchandise within the Living. Outdoor/Indoor. The Gardens. intrigues shoppers in every season. Where else can you swing on a bed, admire "Fresh Jewelry" and celebrate Christmas in July? Only one place: The Gardens during The Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market, July 11-18.

While The Gardens, Building 2 WestWing, Floors 9 and 10, is full of casual furniture and outdoor living items, it also is a powerful draw for gift shoppers, especially those thinking about product for the holidays. To provide an extra opportunity to find new gift items for any type of store, It's Christmas Time on 9! takes place at 4 p.m. on Friday, July 13 on Floor 9. Floor 10 will host A Very Merry Christmas Party at 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 14. At each party, while enjoying festive food and drink, buyers can shop the outdoor and indoor product lines and perhaps win a Kindle.

Unique gifts are an innate part of the product offerings in The Gardens, and appropriately, Fresh Jewelry Company debuts on Floor 10 for the July Market. Fresh Jewelry Company takes live flowers and encases them in sterling silver.

"We take hand-picked garden flowers and put them into jewelry," says Jennifer Bristow, owner of Fresh Jewelry Company. "We call it Garden Gorgeous Jewelry."

Bristow made the conscious effort to sell her creative jewelry through the lawn & garden and flower shop channel. It's worked very well, she said. This underscores the power of the merchandise, and especially gift merchandise, available in The Gardens. "We want to meet the market where it is," Bristow said.

Southern Komfort's swinging bed is another fresh spin on an old idea: the porch swing and the hammock. The cypress-frame swinging beds, displayed with My Outdoor Rooms merchandise on Floor 10, can be hung on a covered porch, under a pergola or even inside a house.

"The first thing people say when they see the swings is ‘I want one,'" said Ryan Walta, owner of Southern Komfort. "(Displaying in The Gardens) has helped my business tremendously. We are a permanent vendor now. I hope to be here a long time."

One of Walta's swinging beds will be displayed in the Building 1, Floor 1 lobby during The Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market. That bed will be given away at a live drawing during a Breakfast in Bed juice-and-donuts party at 10 a.m. Sunday, July 15, Building 2 WestWing, Floor 10.

Iron to Go and Georgetown Home & Garden are new exhibitors on Floor 9. Woodstream Corporation, Hi-Line Gift Ltd., Fluer Ami GmbH and Cohasset Gifts & Garden, Inc. are new exhibitors on Floor 10.

In addition to the hundreds of gift lines, The Gardens collections always offer all the product buyers expect in a diverse outdoor living showcase including casual furniture, windchimes, pottery, birding items, statuary, lighting, fire pits and much more. See it all in Living. Outdoor/Indoor. The Gardens.

These two floors perfectly complement the other Home-related product offerings housed on floors 9-14 in Building 1.

The Home Accents & Fine Linens Center on Floors 9 and 10 features branded linen and pillow manufacturers, home accessory items and furnishings. The Home Accents & Home Furnishings Center on Floors 11-14 features a full collection of case goods, upholstery and home accent products to suit any style. The Home & Design floor on 14 features a complete higher-end, design-oriented mix of home products for any design project.

The Outdoor Living and Home floors are open Monday-Friday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. to service buyers wishing to shop between the major markets. The Gardens floors are staffed by AmericasMart showroom managers who can help buyers find what they're seeking and place orders quickly.

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.