Jerry Fox:

Hello again, my name is Jerry Fox, president and CEO of Bish Creative Display. We’re halfway through 2021. We all know what 2020 brought us and 2021 has an amazing and bright future ahead of us. Today I’d like to share with you the story of the OMA, Outstanding Merchandising Awards. This is the awards for the best creative displays in the industry throughout our entire world.

This award dates back to the early 1960s and is based off the Olympics. There’s a gold, silver and bronze. There’s also various segments, hardware, cosmetics, wine and spirits. They also are judged by some of the most prestigious members in our industry, where they are critiquing the uniqueness of each piece and where they succeed in the marketplace.

It is very difficult to win a gold and we won seven this year. There are also three different categories temporary, semi-permanent, and permanent. This year, we won an amazing 22 awards. We won a global award which means we had the best of the best in the entire world. We won the creative award. This is the fifth time Bish Creative has won this award. We won the budget award. This is the third time we won that. Both of those stand for being the most creative in their category and industry and in throughout the entire show as well as the most cost-effective piece in the show. So to win one of each is very impressive, but what’s most impressive to me is winning display of the year. It’s our equivalent to winning the best picture Oscar for our industry.

This year, there are only three options to win in temporary, semi-permanent, and permanent. We won two of them. We won for the Aviation Gin stair-step display in semi-permanent and of course this beautiful Jefferson’s Ocean piece in the temporary category. No company our industry has ever won two in the same year. So we’re incredibly proud of that.

So I’d like to take a moment to thank the Shop! organization for putting together an amazing virtual show, I’d like to thank and congratulate all of our other contestants for they are the ones that keep upping our game. I’d also like to thank my Bish team. They’re the best in the industry. I tell them that every day and they know it. They are passionate and drive each and every day to be the best of the best.

And finally, I’d like to congratulate and thank our clients for the trust and confidence in Bish Creative. We wouldn’t be here without you and we consider yourself true partners. So that is the story of the OMAs. Til next time.