Las Vegas Registers Good Order Writing

July 26, 2006  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Las Vegas on July 2006 To nobody’s surprise, attendance at the Las Vegas market was off compared to last July’s debut show, as soft retail activity and searing heat kept some East Coast buyers at home.

Still, Vegas kept its momentum as an order-writing market, and an important venue for introductions. Exhibitors like the fact that orders written here will give introductions that ship in Fall a chance at retail before the end of the year.

With a second building for permanent showroom space coming on line in January, exhibitors expect to see a rush of customers along the lines of last summer’s debut show.

If nothing else, business this week in Las Vegas showed this market definitely has legs, especially since exhibitors showing at other markets appear committed to rolling out new product.

Broyhill, for example, debuted another whole-home collection, Carson Manor, in Vegas.

“Our dealer attendance here is around 50-50 for people we saw at April market and people who didn’t come,” said Mike McCollum, senior vice president of case goods merchandising. “It’s important to have new product for dealers we saw in High Point, and it’s all new for the dealers who weren’t at that market.”

As of Wednesday, attendance was off at Pulaski, but written business was tracking ahead of the January show, thanks in part to new order-scanning capability in the showroom, said Bill Sibbick, senior vice president of sales.

“People seem to write more orders here than they do in High Point, and we get more traction with introductions here,” he said. “I’m sure glad we had this market with business being so challenging. We’ll ship our new Keepsakes bedrooms in late September or early October, so we’ll get a few extra turns in the year.”

Klaussner introduced a new bedroom and dining room, and some new upholstery frames, but was highlighting new quick-ship FOB program from warehousing in China.

“We’ve had good written business nationwide here,” said Jeff Davis, senior vice president of marketing and strategic development. “When business is tough, people are trying to re-merchandise their floor. You get a nice bump here, too, since it gives us an opportunity to follow up on discussions you might have started in High Point. I’d say we way exceeded our expectations here, considering what’s going on at retail.”