Buzz: Real or Imagined?

In a few short days the Chicago Housewares Show will be opening.  I’ve been attending this extravaganza for, GASP, about thirty years.  Yes there have been a lot of changes and no I’m not going to go on a rant about them.  There was one change however that made a difference for me: It was when the Housewares gods moved the show from January to March.  The stress of hoping one’s travel plans would not be wrecked by blizzards and sub-zero temperatures was certainly ratcheted down a few notches.
 
The “good show” phenomenon still exists.  As in, “Do you think it’ll be a good show?” “Are you having a good show?”  Did you have a good show?”  This year I’m hearing from a lot of folk that they think this WILL be a good show.  And that’s from both manufacturers and retailers.  The cynics believe that the show will be a success because retailers have finally run out of merchandise.  The rational thinkers believe that nothing could be as bad as last year.  And a startlingly large segment of participants speak of a vague “positive vibe that seems to be in the air.”
 
There’s about a million reasons why a sunny outlook in these troubled times can be dismissed.  So when our manufacturers and accounts decide to be gutsy and buck the trends, it’s time to sit up and take notice. I’ll take the optimism wherever it comes from.