FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 CONTACTS:
 Tara Tuschinski, Senior Manager, Media Relations, 404.220.2384, ttuschinski@americasmart.com
 Mike Turnbull, Senior Vice President, Marketing, 404.220.2101, mturnbull@americasmart.com

NEW HONORS PROGRAM SETS HOME & GIFT INDUSTRY'S
 HIGHEST LEVEL OF ACHIEVEMENT

AMERICASMART/GHTA ALLIANCE WILL PRODUCE ICON HONORS

ATLANTA, September 10, 2009 -- AmericasMart Atlanta and the Gift & Home Trade Association (GHTA) have created and will produce a gift and home industry honors program unprecedented in scope, global in scale and destined to be the annual defining event celebrating extraordinary manufacturing, sales and retail achievement. 

       ICON Honors: Celebrating Global Innovation is set for a July 2010 premiere at AmericasMart's Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market and Atlanta International Area Rug Market. 

      ICON Honors becomes the first international program fully embracing the gift and home categories in an independent recognition of exemplary achievement across the industry triumvirate:  product manufacturing, product sales representative businesses and retailing.

        "The creation of ICON Honors forever changes the home and gift industry's definition of superior achievement in a business born of innovation and rich in entrepreneurial vision and energy," notes Jeffrey L. Portman, Sr., AmericasMart president and chief operating officer.  

       "ICON Honors marks a new era in how we recognize and reward those whose passion and performance set the glide path to a future bright with promise.  It affirms our continuing stewardship of the industries we serve and the work of those whom we most admire," adds Portman.  

  Created in an exclusive AmericasMart/GHTA alliance -- in advancement of their common vision for gift and home industry elevation, enhancement and excellence --ICON Honors rightly takes its place in the marketplace widely acknowledged as capital of the gift/home/area rug business.  The annual ICON Honors will celebrate, across all home and gift categories and business lines, Innovation, Contribution and Achievement in the manufacturer, sales representative and retailer sectors.

ICON Honors/Add One
       The initiative fully aligns with GHTA's evolving mission and vision, notes Doug Cofiell, GHTA president and president of the Ivystone Group.  "GHTA has from its inception embraced gift and home as complementary entities with unmatched crossover potential.  We champion that convergence and believe ICON Honors to be the one defining event designed to applaud landmark achievement on a global basis," Cofiell says. 

       ICON Honors "arrives at a time of unimagined promise and potential for the gift and home industry," notes George Kacic, GHTA chairman and vice president of Ganz USA. "This program will celebrate the innovation and ingenuity that are hallmarks of our business.  More importantly, ICON Honors fulfills the vision of bringing manufacturers, sales organizations and retailers together in common purpose and with rich rewards to be shared," Kacic adds.

  ICON Honors nominations will follow an open process with independent judging and evaluation sustaining full objectivity in selection of honorees.  The ICON Honors will celebrate

In Innovation:
* Technology applications to market share.
* Product design.
* Packaging design.
* Sustainability.
* Branding.
 
In Contribution:
* Independent retail community trailblazer impact/influence.
* Cause-product impact/influence.
* Industry-building impact/influence.
* Community betterment/improvement achievements.
 
In Achievement:
* Top Newcomer recognition.
* Individual professional accomplishment.
* Collective business accomplishment.
* Life accomplishment.
  
       The introduction of ICON Honors sets in motion a sequence of forthcoming developments and announcements revealing key commitments driving the program, including selection and seating of judges; nomination procedures and processes; call for entries; and a significant expansion of the program to include national and international sponsors from the design and media communities.