The Las Vegas Market will continue to change, grow, and redefine the market experience for participants at the upcoming winter market January 26-30 at World Market Center Las Vegas. Winter market highlights will include a new Sunday-Thursday date pattern, an increased breadth and depth of permanent showrooms and temporary exhibits, increased buyer attendance and amenities, plus educational programming and networking events.
“Las Vegas Market is experiencing growth that is unparalleled in today’s industry, and no other U.S. market offers access to such a broad range of furniture, home décor and gift resources that allows for such dynamic, cross-category shopping,” says Bob Maricich, CEO of International Market Centers. “This winter, we will build upon our success over the last six months, focusing not only on adding depth where we have delivered breadth of resources and attendance, but also increasing the aesthetics and market experience for all participants.”
Resource growth is projected in virtually every category of Las Vegas Market’s furniture, home décor, and gift offerings to supplement the existing strong base of home furnishing offerings, with specific targets of specialty tabletop and better home décor within the c-ONE cross-category showcase, the better home décor and furnishings showrooms on B3, C3 and C4; and the lifestyle and gift resources on C10.
Temporary exhibit offerings will also be expanded to include three new categories: VERANDA, which spotlights outdoor and casual home furnishings; GALLERY, a showcase of better home textiles resources, on C5; and FASHION, an assemblage of lifestyle-oriented merchandise on C11. With this addition, the Las Vegas Market home décor and gift temporaries now will offer retailers access to 13 sections in total: GALLERY, HOME, STYLE, TEXTILES and VERANDA on C5; FASHION, GOURMET, GIFT, GLOBAL, VINTAGE, MADE, TREND and CARRY! on C11.
“Our aggressive buyer outreach program to expand our buyer base beyond home furnishings retailers and designers, launched last April, resulted in incredible gift & home décor attendance growth of 73% at the 2013 Summer Market, and this exponential growth in buyer traffic validates our strategy to reposition Las Vegas Market as the leading furniture, home décor and gift market in western U.S.,” Maricich reports. “We are expecting even more attendance gains this winter with our 15-person team of Retail Relations specialists expected to contact and connect with new buyers at a rate of 600 calls per day, or 3,000 calls per week.” According to Maricich, more than 15,000 calls have been completed to date resulting in an early surge in buyer registrations.
Beyond product resources, the Las Vegas Market also hosts a dynamic series of complimentary educational programming that addresses topics such as in-store marketing, display and merchandising, social media and mobile marketing. Design-related offerings will include the presentation of the annual “Design Icon” Award and popular “First Look” product and trend presentations. “A key value of attending market on a regular basis is learning best business practices and keeping up on trends, so retailers can remain relevant for today’s consumer,” Maricich comments.
A highlight of the Las Vegas Market’s winter slate is the second annual Las Vegas Market CEO Summit, scheduled for January 29-30, which features a combination of executive-directed keynote addresses, discussions and presentations covering topics such as the changing consumer marketplace, information technologies, entrepreneurship, business transformation, the global economic outlook and other issues impacting the U.S. gift and home furnishings marketplace. Information and registration for the CEO Summit, which co-produced by International Market Centers (IMC) and Eller Enterprises, is available online at www.lasvegasmarket.com/ceosummit.
Beginning this winter, the Las Vegas Market will shift to a Sunday-Thursday date pattern to better serve retailers’ needs for a weekend shopping day and accommodating Friday travel plans. Las Vegas Market permanent showrooms are open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday, January 26, through Wednesday, January 29; and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday, January 30. Temporary exhibits are open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday, January 26, through Wednesday, January 29; and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday, January 30. To register, visit www.lasvegasmarket.com, or call (866) 229-3574.
