Contest Goes After The Next Big Thing

If you think you've come up with The Next Big Thing, then Dallas Market Center wants to hear from you. The three finalists in the national product search contest will have an opportunity to show their product to domestic and international retail buyers at the Dallas Total Home & Gift Market, June 24-30.

Finalists win airfare, hotel accommodations and free exhibit space to present their products at the June show. The overall winner, selected at the show, will win a prize package worth more than $10,000. Included will be exhibit space at the Dallas Total Home and Gift Market on Jan. 13-19, 2010, a profile in one of Dallas Market Center's publications, and consultations from industry experts on such topics as branding, public relations and visual merchandising.

The Next Big Thing could be a gadget, gift or must-have fashion accessory. The big winner at January's show was Renee Williams, who created Sipatiniz, a spill-resistant martini glass. As part of her prize package, she'll be showing her product again in June.

Sipatiniz beat out two other finalists: Connecticut mompreneurs Kim Grustas and Grace Havasta-Petrarca, who founded Good For You Girls, an all-natural skincare line inspired by their teenage daughters, and Jennifer Young, whose fashion accessory line, Vintage Hem, offers decorative slips that add flare inexpensively to skirts and dresses.

For more information or an application, click here.