Daily News
From Home Furnishing Business
ITA Changes Future Showtime Market Dates
March 27,
2019 by Jane Chero in Business Strategy, Designer Weekly, Industry 
The International Textile Alliance (ITA) has revised the dates of its upcoming Showtime Market to respond to the needs of its membership, and to better align with the industry’s product introduction and buying cycles.
Starting with its Fall/Winter Market this November, the new official dates are: Nov. 17-20, 2019; May 17-20, 2020; and Nov. 15-18, 2020. There is no change to the currently scheduled Spring/Summer Market, which will take place June 2-5, 2019.
“ITA continues to watch, listen and learn about the industry’s changing business environment since it is our role to serve our members and the marketplace they represent,” explained Brian Casey, CEM, executive director of ITA. “We have learned that there is more pressure on furniture manufacturers to meet a shorter lead time with their new product introductions. This has placed greater pressure on our members to deliver product sooner—so it is incumbent upon ITA to find ways to better serve these changing needs for our members and their customers.”
Showtime Market has traditionally been held the week after Thanksgiving and the week after Memorial Day. After careful analysis, ITA’s board of directors voted unanimously to move the dates to the week before Thanksgiving and the week before Memorial Day.
The date changes come as a result of ongoing discussions ITA has facilitated regarding the future timing of ITA Showtime Exhibitions.
“As we talked to ITA members, we learned that the former schedule was no longer meeting the current needs of many,” said board president, Ismail Arslan, vice president business development, De Leo Textiles. “While we knew it would be impossible to find dates that would satisfy everyone, we also felt we owed it to the industry to gather as many viewpoints as possible. The schedule reflects input we received from our members and representatives from all segments of the industry.”
In conjunction with the new dates, Showtime Market, sponsored by Crypton, has revised its hours of operation for the temporary spaces in the Suites at Market Square. Beginning with the November 2019 Showtime Market, market will continue to open Sunday at 10:00 a.m., however, the temporary floor spaces will be open Monday from 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.; Tuesday from 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.; and Wednesday from 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.