Daily News
From Home Furnishing Business
Lightovation Attendance Up with Dramatic International & First Time Visitors
February 1,
2023 by HFBusiness Staff in Business Strategy, Industry 
Lightovation, the largest residential lighting trade event in North America, experienced a sharp increase in attendees for the winter edition of the show, which ran Jan. 10 – 13. The show had a 130% increase in buyer, specifier and designer attendance over January 2022 and was also ahead of pre-pandemic editions of Lightovation.
In addition to welcoming more attendees from every region of the U.S., international participants returned in dramatic fashion, especially lighting retailers from Canada. The number of retailers attending Lightovation for the first time also dramatically increased.
“For four days in January, Dallas served as the center of residential lighting commerce and inspiration,” said Cindy Morris, president and CEO of Dallas Market Center. “The energy was high, exhibitors were excited, and retailers were eager to see so many new products and place significant orders. It was a great confidence booster for everyone.”
The winter show featured new collections, expanded showrooms, and big celebrations across a 1 million square foot lighting marketplace.
Said Stan Drake, national sales manager for ZEEV Lighting: “It was nice to see the strong attendance from lighting customers at this year’s Lightovation, since I believe the turnout of customers and agencies was the best we have seen since before the pandemic!”
“We had moved into a new showroom this market and were extremely pleased with the number of new customers visiting, as the showroom was busy the whole time.”
Gregory Mazza, president of Innovations Lighting, added, “The January 2023 Lightovation show proved to be nothing less than extraordinary for IL. Our showroom was crowded, customers were elated, and our business boomed as a result.”
Debuting in January was the International Pavilion, a new collection of global brands showing for the first time: Zafferano America, Aldo Bernardi, and LOFFKo Group, an agency for high-quality Italian lighting brands including Modo Luce, In-Es.Artdesign, Sylcom, Il Fanale, and Olev.
Several Dallas exhibitors celebrated important milestones with events for customers, including AFX, celebrating 85 years; Sonneman-A Way of Light celebrating founder Robert Sonneman’s 60 years of design innovation; and the 20th anniversary for Acrosentec.
For the majority of Lightovation exhibitors, Dallas is either their only wholesale showroom in North America or their flagship showroom location.
President of Quoizel, Rick Seidman, observed: “There was no better way to kickoff 2023 than starting with the Lightovation show at the Dallas Market Center. Attendance was back to pre-Covid levels, and the mood and atmosphere were upbeat. Thank you, DMC!”
Nominations Open for June Lightovation Honors
Nominations are open for the 2023 Showroom of the Year Awards and popular Light Stars program. The Showroom of the Year Awards will be presented at the June edition of Lightovation and will honor leading lighting retailers from across North America.
Stores may enter themselves, and anyone in the industry may nominate by the March 7 deadline at www.SOTYAwards.com.
The Light Stars program recognizes top retail salespeople who would benefit from the knowledge and networking gained from Lightovation but would not normally have the opportunity to attend.
If accepted into the program, Light Stars receive complimentary airfare and two hotel nights at the June edition of the show. Anyone in the industry may nominate a Light Star by the March 13 deadline at https://dallasmarketcenter.com/lightstars.