How To Find a Greeting Card Sales Rep: Tip #6

Here is an excerpt from the book "Get Your Greeting Cards into Stores."

Tip #6: Visit Giftmart Websites

Giftmarts are places where manufacturers and sales reps have permanent showrooms year around. Unlike giftshows that only happen for a few days a year, a giftmart is a place that store buyers can visit any time to buy products. Manufacturers occupy most showrooms, but some are also rented by sales reps that display the lines they carry.

On giftmart websites, the permanent showroom listings often provide detailed descriptions of products. If you look closely, you will be able to distinguish manufacturing company showrooms from sales rep showrooms. Rep showrooms usually describe a list of greeting card companies they represent, whereas a manufacturing company tends to only describe a product such as “candles” or “greeting cards.” Try to look for showrooms that have many greeting card line names.

Reps who rent showrooms tend to be rep “groups,” who are teams of independent reps covering several territories, such as three or four states, or large metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles.

Giftmarts are not generally open to the public. The best way to gain entry is to go with a friend who owns a business or ask the show management if you can have a visitor’s pass for one day. If you live near any of these metropolitan areas, you probably have a giftmart in your city. Here is a list of giftmart showrooms:

AmericasMart
AMC, Inc. / AmericasMart® Atlanta
240 Peachtree Street N.W., Suite 2200
Atlanta, GA 30303
404.220.3000
http://www.americasmart.com/
http://www.americasmart.com/exhibitor-dir/

Columbus MarketPlace
7001 Discovery Blvd.
Dublin, OH 43017
888-332-8979
http://www.thecolumbusmarketplace.com/
http://www.thecolumbusmarketplace.com/showdirs/roomdir.asp

Dallas Market Center
2100 Stemmons Freeway
Dallas, TX 75207
214-655-6100
http://dallasmarketcenter.com/
http://dallasmarketcenter.com/exhibitors/

Denver Merchandise Mart
451 East 58th Avenue, Suite 4270,
Denver, CO 80216-8470
303-292-6278
http://www.denvermart.com/
http://www.denvermart.com/martset.html

LA Mart
1933 South Broadway,
Los Angeles, CA 90007
800.LAMART.4
http://www.lamart.com/
http://www.lamartgift.com/showrooms/showroom-listing/

Miami Merchandise Mart
777 NW 72 Avenue
Miami, Florida 33126
305-269-4811
http://www.miamimerchandisemart.com/
http://miamimerchandisemart.com/stores.html

Minneapolis Gift Mart
10301 Bren Road West,
Minnetonka, MN 55343
952-932-7200
http://www.mplsmart.com/
http://www.mplsmart.com/buyersguide.htm

New York Market Center
230 Fifth Avenue,
New York, NY 10001
800-698-5617
http://www.230fifthave.com/
http://www.230fifthave.com/showrooms.php

Pacific Market Center
6100 Fourth Avenue, South,
Seattle, WA 98108
206-767-6800
http://www.pacificmarketcenter.com/
http://www.pacificmarketcenter.com/html/products/default.asp

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This Article is an excerpt from the book: Get Your Greeting Cards into Stores: How to find and work with Greeting Card Sales Reps

If you already make your own greeting cards, this book explains how to get your cards into stores and sell them sell nationwide. Included are guidelines on: how to price your cards for a profit, how to get professional feedback, where to find a sales representative and and what industry standards you should follow. All the information is also applicable to gift items, such as magnets, journals, calendars, collectibles, etc.

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