Beginning this summer, the Las Vegas Market, a biannual market held at the World Market Center complex, will have a new schedule and structure to create “two multifaceted, mega–markets.”
The summer furniture and mattress market, now scheduled for Aug. 2–6, will overlap with the debuting Gift + Home and Vegas Kids exhibitions, which will run Aug. 4–7. This year’s winter market was Feb. 1–5; the summer 2010 market had been set for Sept. 13–17.
“Together, these events will attract the broadest possible range of buyers, exhibitors and designers to Las Vegas for extraordinary business opportunities,” according to the market authority. Organizers said they will schedule future summer markets for late July or early August, depending “on calendar and strategic considerations.”
The next winter market will be Jan. 24–28, 2011, and is timed to coincide with the Surfaces floor covering expo and InspireDesign, the World Market Center’s new hospitality design show. Organizers said they plan to hold future winter markets in late January or early February.
“At a time when all businesses require introspection and must challenge themselves to create more value, we are proud to embark on strategic decisions that, based on input from many of our partners, optimize sales opportunities for their businesses and expand channels of distribution,” said Robert Maricich, World Market Center president and chief executive officer.
Market authorities said the new schedule and structure “will provide retailers an opportunity to see increased new product rollouts, cross–shop a diversified product platform, discover new vendors and place orders in order to have merchandise in their stores during the important fourth quarter.”
Organizers also said the new schedule will “reduce potential industry conflicts.” Many mattress makers reported that they saw less traffic from East Coast retailers when the Las Vegas Market was held last September. They attributed the decrease, in part, to the fact that the October High Point furniture market was just a few weeks later.
