Greeting card brand, Candle Bark Creations, is making a move into markets overseas with an appearance at the National Stationery Show in New York – its first international trade fair.
The brand has also partnered with a distributor in Hong Kong and is in talks with a UK distributor.
“In order to keep 100 per cent across all stationery trends we planned a visit to the National Stationery Show in New York and then thought – we may as well exhibit,” says Fiona Hulme, Candle Bark Creations founder and studio director. “You never know exactly what you are going to get from a trade show – but you always get something great.”
Candle Bark Creations will exhibit all of its collections including the new Paperie collection, which features neon and honeycomb elements.
“I think we will get a good reaction as we are definitely new. All our designs are completely unique and are very commercial as well – so I am confident. We will be very proud Australians in New York City and we will indicate this in our trade show stand. We will find out how true it is about Americans liking Australians.”
The overseas push follows the opening of Candle Bark Creations’ new studio in the Sydney suburb of Alexandria. It is three times the size of the old studio and will allow the wholesaler to keep up with the big growth in demand it has experienced in the past three years.
“The new studio has a showroom at the front where retail clients can visit,” explains Hulme. “It is great for brand awareness too – there is a big sign out the front. The studio enables us to function more effectively to ensure clients receive their orders promptly. Managing growth is always a challenge and the studio has definitely enabled this.”
