So here we are at the beginning of another year, 2013 and the first retail trade show of the year has already been put to bed. The challenge as always: to find what’s new as early as we can and secure it as exclusively as possible…the personal challenge invariably is to also find something for men that isn’t a gadget with a thirty second amusement span and zero function, actually something that isn’t even a sodding gadget. What is this gadget obsession traders think the male public have?
The last few years have seen new objects of desire for women in retail such as theVIP Handbag Organiser; a clever well designed and high spec finish interchangeable handbag insert.
A simple but once again clever Hooky, which enables said handbags to be hooked to the table out of the way of general dirt and thieving hands. 
Stacker system jewellery boxes; Tipsy Feet fold away pumps for tired stiletto-ed feet; scented candles that could fill a small supermarket with the variety of floral, fruity or musky scents; new jewellery collections every quarter in all styles, be it silver, gold or costume…bags for your underwear, bags for your shoes, bags for your wedding clobber, bags for those bits for the weekend; Creams, moisturisers, exfoliaters, relaxants, energisers…. and all of it entirely female targeted.
For men, we’ve had the ‘Mandle’, think candle and you’ve got it. Three or four masculine type scents (no floral or fruity fragrances for us);
Variations in the leather coin-tray (think the perfect place to dump all the bits from you pocket) alongside all the usual suspects like cufflink-boxes, cufflinks, tie-pins, collar stiffeners, hip-flasks, scarves, socks and shaving brushes…a list your great granddad would be familiar with, and the picture of retail being a woman’s world becomes apparent. Constantly coming up with things they didn’t even know they might need, or enjoy, the female retail world is a myriad of innovation compared to the man’s retail world.
The first trade show of the year, Top Drawer or was it Pulse (they all seem to merge into one) this year was no exception and I don’t anticipate the rather monstrous NEC Birmingham Spring Fair in February to be much different…massive, multi-acre sized halls, some smelling like the ground floor of department stores, row after row, stand after stand of goodies, many new to the market – the massive majority targeted to the female retail customer. I anticipate traipsing mile after mile mainly to do the usual business but also on the hunt for something new for men…when I say hunt, it’s probably like being in the desert with a small stick – difficult to decide which has the greater probability of success.
Still, there’s the Volume Hall to look forward to. Items that you can’t imagine anybody wanting having to be ordered in huge amounts to ensure you can have them. I’ve yet to see anything in 12 years that I might want…that’s not even to sell on, and this hall gets an extra day! Strangely, most of the Sellers (Agents) and Buyers (Agents) seem to be male in this Hall. Maybe it’s where those strange high street Chain-stores source from…you know the ones…weird 1980’s lighting and a sort of ‘world has stopped spinning’ feel to them. This time I may sit and have coffee and eavesdrop…there’s got to be some bizarre conversations going on.
londonzu 