GC Buying Group Celebrates 10 years of Summer School in Atlanta

DALLAS- July 16, 2019— GC Buying Group’s Summer School in Atlanta celebrates new traditions, vendor and stores creativity, and a key anniversary. July 2019 marks the 10th year of GC Buying Group's Summer School at the Atlanta Gift & Home Market. The big change this year was GC’s Summer School starting Thursday, so stores had more time Wednesday to shop rep and vendor showrooms. Wednesday night, GC’S exclusive Party in the Kitchen and Showroom Crawl created a space for store members to network, meet with vendors in showrooms and participate in door prizes. 

Thursday morning, Summer School opened with stores discussing best sellers with a reoccurring theme of sustainability and eco-friendly products. NutriBullet, HARIO, Panorama Knife, Vain Foods, Stoneware & Co and the Legacy Companies came prepared with outstanding presentations for buyers and store members. 

NutriBullet’s new branding and mindset to blend into the gourmet market were evident with exciting demos of new products. Hario displayed new technology and how their factories reuse glass to cut down on waste. PanoramaKnife reinstates beautiful cutlery and the guarantee of working with the independent retailer. Vains’s founder demonstrated their handmade, small-batch and single-origin vanilla extracts. Stoneware & Co showcased their one of a kind, handmade products made with a passion for their communities, and an aspiration to help brides refresh their registries. The Legacy Companies displayed new promotions only for GC Buying Group members and an intention to answer the store’s questions and concerns. Presentations concluded with trending topics and contagious buying energy. Art Nading founder of The Extra Ingredient located in Greensboro, NC, said, “Martha (co-founder) and I were so impressed with the information given in the Summer School. The best presentations ever!” 

GC Summer School classrooms began with hands-on and lecture-style presentations. Having one day for classrooms this year led to larger classroom attendance and Cookware Company, HIC, JURA, Scanpan, Frieling, and the Legacy Companies bringing their A-game.

Jura stressed the importance of eco-friendly fresh ground beans with the Jura experience because they want premium quality for customers wanting the best brewed in under 60 seconds. Scanpan emphasized nonstick without compromising by stating, “We don’t sacrifice durability, health, or quality.” HIC demonstrated their pasta machine making custom pasta embedded with flavors and cutting with ravioli cutters and forms all under four minutes. Frieling emphasized and demonstrated the growing trend of sous-vide cooking. The Cookware Company demonstrated its ceramic nonstick with no effort cleanup and the new Simmerlite collection. Deborah Flynn with the Cookware Company said, “I found the summer school beneficial to introducing the GC members to GreenPan and OXO in a more comprehensive way. The shorter format worked far better as attention was high. It would take me a large investment in time and money to get to all of these accounts separately. We have already written orders with many of the GC members here in ATL.” 

Stephanie Rogers, GC Online Coordinator, presented CreateMyPlace (CMP), the online marketplace an online selling platform for GC Buying Group store and vendor members. CreateMyPlace is still under construction although now open to consumers. The online marketplace had the first order the week during of the Atlanta Market. CMP is different because it’s a marketplace supporting the independent retailer and backed by a small company with great customer service. Geared towards top brand and brands like Louisville Stoneware, who do not want to mass sell, but makes one-of-a-kind products for independent retailers. 

GC looks forward to the Las Vegas Market on July 28 - August 1, and the January GC Start the Year member events. Please contact GC Buying Group for more information.

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About GC Buying Group:

GC Buying Group Members form the original and leading buying group in the housewares industry. Celebrating 38 years in 2019, GC works to ensure the success of independent retailers with a variety of programs and services, including discounts provided by 200 plus vendor members.

For more information on Gourmet Catalog, call: +1-214-855-0005, email: info@gourmetcatalog.com or visit: gcbuyinggroup.com.