International Attendance Jumps at GLEE
A total of 25,157 buyers attended GLEE and GLEE Petindex, held
Sept. 18-20 at the National Exhibition Center in Birmingham,
England. The visitor count was up 2 percent from last year,
when 24,761 people attended the international garden/leisure/pet
products exhibition.
More than 22,100 of those visitors came from the United Kingdom,
comparable to last year’s 22,231 U.K. visitors, according
to Trade Promotion Services Ltd. (Croydon, England). A total
of 2,970 visitors represented other countries, up 17 percent
from 2,530 foreign visitors last year.
About 2,500 visitors represented retail pet supply outlets,
a 6 percent increase from last year, according to show organizers.
Attendance by international pet retailers—who came from
40 countries, including the United States—increased
105 percent.
GLEE and GLEE Petindex welcomed a total of 1,689 international
suppliers with products ranging from interior décor
items to landscaping accessories. Nearly 300 exhibitors represented
the pet and aquatics sectors.
“U.S. buyers at this show have been telling us that
there are so many new things here that they’ve never
seen before,” said Steve Hadley, vice president of international
sales for S&M NuTec L.L.C. (North Kansas City, Mo.). “For
us, this show is superb—the quality of visitor traffic;
the quantity of visitor traffic, especially of international
buyers; and all in a really beautiful setting of complementary
products. The synergy between pet, garden and gift makes this
show and our position in it ideal. We had at least 150 inquiries
in the first two-thirds of the first day (Sunday) and all
are good, solid people.”
“This year, the quality of attendance and the amount
of attendance has been higher than the past five years,”
Peter Kemp, managing director of Shaws Pet Products (Aylesbury,
England) as well as an international journalist.
A judging panel comprised of industry experts and magazine
editors selected 14 products to receive GLEE New Product Awards.
Among them:
• Feline Greenies by S&M NuTec. The innovative
treat is designed to keeps cats’ teeth healthy by reducing
plaque and tartar.
• Ario Color by Hydor SRL (Bassano del Grappa, Italy).
This easy-to-use product combines water aeration and lighting,
taking less space in the aquarium than separate water pumps
and light fixtures.
• Easyclear 4000 by Hozelock Cyprio (Aylesbury, England).
This complete integrated unit with a fountain waterfall eliminates
algae and removes cloudy particles to keep pond water clean
and healthy.
The next edition of GLEE and GLEE Petindex will be held Sept.
17-19, 2006, at the National Exhibition Center in Birmingham,
England. For more information, contact Adam Ash, North American
agent for GLEE Petindex, at (609) 921-0222 or reg@whitehoundadv.com,
or visit www.gleebirmingham.com.
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