According to the Dallas Market Center (DMC), the opening day of the summer Total Home & Gift Market surpassed previous records in attendance — specifically with double-digit growth overall and the biggest gains among new stores.
At the close of business on opening day, Dallas Market Center statistics indicated total store attendance had increased by 15 percent compared with last June’s numbers. Gains were evident across product categories as well as regions of the country. New store attendance was up by more than 5 percent, while attendance from stores from California was up by nearly 15 percent. Attendance from retailers in the Southeast was up by 25 percent.
“Our exhibitors and the market center team have put in a tremendous amount of work on the road, on the phones, and over email promoting June market,” said Cindy Morris, DMC’s current COO, who will step up to the role of President on July 1. “We are thrilled that our message has resonated and that more loyal retailers and more new stores have arrived for the opening of market,” she added.
At the Dallas Market Center: June Preview welcomed 20 new and expanded showrooms. In addition to hundreds of new temporary resources and lines inside permanent showrooms, there were three separate venues showcasing one-of-a-kind products from the American Made Show, International Folk Art Market | Collection, and the Vintage Round Top Experience. The temporary exhibits on the 12th floor of the World Trade Center were remerchandised and expanded to include luxury lifestyle resources as well as housewares.
“There has been more marketplace activity, more new resources, and more positive expectations going into this market than in years,” Morris commented. “Our hotel bookings were tracking far ahead in the weeks before the show, and it’s tremendous to see that retailers are enthusiastic about attending the Dallas show for inspiration and important new resources.”
