Daily News
From Home Furnishing Business
Big Business for Dallas Total Home & Gift Market in January
February 8,
2017 by Jane Chero in Designer Weekly, Industry, Special Events 
Dallas Market Center has announced that strong attendance and increased order writing created strong momentum for its January 2017 Total Home & Gift Market which included more buyers from key regions, new buying groups, an increase in major stores, and more leading specialty stores throughout the Central U.S.
“Buyers came to Dallas in force and placed larger than average orders with renewed confidence,” said Cindy Morris, president and CEO of Dallas Market Center. “Across all product categories we received positive reports from temporary and permanent exhibitors, with many enthusiastically reporting their best market ever, which further illustrates that Dallas doesn't just deliver buyers, we deliver buyers eager to write large orders.
In fact, the show’s strong attendance and steady order writing confirm our position as the premier marketplace for the Central U.S.”
Increasing consumer confidence and strong retail sales within the strongest economic zone in the U.S. are in part credited for solid growth inside the 5 million square foot Dallas Market Center across gift, home décor, lighting, holiday/floral, housewares, gourmet, fashion, and many associated categories.
Gift resources were showcased across more than 2 million square feet of exhibit space. Highlights included the 6000 square foot expansion of Portico, a leading multi-line showroom in the World Trade Center, and the 4000 square foot expansion of Goetz Inc., a luxury multi-line showroom in the Trade Mart.
“The January show season was fantastic for Portico. We launched a new division C2 and it exceeded our stretch goals by more than 40 percent,” said Randa Crisler, VP of sales for Portico.
“Our loyal customers embraced it with a vengeance. In addition, our original C1 division was up more than 30 percent for the show. Dallas and Portico are thriving! We are excited to see where 2017 takes us.”
The biggest growth category in Dallas for 2017 is home décor, serving both interior design and retailers. Top manufacturers in home décor delivered inspiration with on-point resources including Stein World, which debuted inside new space in the World Trade Center, and a continuing presentation of hundreds of farmhouse vintage resources inside Park Hill.
The market saw an increase in attendance by registered interior designers and architects seeking resources across furniture, home accents, tabletop, and gift.
The talk among the crowd was the Interior Home + Design Center, the 220,000 square foot open-daily marketplace to the trade opening in summer 2017. A select number of companies are participating in this opportunity to create their own custom space as part of the largest expansion of home décor resources in more than forty years. It was recently announced that Phillips Collection and Palecek, will join ZUO, Visual Comfort, Ambella Home Collection, and many others in the new space.
The Interior Home + Design Center is the centerpiece of a long-range strategic initiative to provide enhanced value to manufacturers by serving market-time attendees as well as the growing number of interior designers conducting business at Dallas Market Center each week.
For lighting buyers, the January edition of Lightovation, the Dallas International Lighting Show, provided the largest selection of residential lighting in North America. Resources in the Trade Mart and World Trade Center include all major lighting manufacturers, and January represented the biggest event of the year with hundreds of new product introductions.
Also in January, a renewed emphasis was placed on the unmatched holiday and floral products at Dallas Market Center. A recent consolidation of showrooms into the second floor of the International Trade Plaza created a neighborhood destination for holiday resources.
Inside the fastest growing marketplace for housewares products, a record number of housewares buyers reviewed the expanded neighborhood, which includes corporate showrooms, rep rooms, and shared space for leading housewares lines.
“Housewares buyers came to market eager to order, including gift stores seeking bridal and baby gifts,” said Patsy Johnson, showroom manager for SourceOne Marketing.
“We exceeded last year’s sales numbers and worked many new accounts. Having the HTI buying group here, the Gourmet Gold Housewares Awards and steady traffic every day made January a great show.”
In addition to new resources, January Market delivered dozens of receptions and parties as well as keynote speakers such as Corey Damen Jenkins and Robin Baron, Libby Langdon, Randall Whitehead, Jim Marvin and Matt Wood.
Dallas Market Center also hosted the 28th Annual ARTS Awards, the premier international awards program dedicated to the home industry. The crowd of more than 650 guests celebrated top manufacturers, retailers, designers, and sales representatives as well as honored two special award recipients: Mark Phillips of Phillips Collection, recipient of the Academy of Achievement Award, and industry icon Connie Lineberry, recipient of the Legendary Leadership Award.
To make plans for upcoming markets, visit the Dallas Market Center website and download the Dallas Market App.