Valentines Day is on its way! There are just a couple of months left until Christmas, which means that it must be time to start thinking about Valentines Day … already! Maybe it seems a little early, but remember that you’re going to have to fill all those empty shelves and display cases with something once the holiday merchandise is gone. Valentines Day merchandise ought to hit the sales floor by January 1st (if not sooner), so it’s a good idea to get it all ordered now; then you won’t have to worry about it during the Christmas rush. To help you along with your purchasing decisions (and make shopping a little easier), we’ve identified just a few of the excellent suppliers from our extensive FGMarket Valentines Day Holiday & Special Occasion vendors’ category. These companies offer a wide array of traditional as well as unconventional Valentines Day merchandise. For gift ideas that go from romantic to whimsical, from stylish to silly, from tempting to tasty to downright tawdry, read on …
Not a Valentines Day goes by without someone, somewhere getting a heart-shaped box of chocolates. You can be part of that time-honored tradition with the high quality, award-winning chocolates from Quality Candy/Buddy Squirrel (as the name suggests, the candy operation merged with the nut company some years ago). A family business since 1916, Quality creates premium melt-in-your-mouth candy in all the traditional milk chocolate and dark chocolate varieties, including double-dipped cherry cordials, buttery caramels, creamy nougats and savory nut clusters. They’re available in a wide range of beautifully boxed sizes and assortments, and they can even be paired with deluxe nut mixes, rich caramel corn or jumbo cashews from the Squirrel side of the business, all presented in an attractive gift tin.
From the Southern part of the country comes Robicheaux’s Specialty Candy, makers of some of the best handmade chocolates in Dixie. As you might expect, pecans figure heavily in their product line, with chocolate-covered pecan turtles being their number one seller. For Valentines Day, they do their traditional turtles in the shape of a heart, either “plain” (not frosted) or dipped in white chocolate and decorated with red, pink or white drizzles… yum!! Robicheaux’s has a large selection of gift bags, boxes, tins and crates filled with their delicious chocolates, or you can buy them in bulk and market them in your own containers. Their 8-ounce red heart-shaped tin, filled with 14 individually wrapped assorted candies, is sure to be a great Valentines Day gift. It’s even comes filled with sugar-free candies.
To help your customers communicate what’s in their own hearts, check out the verbal candy bars from chocolateTalk. Smooth, creamy milk chocolate or scrumptious dark chocolate is hand-molded into a 2.5 ounce bar that delivers a special greeting. For Valentines Day, the ones that proclaim “LOVE” or “SMOOCH” are the likely choices. Each bar is packaged in an eye-catching, multicolor striped wrapping with an attached gift tag. A handy 32-bar counter display comes free with the first order. This is a great impulse item to keep near the cash register, and it can be an easy add-on sale to go with something like a flower arrangement or a teddy bear.
And speaking of teddy bears (did you like that segue?), there are probably more plush animals sold at Valentines Day than during Christmas. For more information, watch for our upcoming newsletter, Valentines Day is on Its Way – Plush Animals Gift Ideas, part two of FGMarket’s newsletter series featuring some great gift ideas for Valentine’s Day. Find these and other fine wholesalers and suppliers of Valentine’s Day gift items in our FGMarket Valentines Day Holiday & Special Occasion vendors’ category.
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