After 26 years in downtown Northville, the Michigan Association of Gift Salesmen (MAGS), also known as Michigan Gift Mart, has dissolved. It’s the end of an era for Michigan’s gift distributors, but the beginning of a new era of more and bigger temporary shows.

MAGS housed permanent booths for gift sales representatives and held monthly shows where retailers could browse product lines in a mall-like setting, with larger, more complete displays than are typical at a temporary show.

Monthly shows and the convenience of permanent display spaces made the project appealing to sales reps and retailers for years. But the build-ing’s escalating rent and a drop-off in business came together to spell the end of the organization and the facility.

Without an ongoing permanent location, the group planned to disband at the end of its board’s term on November 30.

Moving forward
Several new gift shows will help fill the void left by MAGS. Two of them received the official endorsement of the MAGS board at its last formal meeting.

The Great Lakes Market Show will occur on January 7, 8 and 9—the same weekend that MAGS used to hold its biggest monthly show of the year. If it is successful, a second, expanded show is planned for July 9, 10 and 11, according to the show’s promoters, Martin and Taylor LLC.

It will be held at the Rock Financial Center in Novi, only a few miles north of the old Michigan Gift Mart, and Martin and Taylor expect to fill 100 booths.

“Along with familiar lines, there will be new, fresh products that haven’t been seen in southeastern Michigan before,” said Cathy Taylor.

Two months later, in March, the new Lansing Gift Show will debut, organized by Expo Promotions. According to promoter Jim Liska, the Lansing show will feature the most gift and souvenir wholesale exhibit booths ever assembled under one roof in Michigan, with over 70 exhibitors, access to over 400 product lines and 35,000 square feet of show floor.

“We expect it to be very successful, given the central location and the size and good timing of the event,” said Liska. A second Lansing Gift Show is planned for the weekend of August 8, 9 and 10.

“Both shows have great locations and should be successful. There will be some overlap of vendors but plenty of unique booths at both,” said Frank Kaminskas, president of MAGS.

Another new wrinkle in the gift show scene is the move of Creative Shows’ April gift show from Traverse City, where it has been held for 25 years, to a large new facility in Petoskey. The move brings it much closer to the Northern Michigan Gift Show held at the Boyne Resort in Harbor Springs the same weekend, making it easier for retailers to visit the two shows on the same weekend.

The MAGS era
MAGS actually began as MUGS—Michigan United Gift Salesmen—formed in 1968 and located in the Gateway Center Building in downtown Detroit.

As city rents rose and the advantages of being downtown waned, MUGS’s leaders found a property in Northville—a small, failed shopping mall called “Northville Square” on Main Street near the town center.

“Some people thought the idea was crazy—Northville seemed like the middle of nowhere back then,” said Taylor. “But many distributors made the move, and retailers did come. It was very exciting.”

With the move to Northville, the organization updated its name to Michigan Association of Gift Salesmen, or MAGS. In its heyday it had over 90 booths.

In 1996, MAGS renamed the Northville showroom the Michigan Gift Mart.

At the same time, temporary or “hotel” shows grew in size and popularity. Today, many retailers appear to prefer a combination of the temporary shows and visits from local reps in their stores, according to Taylor.

MAGS gradually saw less and less traffic, and many distributors pulled out, especially during the last five years. It closed with 46 showrooms in use, about half the number active at its height.

Why
The most obvious reason for the demise of Michigan Gift Mart is the struggling economy and difficult gift retail environment, according to Creative Shows’ Dennis Connors. He points out that the wholesale gift industry is just “a microcosm of the local economy.”

“Gift spending is the ultimate in discretionary spending—when discretionary income drops off, gift stores feel it early,” explained Dave Alger, of Alger & Associates, another long-time member of MAGS.

Alger also traces the decline to competition for the discretionary dollar from casinos.

Another reason is the combination of location and timing of the Northville facility. In the late 1970s it was an affordable property. Since then, Northville has become affluent and experienced a development boom, pushing up the value of the property beyond what the organization can afford.

For the organization itself, various approaches to continuation have led to some factions. Whatever their differences, most agree it’s time to regroup and reconsider ways that distributors can work together to improve their industry.

“Out of necessity, good things sometimes happen,” said MAGS manager Darlene Burke. “And a lot of people are working very hard to make that happen.”

Mixed feelings
Gift retailers who used MAGS have mixed feelings about its closing. Janet Rogers, whose parents own Rogers Jewelry & Gifts in Cheboygan, fondly remembers going to Northville and MAGS as a child. She says she’ll miss it a lot, as will her parents, who don’t like going as far as Chicago anymore.

Sharon Pugh—a veteran retailer who owns Sideways, a gift store in Plymouth—will miss the convenience of MAGS and the reps there who were available to meet on short notice.

On the other hand, she believes MAGS might have done better with a different strategy, such as being open a single day every week instead of a three-day monthly show.

“I’m concerned about what the closing says about the way the industry works and the tough climate for local reps,” said Pugh. “Unfortunately, some manufacturers appear to be looking to cut out the middleman and sell directly to retailers.

“It’s so easy to buy from a catalog or online. But good local distributors are invaluable—they solve problems, they develop a relationship with you. You can trust them to know your store and your style.”

Pugh says she will continue to rely on her favorite local reps.

“I’ll look for them at the new temporary shows, and order through them whenever possible. But it will be different without the convenience of MAGS.”

Distributors, too, have mixed feelings about the end of MAGS—regret, nostalgia, relief, frustration. At the same time they recognize the need to adapt to the changing market.

“The sad part is that MAGS was a good community member for years,” said Alger. “For three days a month we brought hundreds of people a day into Northville. But times have changed, and now every corner here is viewed as a hot property.”

Others, like Connors, say they won’t miss the place—high rent and dwindling customers made it more of a burden, especially when there are other effective ways to reach retailers. Connors looks forward to exciting new shows and the chance for everyone to “get out of their ruts” and look for new approaches to business.

New Shows

• Lansing Gift Show,
Lansing

• Great Lakes Market Show,
Novi

• Northern Michigan Gift Show,
Harbor Springs

• Gift, Gourmet and Souvenir Show,
Petoskey