Winter Las Vegas Market Declared a Success

February 4, 2019  by Laurie Northington in Business Strategy, Designer Weekly, Industry, Las Vegas, Market   

Winter 2019 Las Vegas Market presented more than 4,000 furniture, home décor and gift resources – more than 170 of which were new to the campus’ permanent showrooms and temporary exhibits – and buzzworthy programming and industry-leading special events.

“Las Vegas Market delivered a dynamic, top-notch shopping experience for buyers and suppliers alike,” said Bob Maricich, CEO for International Market Centers. “IMC has had a great start to the winter 2019 tradeshow season, with overall industry optimism fueling coast-to-coast Market success.”

Home furnishings exhibitors reported a strong Winter Market and noted an uptick in order writing as well as notable increases in buyer traffic.

“We’ve had phenomenal traffic and seen more attendance than we’ve seen in the last couple years,” said Luis Ruesga, CEO of Zuo Modern. “People are excited to be here and they like what we are showing. Our market has been wonderful.”

Ron Bailey, president of Bailey’s Furniture, cited Las Vegas Market as a springboard to discover the latest furniture products.

”We were very happy with this year’s Winter Market! We found lots of new product, and our main vendors did a great job of offering new looks and good values,” said Bailey. “We never miss the Vegas Show, because we don't want to miss the new introductions and be four months behind the big operators.”

“We’ve had a great show with a steady stream of buyers,” said Jason Phillips, vice president of Phillips Collection. “There has been a great energy at market and I’ve heard from many other manufacturers that they’ve also been very happy with the show.”

Gift exhibitors in Building C saw an increase in order size and an overall positive mood from buyers.

“We came to Las Vegas to break into the West Coast market,” said Dave Carpenter, director of operations of Nora Fleming who opened a new showroom on C1. “The show season is kicking off great so far. Traffic is good and the mood of the buyer is good.”

“Orders are up, there are more people here, and everyone is in a good mood,” said Stan Hultberg, Melrose West Coast sales manager who reported a 20 percent increase in order size coming out of the expanded showroom.

Overall, Las Vegas Market featured nearly 400,000 square feet of new, expanding and renewing showrooms in the furniture, home décor and gift categories.

The Pavilions at Las Vegas Market showcased nearly 600 temporary home décor and gift resources, including more than 300 new exhibitors since last market. Exhibitors in the two pavilions reported steady traffic, strong order writing and solid leads. 

“This is our eighth time at Las Vegas Market and each market is getting bigger,” said Kevin Cuts, Gift exhibitor and housewares channel manager of True Brands. “We’ve had a steady stream of buyers coming through and a good mix of stores, interior designers and smaller retailers. We are hoping that we can use Las Vegas to cover the West Coast and Atlanta to cover the East Coast.”

“It’s going extremely well. We have both repeat customers as well as a lot of new customers,” said Handmade exhibitor Regina Schroeder, owner of Albert L. (punkt), Inc. “We’ve also written orders with people who said they saw us here last summer [when we debuted] and want to talk to us since we are back this winter.”

Beyond exhibits, Winter Market presented a lineup of association and buying group activities, including special programming, tours, education and networking events, for more than 40 industry partnerships. Highlights included a partnership with professional consultant and business coach Gail Doby, who hosted a group of premier interior designers with total annual buying power of more than $20 million; and Kite Trade Association International, who brought 20 makers and designers of wind-related products to Pavilion 1. 

“Las Vegas Market has provided a great format for education and for us to network together,” said Judy Rancour, board president of the Zoo & Aquarium Buyers’ Group. “Our board has had a productive week!”

Winter Market also included an array of industry-leading programming. Highlights included the Design Icon Retrospective; the 14th Housewares Design Awards Celebration; Las Vegas Market’s proprietary First Look trend display and seminar and the Best of the West panel presentation. Notable celebrity appearances were the Scott Brothers; Eric and Lindsey Bennett, stars of HGTV’s “Desert Flippers” series; Jane Seymour and Kathy Ireland.

Las Vegas Market also announced the much-anticipated return of the Gift & Home CEO Summit for Summer 2019 Market, in partnership with Eller Enterprises. The one-day event, scheduled for Tuesday, July 30, is designed to address and provide insight into the critical issues facing today’s industry leaders through a series of presentations and meaningful networking opportunities.

Las Vegas Market is the leading home furnishings and gift market in the western U.S., presenting 4,000+ gift, home décor and furniture resources in an unrivaled market destination. Las Vegas Market features thousands of gift, furniture and home décor lines, allowing for cross-category commerce among these industries. Summer 2019 Las Vegas Market runs July 28 – Aug. 1. For more information, visit www.lasvegasmarket.com.