By Ed Avis
You’re already deep into the Christmas sales for 2023, but believe it or not, it’s probably time to start thinking about next holiday season. And a new NCA Vendor Member, Kurt Adler Inc., predicts that Christmas could be a major sales season for you.
“I think NCA members would really benefit by expanding their view of the holiday season beyond the Santa suits,” says Nigel FeBland, the sales representative for Kurt Adler Inc. “Kurt Adler carries an amazingly large line of high-end Christmas products that are not sold in the chains. These are things NCA members can make money with after the Halloween season is over.”
Kurt Adler Inc. dates back to 1946, when founder and namesake Kurt Adler returned from WWII and established an export business in New York City. After a few years of selling U.S. candy, detergent and other products overseas, he realized that a better business may be importing goods from Europe. In the late 1940s, Christmas decorations in the United States were pretty basic, but European countries were creating a remarkable variety of ornaments and decorations. Adler’s business succeeded with imports of angels and candy containers from Germany, spun glass ornaments from Czechoslovakia, tree lights from Italy, and many more Christmas-related items.
Today the company, which is run by Adler’s daughter and two sons, has a catalog of thousands of high quality original and licensed Christmas goods. In addition to ornaments and decorations, the company offers countless other items that appeal to costume shop customers in the holiday spirit, such as stockings, Santa hats, plush toys and windups. Impulse purchasing is big during the holidays, and a counter full of potential stocking stuffers is sure to keep the cash register ringing.
Tips for Stocking Christmas Items
How does a costume shop choose from a vast catalog of Christmas goods? Cliff Adler, son of the founder and co-president, recommends speaking to one of the company’s experienced sales reps.
“We have thousands of independent stores who are accounts, and we like to sit down and talk to them a little bit about who they are and what they're trying to achieve,” Adler says. “We always say that not everything we have is for everyone, but there's something for everyone. And so I think as a first time thing, if somebody has no experience in it, I think they should work with a salesperson here.”
Original, high-quality Christmas goods are the company’s expertise, such as beautiful tabletop decorations and heirloom quality ornaments. But they also sell a wide range of licensed products. Imagine a display of stockings featuring Snoopy, Squishmallows and Bluey and Bingo. Or a line of blow-molded Christmas ornaments featuring Elvis, Ruth Bader Ginsburg or vintage Hasbro board games.
Once a store has selected the items, Adler suggests putting up a faux Christmas tree – they carry a line of colored versions -- and hanging selected ornaments, toys and other goodies on the boughs. The trees not only act as displays for the items, but they also create a festive feel in the store. He suggests placing baskets filled with the displayed items under the tree, so customers can easily find what they’re seeing.
Another option is to devote a section of the store to holiday products. FeBland says he once visited a customer of his who was ordering a tremendous amount of Christmas product and discovered that the owner had turned a wing of his store into a Christmas shop.
“I think NCA stores could do that, too,” FeBland suggests. “This is a way for them to really take advantage of the season.”
Adler suggests that a store interested in launching a Christmas line should start conservatively, because Adler can quickly fill reorders. The company’s minimum initial order is just $400, and reorders are $150. The company is participating in the NCA Buyer's Group, and offers a 5% discount for orders of $750 to $1,749 and 10% off for orders of $1,750 or more.
The company’s catalog is available online at https://www.kurtadler.com/, but customers can also see the products first hand at the Kurt Adler showrooms, located in Las Vegas, New York, Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, Toronto and other cities.
“We’re looking forward to working with NCA members,” Adler says, “and we’re confident Christmas items could become an important part of their sales.”