M.J. Norblade

This is the second part of a two part post. If you did not read, China Buying Trip: Hong Kong Gift Fair, you might want to go back and read it first.

After a long day on our feet, we pile into a couple of vans and head to Guangzhou, China for the Jinhan and Canton Fairs. We make the most of the three hour trip by napping to help recover from the jet lag, grateful for the comfortable seats.

Our showroom in the CAC building is our second home while we are in the area. We had hundreds of product samples sent to an office-area for our review. After nearly two full days of critical review and number crunching, we ended up with some great new items for the summer show season. Take a look at these exciting, new lamps from a great new designer we’ve hired.

New Designer Lamps

Crossing between buildings at the Canton Fair.

Now for more walking… Our Dongguan-based buyer service representatives join us once we pass security. They keep us on track and help with coordinating samples and translating all the product development requests we make. I don’t know what we would do without them!

We have literally miles of booths visit in the Jinhan building’s 4 floors not to mention the 3 buildings of the Canton fair. Even splitting up into three separate buying teams, I can only guess at how many miles and blisters we will accumulate each day. Maybe we should wear pedometers at the next show!

As physically taxing as it is, it takes even more mental concentration to review booth after booth of products ranging from decorative rocks, resin figurines, clocks, wall décor, silk plants, garden décor, glassware, ceramics, furniture, and so much more. We work with hundreds of vendors both current and potentially new as we put together hundreds items, using color palettes and trends to coordinate our product development. It’s amazing when the samples are finished and it arrives in our Tulsa warehouse. How all of it comes together! That is the very best part of the job!

After ten productive days at the fair, we are tired from walking, but our notebooks are full of great ideas. We decide to indulge in a treat! Foot massage!

Heading out into Guangzhou with our global salesperson Helen as our guide, the buying team, along with our Tulsa-based global sales person, Amanda, are treated to an hour of pampering. What a great way to wrap up the trip!

Do you have any questions or comments about the trip? Leave them below. I can’t wait to hear from you!