The NY International Gift Fair This Weekend!

The NY International Gift Fair at the Jacob Javits Convention Center

It’s my favorite time of year!  The  New York International Gift Fair and the Philadelphia Buyer’s Market of American Craft back-to-back!  This Sunday, January 28, 2012, I will be making my bi-annual trip to the NYIGF at the humongous (but not big enough at 625,000 sf- they’re looking to expand) Jacob Javits Convention Center in Manhattan.

It was at this show, 5 years ago, that Jewish Gift Place really crystallized.  Prior to attending this show, I really didn’t have much of a clue how to connect with people who made and sold Judaica.  After many Google searches, I hooked up with one vendor who made jewelry and Judaica that I liked, but I found it really difficult to find products to sell that I loved.  I didn’t even know that gift fairs even existed for buyers only.  Somehow, I found out about the NY International Gift Fair.  Coincidentally, I discovered the NYIGF the week it was in town in January 2007.  It all seemed very rushed to me.  I found out about it, it was in town for another few days, then it wouldn’t be back again until August.  I didn’t think I was at the point in developing my website and business to run out and start buying products to sell, but my husband said, “GO!”  So I went.  And I was awed.

Besides never being in such a massive space as Jacob Javits before, and never being at a convention before, I had never seen so many high quality craftspeople in one space.  Prior to this trip, I had been to many arts & crafts fairs with maybe 50 vendors.  I’m just guessing, but I think there were over 800 handmade crafts vendors, and that’s not including all the other gift categories that were going on at the same time.  Maybe in total there are 3000+ vendors  – probably even more.

The first time there was overwhelming.  This show attracts buyers from all over the  world. People stay in hotels when they come here because it can take days to get through the show.  But with 3 little boys at home, I had to cover a lot of territory in one day.

After seeing hundreds of vendors (although there were probably less than 50 that sold Judaica), I finally made my first big bold decision and the very first vendor I bought from was Gary Rosenthal.  I picked out candlesticks and a menorah and a few mezuzahs.  I bought pieces from Michal Golan and Michael Bromberg.  I bought pieces from Cynthia Gale.  These artists formed the core of what Jewish Gift Place has come to represent – beautiful, unique, handmade Judaica.

I didn’t know that day that I was going to sell handmade pieces only.  I did buy some other pieces, like pot holders that look like matzah, and some other things like that.  I never tried to sell those pot holders because I quickly decided that I didn’t want to sell cheesy Judaica – just fine, handmade, quality Judaica.

So, there you have my sentimental journey back in time.  I haven’t missed a gift show since 2007. This will be my 11th trip there.  It’s awesome and I love this show!  This is where I get to say ‘hello’ to the artists again, and get a big nice greeting from Gary Rosenthal, Steven Bronstein of Blackthorne Forge, and Michael Golan (Michal’s husband), and Emily Rosenfeld, Joy Stember, Michael Bromberg, the glamorous Cynthia Gale, the one and only Eduardo Milieris, Patrick Meyer, Ilan Baskin, Susan Fullenbaum, Jan Lanier of Silk Bijoux, Beatriz Kelemen of K4 Glassart, and Sara Beames.  I get to check out the new pieces they’ve made and I get to discover new artists, which is always exciting.

At the last Javits show I was at in August 2011, I thought it would be fun to take a very short video of each artist saying, “Hello” so you could ‘meet’ them.  Check it out!  Also, don’t miss the interviews with the artists.

Check back next week and I’ll tell you about the show and the new pieces of Judaica that you can expect to see on the website in the next few months.  And then, before I know it, I’ll be off to the Philadelphia Buyer’s Market of American Craft on February 18, 2012.  What I especially love about that show is that, unlike NYIGF, EVERYTHING there is handmade.  That show is unbelievable!