2008 May 6-8 Las Vegas |
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CONTENTS:
FEATURE: News You Can Use, Culinary Center Hosts Business Seminars
RETAILER PROFILE: Fire Up those Stoves
VENDOR'S CORNOR: Ingerid Mohn, president Linden Sweden, Edina, Minnesota
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RETAILER COMMENT
"I have been attending the Gourmet Show for 18 years. I love the convenience and the great locale of this show. This is the only national show that I attend. It is a great mix of cooking demonstrations and friendly exhibitors: Las Vegas is an easy city to fly into, shop the Gourmet Show, and enjoy the wonderful restaurants before heading home."
Cobey Senescu
Taos Cookery |
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HAVE FUN!
The Neon Boneyard Museum
Good signage is as important to a city as well as to a gourmet store. See some of the best signs ever illuminated, by visiting the Boneyard, a museum devoted Las Vegas’s dearly departed neon displays.
Signs waiting to be restored fill the three-acre outdoor museum site. Tours must be arranged in advance through www.neonmuseum.org--there’s only one tour a day in May--although groups of 20 can arrange for a special tour.
Or, head to the intersection of Las Vegas Blvd. and Fremont Street, where you can see some famous refurbished signs, starting with the iconic, “The Hacienda Horse and Rider.”
In all, some 10 restored signs can be found on a self-guided walking tour available here.
Who knows? You might be inspired to use neon as the perfect way to highlight that new gadget display.
 Yee-haa! The Hacienda Horse and Rider rides again at the intersection of Las Vegas Blvd and Fremont.
(Photo credit: Courtesy of The Neon Museum, Las Vegas, NV)
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Dear Friends,
There are many ways to note the differences between gourmet specialty stores and big box retailers, but to see the biggest gap take a look at Mary Moore’s title.
Moore describes herself as the founder, owner and CEO of the Atlanta-based The Cook’s Warehouse stores. (There are three locations.)
That long title describes most of our attendees. When you exhibit at The Gourmet Housewares Show you will meet other successful business people who also proudly bear the title of “founder, owner, and CEO.”
They are the top buyers, too, although it may not fit on a business card.
What other show in the country can you attend where that is the case?
The Cook’s Warehouse is not as big as some stores, but Moore’s formula works for her.
It is called entrepreneurship and we are proud that The Gourmet Housewares Show has been the place where so many retailers and vendors find beautiful friendships.
If you haven’t signed up yet, there’s still time, but hurry! You will want to meet your new friends.
Best,
Susan Corwin
vp and show manager
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FEATURE: News You Can Use
Culinary Center Hosts Business Seminars |
The whole point of going to The Gourmet Housewares Show is to meet with vendors and find products that work for your gourmet trade. But while you are in Las Vegas, you can also check out the many seminars offered that can help you boost your bottom line.
For example, Krups hosts our Gourmet Symposium: “Quick Bites for Your Business” series. The idea? You don’t need to spend a lot of time — your lunch hour is enough — to learn about some key ways to improve business. All seminars are held at the Culinary Center and run at lunchtime: 12-1 PM. The cost, $10 if you pre-register and $15 if you sign up at the last minute. Either way it includes food — a great deal.
Tuesday, May 6
Sustainability
Rick Van Diepen, Senior Associate and LEED Accredited professional for PGAL—a leading Las Vegas architectural firm — joins Jim Cochrane from the United States Postal Service to discuss how to incorporate sustainability into business practices with the least cost.
Wednesday, May 7
Shipping
With shipping costs skyrocketing, who can afford to miss this discussion? Panelists will speak about how to ship with the least amount of cost, and suffer the least amount of damage. Featuring representatives from FedEx, Rice Epicurean, and West Point Markets.
Thursday, May 8
Insurance and Employee Benefits
There is increasing pressure, both moral and social, to provide service employees with benefits such as health insurance. Giving good benefits also mean that you keep your best employees and that means you reduce training costs. But if you aren’t a mega business, how to cost effectively provide such benefits? Join the President of the Southern Nevada Human Resources Association, along with other panelists as they address the on of the most difficult issues facing companies, politicians, and employees.
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Retailer Profile:
Fire Up those Stoves
Mary Moore, The Cook’s Warehouse, Atlanta
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 Many retailers find that having a cooking school — or at least a place to offer product demonstrations — adds to business.
According to Mary Moore, the founder, owner and ceo of Atlanta-based The Cook’s Warehouse, cooking programs are great for the bottom line. And Moore says retailers who don’t have the space to launch a full-scale cooking school, can still offer demonstrations that will build a store’s customer base.
Moore will help other retailers find their inner cooking school during The Gourmet Housewares Show as part of a no-fee seminar that works for those getting started, as well as retailers already building a cooking school business.
The first lesson: no matter how small the space, kitchenware stores benefit from having some sort of cooking program.
“You can set up a blender and make a smoothie, or puree a hot soup,” Moore says. “There is always something you can do.” For example, current offerings from The Cook’s Warehouse cooking school include: Kitchen Basics; Hands on for Kids; Super Sauces; and Wine Makes the Meal, a series of cooking classes that showcase wines that go with cuisine from Spain, California and Provence.
To boost registration, Moore offers a well-organized web site that is filled with enticing descriptions of the classes. The site also gives clear information on class start times, locations and whether seats are still available, making registration easy for customers. In short, any sort of cooking in a store helps market your kitchenware business, Moore points out, especially to local media.
“Food preparation generates interest. It is a way to have something written up in the local paper about the class.” “For example we just had pet food classes, using all natural ingredients, which was very popular. It is another angle and another edge,” she adds. And Moore will share her very practical advice for starting your own school — or learning to host a product demonstration — during a seminar at the Gourmet Housewares Show.
 Seminar: Mary Moore Cooking School tips
Wednesday, May 5th
4:00 PM-5:00 PM
The Culinary Center
But Wait…There’s More Happening at the Culinary Center. Three of America’s top chefs will be on hand to demonstrate their unique styles that have made them culinary sensations. Don’t miss.
Tuesday, May 6
 Chef Rock
2:00PM – 3:00PM
Join Chef Rahman "Rock" Harper as he demonstrates his understanding of unique elements of culturally-distinctive cuisine—highlighting the best of the best of taste elements. Chef Rock is the new and exciting Head Chef at Terra Verde Green Valley Ranch Resort in Henderson, Nevada and is best known as the winner from Season 3 of the reality show, Hell's Kitchen.
 Todd English
4:00PM – 5:00PM
One of the most decorated and respected chefs today, Todd English has enjoyed a staggering amount of accolades during his remarkable career. His continued dedication to Share Our Strength and the fight against childhood hunger, make him this year’s recipient of the 2008 Humanitarian Award. Accomplishments include: recognition by several of the food industry’s most prestigious publications—among them Restaurateur of the Year by Bon Appetit’ Magazine in 2001; he will bring his culinary talents to the Culinary Center, providing a live demonstration of his interpretive rustic Mediterranean cuisine. English shares his culinary excellence with the city of Las Vegas, with Olives at Bellagio and Onda at The Mirage.
Wednesday, May 7
 David Burke
2:00PM – 3:00PM
Chef Magazine’s Chef of the Year in 1998, David Burke is blazing across distinctions between chef, artist, entrepreneur, and inventor. He is one of the leading pioneers in American cooking today. His fascination with ingredients and the art of the meal has fueled a career marked by creativity, critical acclaim, and the introduction of revolutionary products and cooking techniques. In addition to his work in the restaurant kitchen, Burke is actively involved with culinology, an emerging discipline which marries traditional culinary arts with innovative food science to vastly improve the nutritional and flavor profiles of mass-produced foods.
 The Gourmet Housewares Show gratefully acknowledges Viking for sponsoring our Culinary Center and Krups for presenting our seminar program.
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| VENDOR'S CORNER: Ingerid Mohn, president Linden Sweden, Edina, Minnesota |
 A look at vendor, retailer and representative relationships
Linden Sweden’s clean Scandinavian look stands out when the product line is grouped together in a display, the company’s president says, noting the modern look is becoming very popular in the United States.
“We are seeing more Scandinavian design on the market these days,” she says.
“Sales go up when a retailer chooses at least three to ten products,” she says. “That’s because it then becomes a cleanly defined line of merchandise.”
To help retailers add more variety to their Linden Sweden assortments, Mohn will celebrate Linden Sweden’s 5th anniversary with special discounts for retailers ordering at the Gourmet Housewares Show. Those placing orders at the show will get a five-percent discount, and also be eligible for a free-freight program at certain order quantity amounts.
Mohn says that one of her business challenges is finding more independent reps to take the Linden Sweden line to gourmet kitchenware stores. Meeting reps at the show is another goal.
“We have great reps, but not enough of them. We want to work with more reps so more independent gourmet stores can see us,” she says. “That is a challenge, getting reps to take on a new line.”
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In the Mail: E-badges make registration at The Gourmet Housewares Show easy. If you haven’t received yours, click here www.thegourmetshow.com/register, and we’ll help.
Editor’s Note: Please remember to take advantage of all the ways GLM has provided you to register for the show, click here: www.thegourmetshow.com/register; to register for any of the seminars, click here: www.thegourmetshow.com/programs. Or visit our website at www.thegourmetshow.com for complete show details.
Thyra Porter, editor, Gourmet 365
Email: tporter@maine.rr.com |
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To register, or for the most up-to-date info, please visit www.thegourmetshow.com
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