Celebrating and serving the gift industry as a leading agency in sales for 48 years. Gib Carson Associates includes leading Management and Regional Territory Sales Reps in over 30 states across six regions in the US, as well as our Marquee Account Sales division for key account wholesale sales.
Mission Statement:
The mission at Gib Carson Associates is to add value to our wholesale brands through experience, strong customer relations, dedication, and a commitment to providing the best service and sales in the wholesale Gift, Fashion, Home and Garden industries. We take a “business consulting” approach to each Retail Buyer and Client, leveraging technology to enhance each relationship. Our philosophy for success is based on the critical relationships we have developed with key buyers in our territory. The Gib Carson team proudly manages over 14,000 personal relationships with Retailers and Buyers in the wholesale gift industry.
We believe the power in relationship selling is paramount to the success of our Field Account Managers who are tasked with growing and maintaining a personal, business consulting relationship with each account assigned to them.
Our History
Gib Carson Associates represents one of the most seasoned Sales Agencies in the wholesale gift industry. Founded in 1976 by Gib Carson Sr., the company has grown to over 60 Territory Sales Reps, a division of key account sales reps and a leading management team with supporting office staff. Our ownership, senior management and field sales professionals carry years of experience, unparalleled in the industry.
Headquartered in Midlothian, Virginia and led by our President, Gib Carson, Jr. with our primary Atlanta Market Year-Round Showroom at over 30,000 square feet, our sales team has been selling and servicing the wholesale gift, fashion, home décor and garden markets for 48 years.
Our Management Team
Gib has been in the industry his entire life. He started his career traveling with his father, Gib Carson, Sr to various Virginia Retailers during his summers which led him to working trade shows. In 1990, after college he joined the company as the 11th Sales Rep for Maryland, Virginia and the Outer Banks. In 1996, he moved into management role and since then has grown the company to encompass 30+ states, five regions and continues to lead with success. When not working, Gib enjoys spending his time in his favorite territory, the Outer Banks of NC.
Having joined the Gib Carson team more than 25 years ago, Heather has excelled at multiple leadership positions playing a vital role in Vendor/Brand Support, Sales Rep Support and daily operations management. She will often tell you she has 50+ children (aka the Sales Reps) and when not pursuing the success of Gib Carson Associates she enjoys her island life in St. Simons Island, GA.
Dan began his career at Gib Carson Associates in 2011. He has over 40 years of sales and management experience, leading our expansion into the Northeastern states. In addition to his role as VP of Operations & Sales, he works with several Key Accounts and manages the Marquee Account Division. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife, Donna and enjoys spending time with his two grandsons Jonah and Jacob with the occasional round of golf!
Zsanett “JJ” joined the Gib Carson team in early 2020. She has successfully run wholesale vendor showrooms at Atlanta Market since 1994, knowing everything it takes to run a outstanding show for our entire team and buyers multiple times a year. Her pride and joy are her children, daughter Sara is in the Army and son Thomas is in the Coast Guard. In her free time she enjoys traveling with friends and exploring the world!
Ashley joined Gib Carson in 2019 as our Central/Eastern NC Sales Rep after being a Wholesale Vendor and Retail Store Owner the prior 10 years. She also took on the role of Social Media and Digital Marketing giving our agency an expanded presence on multiple social media platforms and increasing our digital marketing efforts. She continues to expand our digital marketing daily and when not being a sales rep or working on marketing she enjoys being the best “Aunt Ashwee” to all of her littles!
Joni has been with Gib Carson since 1998 having started out as an administrative assistant, but her talents quickly shined and soon became our office manager while overseeing day to day operations at the Midlothian, VA corporate office. Today, she still wears a lot of hats and supports our team with various office administrative and accounting tasks. When she is not in the office she enjoys time with her grandchildren and offshore fishing at their favorite spot in Hatteras, NC.
Barbara joined Gib Carson in 2023, but she is no stranger to the Gib Carson family coming to us with a wealth of experience in the Gift and Souvenir Industry since 1998. From being a Sales Rep to nationally managing Brand Sales and most recently bringing her expertise to manage the western region Sales Reps for Gib Carson!
Marcie has been with Gib Carson since 2016 starting out with website maintenance. She now supports our team with agency customer service, graphics, website maintenance, show staffing and a laundry list of other administrative duties! When not managing her business services/graphics design business and helping with GCA operations, she does graphics for some of our brands, she teaches Zumba and enjoys spending time with her nine grandchildren. Marcie lives and works in Henrico, Virginia, with her husband of 24 years.
Jason understands all sides and what it takes to support a successful sales agency, but his career started serving our country for 20 years in the USMC having retired as GySgt in 2013 and joining the family business. Jason has held management and Sales Rep positions within Gib Carson and today supports our team of sales reps and managing regional tradeshows for our company. He currently resides in Midlothian, VA with his wife and enjoys his recent status of being promoted to Grandpa!
Regional Focus
Northeast
consists of the six New England States of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine plus the State of New York.Mid-Atlantic
consists of the eight Mid-Atlantic States of Virginia, Maryland, DC, Delaware, New Jersey, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio.Southeast
consists of the eight Southeast States of North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi.Rockies
consists of the five Rocky Mountain states of Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.West Coast
consists of the four West Coast statues of Arizona, California, Hawaii and Nevada.Showroom/Market Presence
The Carson Companies maintains 30,000+ square feet of year-round showroom space at the Atlanta Market & More with a primary focus on show dates within Atlanta Market. We not only participate in the two large Gift Markets in January and July each year, including Apparel Markets, but we are also open for business weekdays when there are no Markets going on.
In addition to Atlanta we also maintain a presence at Marketplace Maine for all of the Marketplace Mondays and show dates.
You can also find us participating in regional temporary trade shows including Philadelphia, Myrtle Beach, Pigeon Forge, Market Square, Las Vegas Souvenir, Rocky Mountain, New York and Ocean City gift shows. For a list of participating regional shows, click here! (link to Tradeshow Tab)
