Fashion show theme

Arts and crafts, fashion office supplies top SHOPA - School and Home Office Products Association show

NEW ORLEANS -- Arts and crafts products, particularly kits, and fashion-forward office supplies, were the hot trends at last month's School and Home Office Products Association show.

"Arts and crafts is the fastest growing segment we have in the [stationery] category," said Marty Tassoni, vice president, merchandising, Fred Meyer, the Northwestern supercenter chain.

Kids' stationery products and arts and crafts also topped the shopping list of Lee Cherenson, merchandise manager, and Mike Corapi, buyer, Stuarts, who said they were looking for "new avenues to stimulate the business and make things happen in a tough Northeast market."

Strong themes in this category included art kits featuring paint, brushes or sponges, glitter, crayons, markers and pencils in portable cases.

Overall, fashion and licensed products led the way in every stationery category from back-to-school items to traditional office supplies.

Hot licenses for '94 across stationery lines include Crayola, Lisa Frank, Warner Bros. Looney Tunes, Barney, Batman, NFL, X-Men, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Biker Mice. Some other important licensed programs unveiled at the show include Mead's Nike line of products, and Plymouth's use of Bic Wave-lengths and Crayola--in addition to Harley-Davidson, "Cadillacs and Dinosaurs," and other properties--on many of its offerings.

The use of non-competitive licenses such as Crayola, Lisa Frank and Bic Wavelengths--the name given to a line of pens--in the stationery industry could prove to be an important development over the next year, and one that could be replicated in other industries. The companies involved in brand-sharing have realized the equity companies have in their names and are bold enough to tap the possibilities

The licensed properties appeared on pen and pencil barrels, notebook covers, sidewalk chalk and art kits in addition to the more routine products such as lunch boxes, athletic bags and partyware.

Office products suppliers, while a bit more staid with licensed products, also proved creative with a liberal use of color and graphics.

Tesa Tape, for example, introduced a new line of professional quality postal supplies including tapes and wraps using John Ratzenberger, Cliff from the hit TV series "Cheers," as its spokesman. The line currently includes 42 skus, but marketing manager Bob Strahler said the list is likely to increase.

Also new were fashion-forward and utility-minded office supplies by Pelikan, such as colorful templates for computer keyboards that coincide with a user's specific software program, such as WordPerfect 6.0 or Microsoft Word 3.0, designer monitor covers and mouse pads, plus a clip art animation software program designed to upgrade business presentations.