Daily News
From Home Furnishing Business
Dallas Total Home & Gift Market Exceeds Expectations
July 6,
2023 by HFBusiness Staff in Business Strategy, Industry 
The first gift and home trade event of the summer in North America, the Dallas Total Home & Gift Market, exceeded expectations as it welcomed more buyers from across the U.S. and internationally.
The show experienced steady order-writing among its thousands of exhibitors including dozens of new and expanding permanent showrooms as well as hundreds of first-time participants in the Temps at Total Home & Gift Market.
Buyer attendance included retailers and interior designers from all 50 states as well as international buyers from Canada, Central America, and South America. The number of buyers attending for the first time continued to outpace pre-pandemic numbers.
Attendance also continued to widen geographically: significant gains were made in buyer attendance from the Southeast, Upper Midwest, and West compared with last June’s show.
“This show clearly exceeded expectations and extended the Dallas momentum,” said Cindy Morris, president and CEO of Dallas Market Center. “We continue to set the pace among trade events in the U.S. We saw loyal and new buyers arriving with optimism for the months ahead and significant open to buy, supported by a strong economy throughout the Central U.S. and more than 370,000 retailers now open for business in Texas alone.”
In addition to independent retailers, the buying power from major stores and buying groups added to the marketplace energy and commerce.
Those attendees included Southwest Buying Group, BRIXY, MAI (Monograms of America), Museum Store Association, Purchasing Power Plus, Hobby Lobby, World Market, Michael’s, Buc-ees, Neiman Marcus, Nebraska Furniture Mart, Brookshire’s Grocery, Francesca’s, HOM Furniture, The Paper Store, United Supermarket, Von Maur, and many others.
More than 300 new and expanding permanent showrooms and Temps debuted during the show, together with special exhibits, events, and seminars. Among the exhibitor community, results were shared noting retailer and designer confidence and new buyer traffic.
The Reimagined Temps For New Product Discovery
The Temps at Total Home & Gift Market was the largest summer presentation in more than ten years with more than 1000 booths. The energy on the floor and consistent order writing was noted by several key exhibitors:
“What a joy it was to show in Dallas this year!” said JoAnne Grazzini of The Cat’s Pajamas. “It was stocked with lots of new and established buyers. We opened 22 new accounts, and we got a chance to see some of our great customers as well. We are very happy and will be coming back again!”
“All the feedback from the 80+ Go Texan participants was that the Market was an awesome success,” said Darrell Dean with Go Texan!, the Texas Department of Agriculture Marketing Program. “We had lots of big buyers that came by, and we give the Show a huge thumbs up: good sales, good networking, great buyers. We are excited about returning.”
Added first-time exhibitor Kellie Carolson with Teleties: “As a new vendor, we could not have had a better experience! We really grew our Texas and Midwest business with buyers we do not see at other shows. The Dallas Market team is an absolute dream to work with and we look forward to continuing our partnership!”
Showrooms Supporting World Central Kitchen
In partnership with the industry non-profit organization Gift for Life, select showrooms raised funds for World Central Kitchen during the show. More than $40,0000 was raised via the Retailer Excellence Awards and efforts by Portico Collection, Diverse Marketing, and many others.