Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM SEPTEMBER 2014 28 Building C—C5 for boutique home décor, textiles and accessories, and C11, for gourmet housewares, tabletop and gift—and the relocation of temporary exhibits from those floors to a dedicated, free-standing venue on the Market campus. "The strategic enhancements planned for Summer 2015 represent the culmination of a three-year realignment and re-imagining of Las Vegas Market to offer an unparalleled presentation of furniture, gift and home décor in the western United States," said Dorothy Belshaw, president of Gift & Home Décor, International Market Centers. "By offering an enriched presentation of better goods, remerchandising existing resources and launching new categories, Las Vegas Market has created a compelling, multi-dimensional platform designed to appeal to today's cross-category buyers and suppliers." New permanent showrooms on C5 will feature some 90 high- end home décor, home textiles, and accessories showrooms. "The revamped C5 will offer a concentration of high-end home textiles at Las Vegas Market, and the custom showroom spaces will allow specialty suppliers to transition from temporary presentations to permanent showrooms and maximize their return," Belshaw noted. "The focus will be on resources that are innovative, design-driven and artisanal with special attention to form and function, process and provenance." Custom showroom sizes in the open floor plan on C5 will range from 400 to 3,000 square feet, with the majority of resources in 400 to 800 square-foot spaces. The home fashions product mix on C5 will include top of bed and coordinating bedroom ensembles, portable lighting, wall art, decorative accessories, floor coverings, accent furniture, decorative pillows, and other accessories. On C11, Las Vegas Market will introduce a new permanent presentation of gourmet housewares, casual tabletop and related gift merchandise. Like C5, the floor plan will offer a range of showroom sizes and configurations and will showcase an anticipated 75 tenants. Gourmet-focused product categories will include cookware, bakeware, woodenware, serveware, glassware and bar accessories, hydration, kitchen tools and gadgets, small electrics, kitchen textiles, casual tabletop, home and health, publishing/cookbooks and specialty foods. "This presentation will fill a void in the western markets, offering a dynamic cross-category resource for independent specialty gourmet buyers, including kitchen shops, hardware and grocery stores, and vineyards ," Belshaw pointed out. "The gourmet housewares category complements and extends Las Vegas Market's strong and growing home and lifestyle resources, offering cross-merchandising solutions for buyers and new channels of distribution for vendors." In line with these new introductions, temporary exhibits previously housed on C5 and C11 will be relocated and expanded into the Pavilions, existing permanent tent structures on the Las Vegas Market campus. As part of this relocation, the temporary exhibits will be divided into two categories: approximately 70,000 square feet of space will be devoted to order-writing resources; the other location will feature "cash-and-carry" products designed for immediate delivery, including an expanded presentation of the existing VINTAGE, CARRY and GLOBAL categories, and the addition of a new offering of antique and one-of-a-kind merchandise. According to Belshaw, "Ground level access, vaulted ceilings and column-free space afforded within the Pavilions create a more exciting and efficient temporary trade show presentation. Further, the size of the Pavilions will enable continued growth of the temporary exhibits, which otherwise would be landlocked on C5 and C11." The 2015 Summer Market is expected to expand to feature some 100,000 net square feet of gift and home décor temporary exhibits, in addition to 34,500 square feet of temporary furniture exhibits which will continue to be presented on B2. This new location expands the market's use of the Campus and plans are underway to facilitate cross-traffic between permanent showrooms and temporary exhibits, buyer amenities—including free breakfasts, greeters and live music—will be positioned adjacent to the transportation center and will be equidistant from the permanent and temporary venues. These changes, planned for July 2015, represent the final phase of the Las Vegas Market's strategic evolution into the most comprehensive buying platform for buyers in the western United States. The three-phase plan, which began in 2013, includes the introduction of new product categories such as specialty tabletop, home textiles and lifestyle collections, fashion accessories and artisanal crafts, as well as growth of existing categories and re-merchandised presentations. Since 2013, Las Vegas Market has experienced dramatic growth in the furniture, home décor and gift product categories, with 850,000 square feet of new and expanded showrooms and more than 2,200 new lines. Overall registration for Summer 2014 Las Vegas Market is tracking 32% ahead of Summer 2013. Las Vegas Market is the leading furniture, home decor and gift marketplace in the western U.S., presenting 2,200+ gift, home décor and furniture resources in an unrivaled market destination. Las Vegas Market features thousands of gift, furniture and home décor lines, allowing for cross-category commerce among these industries. The Summer 2014 Las Vegas Market runs July 27-31, 2014, at World Market Center Las Vegas. For more information, visit www.lasvegasmarket.com. I N D U S T R Y [ N E W S ] continued from page 24

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