Gift and decor market hit $65 billion in 2007

STEVENS, Pa. The market for gifts and home decor generated $65.2 billion in sales in 2007, according to a new study from Unity Marketing.

Unity said the market grew by 72 percent since its last major study conducted in 2002, when gift and decor accents hit $37.9 billion. The study said giftware sales grew faster than decor in recent years, rising 14.7 percent at an annual rate, compared with a 9.4 percent annual increase in decor.

"The giftware market has completely re-invented itself in the past five years," said Unity Marketing president Pam Danziger. "The key for success in the giftware market is for companies to continually offer new and distinctly different products for a consumer market that is hungry for concepts that are new and unique."