Jul 6, 2022

GHTA releases conference details

The Gift and Home Trade Association (GHTA) will host its 2022 conference, Sep. 21-23, 2022. This year’s conference will offer pertinent industry information, a keynote address, panelist discussions and more. GHTA released its agenda details and the names of the panelists for The Retail Rundown: Hear it Here, which will feature four retailer panelists.

2022 GHTA Conference Details

Wednesday, Sep. 21, 2022

• Storytelling: The Beekman Boys
• 4 panelist discussion of brand-led businesses
• Speaker on B2C Ecommerce in Gift & Home
• Breakout sessions
• Give Back

Thursday, Sep. 22, 2022

• What retailers want: Owner of Boutique Hub
• Keynote Brian Beck: B2B Ecommerce and Digital Transformation
• Breakout panels
• Speaker on Supply Chain
• 4 panelist discussion on Sourcing; PD; Supply Chain

Friday, Sep. 23, 2022

• Speaker on Consumer Exhaustion and Wellness
• Retail Panel: A panel of four key retailers, guests at Conference, will discuss issues candidly. Sponsored by IMC.

Retail Panel | The Retail Rundown: Hear it Here

This panel will host four retailers that will offer Panel of Four Retailers
Friday, September 23, 2022

The Retail Rundown: Hear it Here offers “straight talk from a panel of four retailers” according to GHTA. The panelists will discuss the “pulse and prepping for the future.” International Market Centers is the retail panel sponsor.

The moderator for the event will be Tom Ungrodt. He has worked in the gift and home industry for his entire career. Several positions were held in the family business and in 2003 he became CEO/owner of several retail stores and a nation-wide marketing company. After Ungrodt left the business he joined Vistage Michigan, a business owners association as group chair, and re-Align for Results, a company of business sherpas expanding your business through a third growth option. He continues to facilitate a group of top executives in the gift and home industry at major markets.

The four panelists include:

Mackenzie Farquarer | Lockwood Shop

Farquarer merged her love of design and business to form Lockwood, a New York City-based micro chain of lifestyle stores, that specialize in affordable, on trend gifts and goods. Now in its 15th year, Lockwood caters to several New York City neighborhoods with custom New York City artwork, stationery, locally made gifts, and New York-centric finds made just for the shop. Lockwood offers 6 locations, and can be found in Astoria, Jackson Heights, Greenpoint, and Williamsburg.

Rick Hasse | Patina

Rick Haase and his business partner and wife, Christine Ward, have been in business together for 29 years, since opening their first Patina store in September of 1993 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Hasse and Ward combined their interests in retail, business and studio arts and created a lifestyle brand that has grown to eight locations in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Twin Cities metro area and an online store, patinastores.com. Patina is a specialty purveyor known for selling a mix of value priced home decor, jewelry, fragrance, stationery, gifts and toys.

Howard Henschel |Norman’s Gift Shops, Inc.

Howard Henschel, president & CEO of Norman’s Gift Shops, Inc. (DBA Norman’s Hallmark), has been a force in the social expression industry. What began over 80 years ago as a one-store location owned by Howard’s parents in downtown Trenton, New Jersey, Norman’s Hallmark has grown into over 65 locations spanning Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and surrounding market areas. Howard is known for his innovative marketing mind along with his intuition on new products. He inspires many other retailers to follow his leadership, which as a result has made them very successful.

Sara Villari | Occasionette

Sara Villari is the owner and creative director of Occasionette, an award winning gift and card shop with four locations in the Philadelphia area. Occasionette ranked among the 100 fastest growing businesses in the Philadelphia region in 2019 and 2020. Prior to opening the first Occasionette location in 2013, Villari was one of the first employees at Etsy.com, working as a community manager for the e-commerce site.