Glee is as much a part of the gardening calendar as pruning, the first cut of the lawn and cold crisp mornings that accompany the first trips to the greenhouse. But unlike these annual milestones, Glee is changing; it?s growing and developing for the greater good of garden retailing.
As garden retailing continues to look at ways to adapt to changing consumer spending habits, as well as attracting a new pool of customers, so must Glee look at what it offers to the industry it represents. This year, visitors to the show will find a bigger, fresher and bolder Glee ? full of innovative feature content, tangible business advice and the strongest collection of brands ready and willing to forge relationships with retailers.
Matthew Mein, Glee?s event director, said: ?Glee 2017 is the start of an exciting new chapter for the show. We?ll still be offering the core elements that are the main reason why retailers attend, but we?re also building additional content that will add real value, and provide our visitors with inspiration and valuable advice that will help them to future proof their businesses. All of this will be underpinned by our new look, that we believe is demonstrative of the changes that our industry is undertaking, through adopting more innovative and contemporary approaches to retailing.
?We are confident that the changes we have made means that Glee is now, more than ever, an event for all aspects of garden retailing ? from sourcing new products, to gathering information on how to tap into a younger consumer demographic, inspirational merchandising advice, future-facing business concepts and the freshest trend information. Glee is an event for everyone from the category buyers to the chief executives. We guarantee that a day at Glee is a day well spent.?
What’s new at Glee?
Retail Lab @ Glee
The Retail Lab @ Glee is the show?s crowning glory in 2017. This dedicated area will provide an interactive hub full of inspirational and educational content, as well as the latest trend information.? Created by a panel of industry experts, the Retail Lab @ Glee is unlike any previous feature – providing visitors with a long-term vision for their retail environments.
Focussing on consumer engagement, market insight and effective access to future facing trend information, the Retail Lab @ Glee will be located at the very heart of the show.? Combining interactive content, guided tours, and self-learning material, visitors will be able to arm themselves with content that not just inspires but will also drive them to action new retailing ideas within their own stores. The aim of all of this being to help retailers to grow both their offering and business, whilst also targeting new customers.
Split into four sections, the area will focus on four key consumer themes as identified by the Retail Lab?s creative director, Romeo Sommers, and world-leading trend experts, WGSN. These themes will be: Well-being, Family, Community, and ?Re-wilding?.
New branding reflective of future retailing
Rolled out across Glee marketing collateral, dedicated website and throughout the show itself, the new look has been designed to breathe new life into Glee, creating a visual backdrop that is both modern and relevant, and unlike anything that the show has seen before.
The inspiration for the innovative design came from leading trend forecasters, WGSN?s latest research. From the colours that will be ?in? throughout the coming season, to creating a look that packs a punch, Glee?s new creative is set to inspire and excite both exhibitors and visitors alike.
Featuring a bold new colour palette of the latest pantone colours, the new logo will be supported by new sector specific logos, designed to make navigating the various aspects of the show much easier. The overall branding also benefits from using photographic negative images that together with the new colours create a real eye-catching and contemporary design.
Matthew added: ?Glee is in great shape ? in fact, the 2017 event will be the strongest showcase we?ve been able to offer for some years. We have reached maximum capacity, and are on track to deliver over 550 exciting brands, including 150 international suppliers, as well a wealth of new and lapsed brands.? Look out for thousands of new product launches, including tomorrow?s bestsellers, today. It?s fair to say that this year?s Glee exhibition is set to be one of the most exciting showcases of garden retail and outdoor living brands, products and added value content anywhere in the UK.?
SPECIAL SHOW FEATURES FOR 2017
The New Product Showcase and Glee Awards
The New Product Display is the place to head to see the most innovative, unique and commercial products from the hundreds of suppliers at Glee. The competition sees new designs and products perfectly displayed for your consideration, with the best of each category receiving the accolade of a ?Glee Award.? This year the awards roster will also include a Consumers? choice and Best of British award. Show visitors can also cast their vote for their favourite, awarding one lucky entrant with the title of ?Retailers Choice Award?.
Seminar content, in association with The HTA
As always Glee will offer visitors a free, three-day Seminar Programme organised in conjunction with the HTA (Horticultural Trades Association). This year, the seminar theatre will make its home within the Retail Lab at the heart of Glee, providing an enriched programme of expert business and garden retail advice to help grow your business through challenging trading conditions. This content will be derived from extensive industry research and is set to tackle key talking points, struggles and successes. Topics will include risk management, managing the growth of your business, market trends, cost management, supplier sourcing, multi-channel selling and staffing.
The latest trends will also be addressed within a special session with WGSN?s Lisa White, who will be looking at what will be ?big? in spring/summer 2018, including a focus on product, material and colour. WGSN define what?s next so businesses can make smarter decisions today. It?s global trend forecasters and data scientists obsessively decode the future to provide the authoritative view on tomorrow. They build locally sourced, globally relevant content including daily trend intelligence, retail analytics, consumer insights and bespoke consultancy services, making them one of the world-leading trend forecasters and analytics companies.
Glee Innovators Zone
Launched in 2009, the Glee Innovators Zone has already helped more than 200 companies break into the garden retail market.? This special area is designed to help nurture valuable grass-roots product development and one-off design ideas, whilst also bridging the gap between market-ready new product launches from established companies and pre-commercial product ideas.? This year Glee?s Innovators Zone will be home to over 30 brand new companies, including Screen with Envy, Coffee Logs, Jardinice, and Lucien Fevriero.
Innovation will also be celebrated within GIMA?s Innovators? Seed Corn Fund (GISCF). Since its launch in 2014, the GISCF has already witnessed great success. All previous winners have gone on to enjoy great commercial success; going from new brands to established and growing suppliers within the garden retail market. Vicky Nuttall, director of GIMA said: ?The GISCF is designed to help start-up businesses take their product from concept to reality, and with a ?5,000 prize fund up for grabs it is always a hotly contested part of our annual programme of activities. The calibre of entries in recent years has been of the highest quality, and this year is certainly no different. We look forward to announcing the 2017 winner at Glee in September.?
Buyers Power List
First launched to the market at Glee 2015 ? and receiving a wholly positive response from the garden retail industry – the Buyers Power List is designed to provide suppliers and retailers with a platform to recognise the individual buyers and buying teams who have gone above and beyond to make a difference, and whose decisions are helping the garden retail industry to thrive.
This year there will be five individual categories – Best Independent Garden Centre, Best Multiple Garden Centre, Best DIY / Builder Merchant Buying Team, Best Online Buyer/ Buying Team and Best ?Other? Garden Retail Buyer/Buying Team – with votes invited from across the industry, with everyone from heads of purchasing to suppliers eligible to vote.
GIMA Business Village
The GIMA Business Village is home to a great selection of up and coming companies exhibiting with the support of GIMA.? Glee is also pleased to present the GIMA Business Lounge, an ideal place to take a break, arrange meetings and catch up with key suppliers. It is also home to the ?Buyers Connect? speed networking sessions which will see selected exhibitors meet with show visitors for 10-minute power-networking sessions.
International Buyers Centre
International visitors will find the International Buyers Centre (IBC) in partnership with Gardenex a useful resource.? Located in Hall 18, the IBC will be led by the team at Gardenex, who will be on hand to provide support and advice as well as translation services to international buyers and visitors.? The International Buyers Centre will also be home to a two-hour session of ?Meet the International Buyer?, enabling UK suppliers to have short introductory meetings with a few selected international buyers.
REGISTER TODAY
Entry to Glee is free of charge to all pre-registered visitors.? Simply register via the Glee website www.gleebirmingham.com/register.? All pre-registered visitors will save ?20 on the door, as well as receiving the Glee show preview if requested before the show to help plan their visit.
Glee 2017 takes place at the NEC, Birmingham, from Monday 11th to Wednesday 13th September and opens between 9.00am and 6:00pm (Monday & Tuesday) and 4:00pm (Wednesday).? To find out the latest news and to register for free entry, please visit www.gleebirmingham.com.? For details on exhibiting at Glee, call 0203 033 2160.
