RETAILOBSERVER.COM OCTOBER 2017
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T
he permanent and temporary exhibitors in the home décor
and gift categories commented that the Market's unique
access to a broad cross-section of buyers from the West
Coast and western states helped them identify and open new
accounts and reacquaint with lapsed accounts.
"Being here is as much about reaching out westward towards
our existing customers as it is about trying to find new accounts,
and the Market is effective in this regard," said first-time exhibitor
Jeannett Purdy of AMEICO. "The Mexican and other Central/South
American buyers have very sophisticated taste and I'm struck by
their enthusiasm here."
Returning HANDMADE exhibitor John Gupthill of Funky Rock
Designs added, "We are seeing all new businesses for us at
this show, with 80% of our orders placed coming from new
customers. Of all the West Coast shows, Las Vegas is the only
place to get the customer base from the West Coast and other
western states."
Allan Share, executive director of the Spa Industry Association
from Waconia, Minnesota, which includes 43,000 members
nationally, commented, "If you're in our spa channel and have not
attended, you absolutely need to fix that. Las Vegas Market has an
amazing selection of 'front of the house' retail items, many of which
will return two, three or even four times mark-up from cost."
THE WESTERN INTERIOR DESIGN COMMUNITY
EMBRACES LAS VEGAS MARKET
The majority of the interior designers who attend Las Vegas
Market come from California, Arizona and Nevada, but there were
notable increases in designer attendees from the Midwest,
Northeast and TOLA (Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas)
regions for summer market. The Midwest region registered an
increase of 11%, while the northeast designer attendees increased
by 25%. The TOLA region registered an increase of 32% among
designer attendees, reinforcing the expanding geographic reach of
the market.
In addition to the record number of product resources, summer
Las Vegas Market included a comprehensive slate of special
events, awards programs, seminars, and guided tours of the market
L A S V E G A S M A R K E T — A POSITIVE TONE
