With a record-breaking stock market and good holiday sales in the news, there are also reports of record attendance and sales at three major industry trade shows. Dallas, Atlanta, and Las Vegas are each reporting busy shows in January with many vendors reporting records.
The Dallas show was first out of the gate this year:
- OneCoast reported a 20% increase in sales over 2019 in its showroom which grew from 13,000 to 21,000 for their two divisions.
- Ivystone, which recently partnered with Park Hill Design credited the back-to-back Total Home and Gift market and Dallas Apparel Show with the solid increase it experienced.
- “We had a FANTASTIC gift show!! Big double-digit increase across the board for Portico with some of our larger, signature brands experiencing the largest increases ever—up as much as 67%,” Randa Crisler of Portico reported. “Having Gift and Apparel shows run back to back also made for a very successful month for us. We love the format of combining/overlapping these shows and are happy that the DMC will be doing more of this for 2020.”
- LMT Imports reported their strongest show in five years.
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The next show chronologically was Atlanta’s AmericasMart. Buyers from every US state and more than 60 countries visited the more than 4,000 showrooms and temporaries. “The excitement at the Atlanta Market was palpable,” said IMC CEO Bob Maricich. “The buyers were placing strong orders with new and established brands, filling seminars and learning opportunities, and fully engaging with market events.” One indication of activity around the market was that the AmericasMartALT Instagram account gained nearly 5,000 new followers during market week (More about Atlanta).
In Las Vegas, vendors also reported a record market.
- “We’re Las Vegas loyalists and have been here since day one,” said Garry Schermann, senior vice president of sales at gift exhibitor Creative Co-Op.
- “We’ve never had a better show than we had this Market…. It’s not just our loyal customers, but so many new buyers – especially international – that have come to the market.” Joanne Rackow, founder of gift agency Joanne & Company said, “Market has been great and there has been a lot of energy. Our existing customers are ordering new lines and ordering heavier.”
Buyers also were enthusiastic. “This was the best-ever Las Vegas Market,” Elaine Haskey, upholstery buyer for Steinhafels Furniture of Waukesha, Wisconsin reported. “Sometimes, the products are a repeat of High Point Market introductions, but this time there was so much newness throughout, and we ended up committing to lots!” (More about Las Vegas)
