Gourmet Catalog Rebrands as GC Buying Group

Gourmet Catalog & Buying Group has completed a rebrand to coincide with the Group’s 35th year in business. The organization announced the change to store and vendor members at GC’s annual Start the Year Member Conference during the 2016 International Gift and Home Furnishings Market in Atlanta.   

“We have long been known as Gourmet Catalog, our official corporate name, although staff and most in the industry have been referring to Gourmet Catalog as GC for many years,” said Janis Johnson, president and founder. “We have taken the plunge and shortened our industry branded name to GC and in some instances GC Buying Group.”  

As a business that began with a primary focus on creating and printing catalogs for local independent kitchenware retailers, a natural evolution occurred in Gourmet Catalog’s direction to stay up to date with the ever-changing yearly trends and challenges. Now the services have expanded and advanced to accommodate the current needs of store and vendor members.  The change and growth resulted in a need for internal consistency reflecting the group’s mission.

“The rebrand was a great exercise for GC to refresh our marketing collateral and also develop a solid image that best reflects who we are and reaffirms our special promise to store members: Through our strong network and progressive solutions, we offer professional services and resources tailored to fit the evolving needs of today’s independents,” added Johnson.

Claudia Conard, communications and branding coordinator, led the rebrand effort, developing brand standards and ensuring its implementation across all mediums.  

The rebrand includes changing the company’s name from Gourmet Catalog and Buying Group to GC Buying Group, defining standards for colors, text and images as well as a redesigned logo and slogan “Connecting and supporting the local retail community since 1981.”

The rebrand is slated to roll out over the course of the year.  Members have already seen the changes to signage, marketing collateral and social media presence and will soon see a redesigned website.