Newswise — Craft enthusiasts, hobbyists and anyone curious about new, do-it-yourself gift and decoration projects are finding themselves in good company with the arrival of the 2004 holiday giving season. According to the Craft & Hobby Association (http://www.craftandhobby.org), the leading national craft retailer trade and research organization, a recent online survey predicts the following indicators about the 2004 holiday gift making season:
* 79 percent of respondents will be making gifts and decorations;* 63 percent of crafters will be creating more projects than last year;* 50 hours is the average time commitment devoted to making these projects and to consulting local retailers for new ideas and supplies.
Don Meyer, the CHA's spokesman, explained that the craft industry is unique for being counter-cyclical; that is to say, if the economy is "soft," the trend for more people to economize with handmade projects and home-based entertainment with crafts is greater. Additionally, where most craft retailers are independents, there can be a higher degree of "customer touch" in the experience of service and product offerings they offer which helps to attract people in need of gift ideas.
One such retailer is Massachusetts-based ARTBEAT (http://www.ARTBEATonline.com) whose owner Jan Whitted has been distinguishing her family-oriented shop for eight years. It's a formula that is working: ARTBEAT approaches the 2004 holiday season poised for opening a second store and debuts a new self-branded product line of easy-to-make craft kits. Ms. Whitted says that knowing customer and behavioral trends is important to be ready for the holiday rush. She attributes this year's fall into winter spike in store traffic and online ordering to three influences:
1. increased classroom time devoted to creating thematic craft projects to commemorate traditional holidays;2. a boost of organized adult social "groups" akin to book clubs which are exploring everything from nostalgic journaling to creative writing workshops;3. seasonal, colder weather which has caregivers seeking safe inside activities for young children.
Jan Whitted assigns high value in providing step-by-step instruction to demystify craft projects that on the surface appear complex " velvet embossing, painted silks, mosaics, painted glasses, Millefiori paperweights " even if doing so takes extra time and operational expense. ARTBEAT features these very projects in its second annual Holiday 2004 Guide to Creative Gift Making: a free checkbook-size compendium of 20 how-to "recipes" for holiday craft projects. ARTBEAT also offers a robust calendar of free "how-to" workshops for kids and adults. She feels that committing valuable retail space to an on-site art studio invites even a casual browser to explore their creative side.
"We welcome the mess," she says. "I know we sacrifice product display space but few retailers are able to invite their customers to sit right down with an instructor available." It was this very distinction that had producers from an acclaimed PBS children's show contact Ms. Whitted to film a family making crafts together at the ARTBEAT studio.
"When you're in the creativity business, you're offering a holiday experience 365-days-a-year," says ARTBEAT's Jan Whitted. "You're either giving the gift of inspiration to yourself or the gift of creative expression to someone you care about. The reason that the 2004 Holiday Season should break records is that making crafts is both easy and affordable."
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