NEW YORK--Home Accents Today sister publication Gifts and Decorative Accessories presented its 61st annual Retailer Excellence Awards at a special gala event held at the Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers here,Sunday,Aug.19.
According to Caroline Kennedy,editor-in-chief,GDA,stated the awards program's mission is"to honor outstanding creative retailers,showcase their achievements and provide inspiration to other retailers just like them."
The Retailer Excellence Award winners were:
Marketing Achievement:Christian's Kinder Laden(Bates,Ind.)
Visual Merchandising:BEE Inc.(Atlanta)
Store Events:Blackstone's of Beacon Hill(Boston)
Gift Store Design/Redesign:The Brooklyn Museum Shop(Brooklyn,N.Y.)
Gift Store Design/Redesign:Mxyplyzyk(Jersey City,N.J.)
For the second year in a row,two winners were named in the Store Design category.GDA Editorial Director Warren Shoulberg said that in evaluating finalists'entries to determine the winner,comparing a lower budget,designer project against a large budget architectural firm project,was"like comparing apples to oranges,"and that Mxyplyzyk showed that good design can also be accomplished on a more modest budget.
Two retailer-nominated awards recognizing manufacturers/vendors and manufacturers'sales representatives were also presented.Creative Co-Op received the inaugural Retailers'Choice Manufacturer/Vendor of the Year award.Creative-Coop was nominated by and voted for online by retailers.The Outstanding Manufacturers'Rep Award went to Chuck Burke of Road Runners.Burke also received the inaugural Outstanding Manufacturers'Rep Award in 2007.
