Souvenirs, Gifts & Novelties President and Executive Editor Scott C. Borowsky photographed at Philadelphia, Pa.’s Citizens Bank Park during the 10th Annual 2017 Little Smiles Monte Carlo Night. The event benefits children, families and healthcare workers in area hospitals and shelters.

From creating great displays and offering the best customer service to employing a combination of skill and instinct when it comes to merchandise buying, retailers are always trying to improve their sales outlook. We at Souvenirs, Gifts & Novelties (SGN) are here to assist with informative, interesting stories covering a wide variety of topics related to conducting business in retail.

In addition to our original stories, also in this edition is the Summer installment of our Profiles in Excellence feature. This bi-annual advertising opportunity allows a selection of industry vendors to promote their companies with half-page stories. We hope you take the opportunity to get to know these businesses by reading their profiles, which appear throughout the issue.

To commemorate New York’s Stationery Show, we offer a special “Stationery, Signs, Frames and Party Supplies Section” with a variety of stories covering everything from stationery, signs and frames to calendars and decorations. Additionally, a special, expanded Gifts section covers edible merchandise, home decor, bath and body products and baby and gem and mineral merchandise. 

Portable and always popular, jewelry is typically a successful souvenir category. In our recurring Jewelry section, we offer a look at the gem and mineral jewelry picture at museums, jewelry sales tips from jewelry stores and boutiques and bonus tips sidebars covering sales and employee hiring. 

The issue also offers an Apparel and Accessories section that includes advice on selling in these categories from apparel boutiques, a look at the apparel selection at inspirational stores and tips to sell more T-shirts at college stores. 

In the popular Zoo and Aquarium section, there are stories on strategies to sell more T-shirts, souvenirs, plush and toys. And in the Plush and Toys section, we offer articles on how toy stores reach out to their communities with special programming and the playthings picture at hardware stores and florists. We also cover what is new at public lands stores this season, and trends in holiday selling at party, gift and hallmark stores. 

This edition also features product and trade show news and more. I hope you enjoy the issue. Please contact me with your questions, comments and suggestions by emailing editorsgnmag@kanec.com and I will respond to your note personally.

Scott C. Borowsky
President and Executive Editor
Souvenirs, Gifts & Novelties magazine