October Issue

• A whole lot of heart
  - Editorial
• life's reflections
  - Lifting the lid on artwork trends Down Under
• Active Play -
  - Challenging the Body and the Mind
• Call Me Loyal
  - What's new on the New Zealand-made gift front?
• Protection Mode
  - Taking Stock of Security
• Special Journies
  - Gifts to have and to hold

A whole lot of heart

October has struck. For many people the word October can mean the dread, “Oh dear, less than three months till Christmas.” For others, “Yah, I'm so pleased I did the majority of my Christmas shopping two months ago.” And for those like myself, “Yah, three months till Christmas, even though I know I'm going to suffer through last-minute shopping, I'm still happy it's on its way.” The thought of Christmas for me always conjures up warm, fuzzy feelings – despite my lack of Christmas forward thinking.

I have accepted the fact that I will never be as super organised as my friend Sara Tetro who thinks nothing of getting up and baking biscuits at 5 am – not that I'd have any troubles eating them!

It has been a bumper few months for many wholesalers and retailers: the Spring Gift Fair in Auckland; attendance at Australian gift fairs in August; not forgetting jewellery fairs and the NZ Retail Show. Despite frantic schedules, I was very heartened to hear of three retail initiatives that local gift retailers, in different areas of the country, have promoted over the past two months. The 30/50/1000 Project was one promotional stint organised by 32 Devonport gift retailers which ran across the month of August to encourage local retail support and spenditure. Another, Kidzspace in Auckland, ran an open day at its new concept store which included tours, talks, cupcakes and coffee – a great time had by all. It's forward thinking and positive customer involvement events such as these that truly says a lot about Kiwi retailers: When the going gets tough, the tough get going right back to the thinking-desk to conjure

On the topic of recipes, be sure to check out this month's ‘Book Look' treat on page four. It'll make an ideal Christmas gift for aspiring bakers, and even those that have been baking for sometime but still haven't quite mastered the skill of keeping their recipes in one place. (And if there's anything a recent stint in a baking competition taught me, it pays to be organised!) As this is our last issue of GiftBuyer for 2010 – I won't write you till February – I'll wish you all a productive and bountiful Christmas season ahead. May you ring in the sales, enjoy quality time with family and friends and find that the kids sleep late on Christmas morning!

See you in the New Year,
Dyani

Dyani Ellwood
dellwood@astonpublishing.co.nz