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Gourmet Catalog & Buying Group, the Dallas-based housewares buying group, announced its fourth annual Best Vendor Award winners during the Gourmet Catalog Store Member meeting held March 5 in conjunction with the International Home & Housewares Show in Chicago.

“GC Store Members love the idea of recognizing Vendor Members for outstanding performance,” says Janis Johnson, founder and president of Gourmet Catalog. “While we have had some steady winners in the past three years, we are happy to report that many new Vendor names are showing up on the voting forms.”

Store Members began their voting process for the Best Vendor Awards as part of Gourmet Catalog’s Start the Year Member Conference, held during the January International Gift & Home Market in Atlanta. Each Store Member votes for the Best Gourmet Catalog Vendor in seven categories. The Best Overall Vendor is determined by the top number of votes in all categories. Voting for the awards concluded Feb. 19.

The winners for each category are as follows:

Best Shipping: Harold Import Co.
Best In-Stock: Harold Import Co.
Best In-Store Signage: Wüsthof
Best In-Store Fixtures: Le Creuset
Best Customer Service: Harold Import Co.
Best New Product in 2010: Soda Stream — Genesis Soda Machine
Most Creative GC Program: Le Creuset
Best Vendor Overall: Harold Import Co.

“Harold Import Company is once again honored to be recognized by the store members of the Gourmet Catalog. We will continue to work hard to be a productive vendor for all of our customers.” says Robert Laub, president of Harold Import Co.

Boyd Beasley, territory manager for Le Creuset, adds, “We were very happy to hear that the Gourmet Catalog members selected Le Creuset for these awards. We greatly value our partnership with Gourmet Catalog and look forward to continuing to grow our business together with best-in-class products that delight and inspire customers who are passionate about food and cooking.”

Todd Meyers, vice president of sales for Wüsthof, also expressed his enthusiasm for the recognition: “We are very grateful and thankful to receive this award. We have learned over the years that the best ideas come from our retail customers.”

And Gerard Meyer, president of SodaStream USA notes, “Receiving an award like this would not be possible without the collaborative relationships built with Gourmet Catalog’s Member retailers.”

Source: Gourmet Catalog