Summer Las Vegas Market exceeds organizers’ and exhibitors’ expectations

The Summer Las Vegas Market, held July 30 through August 3, opened to big crowds and featured thousands of new product introductions and emerging trends from more than 1,300 manufacturers across all categories of home furnishings. The Summer Las Vegas Market was the largest Las Vegas Market to date, occupying more than 3.8 million square feet of both permanent showrooms and temporary exhibit space, including furniture, bedding, accessories, lighting, rugs, wall decor and gift products.

Surpassing the historical average of 50,000 registered attendees, Las Vegas Market welcomed its most impressive mix of quality buyers to Summer Market, including an increase in Top 100 retailers, a huge influx of first-time buyers and more international buyers in attendance.

Dave Palmer, general manager of World Market Center, said, “This Summer Market outpaced the expectations among exhibitors, not to mention delivered so many new facets for buyers and designers looking for the latest in products, trends and education. We had a very strong Market with terrific traffic and very positive feedback for the overall experience our Market delivers for attendees.”

Gaining momentum with leading retailers, 75 percent of the Top 100 U.S. Retailers were registrants of the Summer Las Vegas Market, including such notable top retailers as Rooms To Go, Pier 1 Imports, Nebraska Furniture Mart, R.C. Willey, Haverty’s, Pottery Barn, Levitz Furniture, City Furniture, Robb & Stucky, Room & Board, and Z Gallerie.

Keith Koenig, president of Fort Lauderdale-based City Furniture, said, “Las Vegas continues to rise,” pointing to the construction work on Building C. “With this new building, it’s going to attract more and more.”

Howard Freed, owner of Freed’s Home Furnishings in metro Dallas, said he found “tons of new (product)” in Las Vegas, noting that one of the keys to this market is the manageable size of the showrooms and how vendors tend to show only their introductions and best sellers. Freed also applauded the market for its work to make the shopping experience better, particularly an improved shuttle service from his hotel to the main buildings.

Las Vegas Market continues to see an influx of new buyers as well, with more than 10,000 retailers and designers attending Las Vegas Market for the first time. Market officials say this growth translates into expanded, incremental business opportunities and new customers for WMC tenants and exhibitors.

International attendance was also impressive. The Summer Market also featured a strong global flair, with an influx of international buyers attending their first event. In comparison to July’s 2006 Market, international attendance increased by 27 percent, representing 90 countries that participated at the Market.

The worldwide roster of exhibitors included 205 companies from 25 different countries, which translated to 15 percent of the total exhibitor base. The broad crosssection of geographic regions represented 33 percent from Canada; 32 percent from Latin America; 25 percent from Asia; and 10 percent were European brands. The Sands Expo featured the greatest number of global exhibits where buyers benefited from a number of trend-setting international companies from Italy, Japan, Peru, Brazil, Mexico, United Kingdom and Australia and much more.

Rodolfo Leiton of Brazil Pine Furniture said he was exceptionally ecstatic with the Las Vegas Summer Market. “This is our first show outside Brazil … We’ve seen five times the number of people we’d hoped for, and we’re already reserving space for January and July 2008.”

Las Vegas Market also expanded participation of new companies by enlisting a compelling 250 companies from the U.S. and around the world who joined the Market for the first time last week.

With expansions continuing at WMC, buyers like Eldon Sullivan of Brooks Furniture & Design in Silverthorne, Colo., find the Las Vegas Market extremely easy to get around. “I don’t need to go to other Markets because everything I need is here,” said Sullivan.

“We wrote big orders and lots of them,” said Bill Benton, president of Powell Company. “We stayed busy all week.”

Ed Grund, CEO of case goods importer A.R.T. Furniture said he was extremely satisfied: “The best news is the major players are here, and that is great. I am seeing more new customers at this show than in previous ones.”

Ashley Furniture’s chairman, Ron Wanek, said his team saw “lots of interest in new product and lots of orders placed.” He added the July Market was much stronger than last July for the company, because it only opened its second and larger showroom in Building B at World Market Center in January. “We know that it’s going to be a powerful market,” Wanek said. “It’s a high-quality place to come.”

Jeff Cook, president of Broyhill Furniture, said, “Any previous numbers we had were blown away with this market. People are coming here not just to visit, they’re here to do business.”

In addition to Buildings A and B at WMC, buyers flocked to the Sands Expo where the Market officials further enhanced the categories, product offerings and presentation of the off-site trade show event. Buyers said they appreciated the ease with which they could shop the eight distinct product areas.

The Summer Market featured the successful debut of the Design and Living Pavilion, a juried showcase of new companies whose product presentations were set against a dramatic white backdrop. The fashion-forward presentation stimulated buyers and designers in search of the hottest trends and cutting-edge designs from around the world. Of the 72 companies that made up Design and Living, 68 percent were first-time exhibitors and 51 percent were from outside North America.

Betty Johanessen, who looks for unique and stylish fixtures for Park Lighting, one of Western Canada’s largest showrooms located in Alberta, has been to every Market in Las Vegas and continues to come to see what’s new. While at the Sands Expo, she said she found the exhibitors and new product launches she was hoping to see.

Travis Frye of Home Deco-Direct in Newport Beach, Calif., was equally impressed with the showcase featured at the Sands Expo. “We’re looking for contemporary, small furniture and accessories. We’ve found new vendors here … fresh, new merchandise. The Sands was great.”

Sands Expo was also home to the first-ever “Living Green Pavilion” and “Greenhouse Gallery,” featuring the most talked-about movement in the home furnishings industry today: sustainable furniture. The inaugural Living Green Pavilion — complete with complementary educational events and even a Green Party, became the most comprehensive presentation of new sustainable products available to independent home furnishing retailers looking to progress in that category.

“I think World Market Center has become one of the biggest stages for showing products, and sustainability is very important to me,” said John Stein, owner of Cardiff, Calif.-based Organo Natural Furnishings. “To see World Market Center taking that so seriously shows there’s potential for change in the furniture manufacturing world.”

Einar Elsner, executive vice president of South Cone, said that increasing demand among retailers and consumers and the draw for the new Living Green Pavilion were among the reasons South Cone decided to exhibit at Las Vegas Market. “Our target customers are retailers and interior designers who understand the difference between ‘furniture as commodity’ and furniture as the antiques of the future. We expect Las Vegas Market to increase our exposure to these prospective clients.”

The Winter 2008 Las Vegas Market is scheduled for Jan. 28 to Feb. 1 at WMC’s Buildings A, B and Pavilions and tradeshow at the MGM Grand. Attendees can start booking discounted Las Vegas hotel rooms now at www.LasVegasMarket.com/WMC/market_information/hotels_travel-market/.