National Stationery Show and Craft & Hobby Association Announce Partnership

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Jan. 9, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The National Stationery Show® (NSS) and the Craft & Hobby Association (CHA) have announced a partnership that will provide new opportunities for the social stationery and craft and creative hobby industries, beginning with the May 19-22, 2013 National Stationery Show in New York City. The collaboration will take the form of co-located education and events, capitalizing on synergies between the two industries.
  
 CHA will introduce a "Creative Conference" alongside GLM's 67th annual NSS and new Creative & Lifestyle Arts tradeshow this coming May.  CHA's rich educational program will offer an estimated 16,000 combined attendees with content that will demonstrate the enormous growth potential that incorporating crafting into their stores can produce.  In addition, the National Stationery Show and GLM will bring a distinctive stationery and lifestyle products event to the CHA Conference & Trade Show, January 11-15, 2014 in Anaheim.  Together, the CHA and GLM tradeshows will form the largest business-to-retail event dedicated to California's multi-billion dollar crafting, creative hobby and lifestyle products retail market.

"A partnership between the National Stationery Show and the Craft & Hobby Association is a natural marriage given the retail and product synergies in both industry communities," said Patti Stracher, GLM Vice President.  "We anticipate growing the business and relationship-building opportunities on both coasts through this collaboration, beginning with expanded educational content and product offerings for retailers across the country."

"CHA is constantly seeking new ways to help members and the marketplace as a whole to enhance their businesses," said Andrej Suskavcevic, CHA President & CEO.  "This new partnership with GLM and the National Stationery Show is yet another venture that will provide opportunity for growth and professional development."

The Craft & Hobby Association is an international not-for-profit trade association consisting of thousands of member companies engaged in the design, manufacture, distribution and retail sales of craft products worldwide. For more about CHA, the value of membership, or its award-winning Conferences & Trade Shows, please visit www.craftandhobby.org.

Now in its 67th year, the National Stationery Show is the nation's leading marketplace for social stationery and related lifestyle products, featuring 800 exhibitors and drawing some 11,000 attendees from around the world.  Launching in 2013 alongside the NSS, Creative & Lifestyle Arts will serve the East Coast's $18 billion art, crafting and creative hobby marketplace, featuring a broad range of innovative crafting and paper art supplies; embellishments; art materials; design tools; DIY kits for home decor, party, holiday and card making; along with supplies for floral, glass, woodworking, jewelry making, needlecrafts and scrapbooking. Both shows will run Sunday, May 19, through Wednesday, May 22, 2013, at New York City's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.  Additional information is available online, at www.nationalstationeryshow.com and www.creativelifestylearts.com.