"SCENE" AND HEARD AT THE ATLANTA, 2021 JULY GIFT MART!

Another successful trip has been completed! We have purchased decor, ornaments and artist creations for all of the 2022 spring holidays. This would make the 53rd trip to the Atlanta Gift Mart buying for our store! We have only missed one in the 27 years we have been in business and that can be chalked up to Covid-19. While we felt it would be safer to miss the July, 2020 show last year, it was really hard buying online and we missed seeing all our friends at market. It's always fun to connect with all of the vendors, artists and other store owners. We love to compare notes on how certain things are selling and what are the hot products for the year, but this year the uppermost question on everyone's mind was about product... How it was going to get to us and and WHEN??? There is no doubt everything is running about a month behind since most everything arriving to our country from overseas will be late in getting here. There was just no way to predict how Covid affected the shipping process. Imagine the Pacific Ocean as a freeway filled with ships, kind of like the Ventura Freeway here in Los Angeles, the busiest freeway in the country. That is what our oceans look like now, with ships following ships to our shores only to reach ports that are just as backed up as a freeway at rush hour. So they sit and wait at the dock to have their product off-loaded, which can take weeks! It's too bad we can't push each holiday out a month, but since we all know that won't work, we will just deal with it for the 2021 holiday season and hope that it evens out in 2022.

The good news is there is a lot of exciting product coming for 2022! It looks like a lot of people had some spare time on their hands during the pandemic, so there are some really fun designs from many of our favorite artists! Look for these on our website soon. Here is a sampling!

JOHANNA PARKER: Her popularity just keeps on growing, as does her collection of fabulous folk art and ceramic tabletop. Transpac has released Johanna's 2022 ceramic tabletop collection and it is sure to be a hit! The good news is you won't have to wait until 2022 (like with other retailers) to get some of the items from us at Traditions! We will have the Easter Dottie Teapot, Bunny Ears Cookie Jar and the VERY popular Chick and Bunny salt & pepper set THIS YEAR, sometime in late fall! So get yourself on our waitlist for all of these items, pronto!

 DEE HARVEY: Dee Harvey's Easter and Valentine's Day collection keeps getting better and better. This year, there will be dolls and bunnies dressed in fabrics with crepe embellishment and resin charms. As always, their sweet faces draw you in and make you think of something you would have found in your Grandma's attic!

LORI MITCHELL: We are thrilled to see that Lori Mitchell has added to one of the most popular Valentine's Day collections at Traditions! These darling new Valentine's figures, as well as St. Patrick's Day and Easter figures for 2022, will be terrific to add to your personal collection!

 JOE SPENCER: It is always fun to see what comes out the creative mind of Joe Spencer! This year is no exception, since both the bunnies and patriotic figures will come with paper box heads!

 GLITTERVILLE: Now these made us smile! Sometimes you are just ambling along at market, hoping that you will see something different or unusual, and you stumble upon these fabulous flocked bunnies of all sizes. How could we resist!? There are eggs and "Peeps" to go with them too! We can't wait to display them in our store!!

 Well, there is a lot more to come, but the above should be enough of a tease to get you excited for the coming year ahead. Let's just get through the fun seasons of Halloween and Christmas first! :)

Happy Holidays!
From all of us at Traditions