Gift Industry is Coming out of the Recession - FINALLY!

Harvest Scents and Trader's president Jeff Durham reported today that the Gift and Home Decor Industry is slowly recovering from the 2.5 year long recession that has plaqued the Gift and Home Decor Industry.

The Gift and Home Decor Industry was one of the hardest hit due to the fact most products are not necessities.  Discretionary spending has been at an all time low the last two years.  With many consumers on the brink of losing their homes, it just wasn't realistic to consider redecorating, which is a driver for this industry.  Further, home prices declined for most consumers causing them to no longer to have equity to borrow from.  In the early part of this decade, many Americans used their home equity loans to remodel and redecorate their homes.

Unfortunately the recession caused many formerly successful gift and home decor retailers to go out of business.  This was also the case for several well known wholesalers in the industry.  Banks were calling in lines of credit and not making credit available to new or established business with few exceptions.  Credit is easing now but still not to the point necessary for a strong economic expansion to take place.

The industry's Spring tradeshow season was very encouraging as it revealed the long awaited turnaround it as hand!  Retailer store owner traffic was well up over 2009 levels as was average order size. 

Many retailers have sold through backstock and are now reordering inventory again.  This is positive news and one of the first things that must happen in order for recovery to begin.

The future is very bright for the Gift and Home Decor Industry.  Several economic signs are reflecting a recovery is at hand.  The housing market is showing signs of a turnaround which is very very encouraging for the Gift and Home Decor Industry.  Banks are slowly starting to lend money again which is critical for small businesses to take advantage of this recovery.

About Harvest Scents and Traders

Harvest Scents and Traders is based in the Fishers, Indiana suburb located on the northeast side of Indianapolis. Harvest Scents and Traders specializes in helping retailers become more profitable by providing uniquely designed wholesale home décor and giftware. Harvest Scents and Trader’s customer base is made up of gift shops, chain stores, crafters, online retailers and general retailers. Learn more about Harvest Scents and Traders.