QFMA pulls plug on Toronto June show
By Michael J. Knell -- Furniture Today, March 24, 2002
TORONTO — Citing a lack of industry support, the Quebec Furniture Manufacturers Assn. has canceled the summer edition of the Canadian Home Furnishings Market. The event was to be held June 1-3 at the Toronto International Center of Commerce.
The QFMA's board of directors made the decision last week after consulting with the board of the Ontario Furniture Manufacturers Assn.
The Toronto summer market was launched in June 2000. Before that, an August mini-market, encompassing the permanent furniture showrooms in the TICC and a number of nearby outside showrooms, was organized by the OFMA in conjunction with the summer show of the Canadian Gift and Tableware Assn.
The Ontario trade group is considering reviving the August show. Meanwhile, a small group of manufacturers is moving to bring in buyers to see new product on the weekend the summer market was set to run (see story below).
Jean François Michaud, QFMA executive vice president, said the 2001 summer market did not achieve the Canadian retailer attendance targets established by the group.
According to QFMA figures, 2,434 buyers representing 1,401 stores attended the June 2001 market, up from the 2,288 buyers representing 1,317 stores who registered for the 2000 summer show. That is less than half the attendance at the January markets, Canada's primary furniture event.
In 2001, attendance from Ontario, the rest of Canada and the United States was up slightly from the 2000 summer market, while attendance from Quebec dropped from 202 buyers and 130 stores to 159 buyers and 91 stores last year.
In post-market surveys, many retailers said they weren't happy with the market. "Apparently they felt that the June show had nothing — or at least nothing new — to offer them," Michaud said.
While the 75 manufacturers with permanent showrooms supported both the 2000 and 2001 summer markets, and the number of temporary exhibitors declined only slightly from 186 to 183, the amount of temporary space sold declined from 135,495 square feet in 2000 to 107,495 last year. Early indications were the space decline would continue this year.
"Despite significant interest by a number of manufacturers and aggressive promotional efforts to boost attendance for the 2002 summer show, including a marketing drive involving exhibiting manufacturers, the response proved to be insufficient to justify the event," Michaud said.
To bolster attendance at this year's summer market, the QFMA launched a program that would have offered free airplane tickets to some 450 retailers, mainly from western and eastern Canada. The association also asked exhibitors to offer new product, programs and show specials, to be promoted to retailers before the show.
In a letter to manufacturers, the QFMA said this would "allow us to state loudly and clearly that coming to Toronto in June will be well worth the trip."
Manufacturers with permanent showrooms were asked to contribute C$2,500 to fund the program. Michaud said that even if all the permanent and outside showrooms had signed on, it would have covered only about half the cost. The balance would have been absorbed by the QFMA.
Only 14 manufacturers, nine with inside showrooms and five outside, signed on. "That was not sufficient," Michaud said.
The QFMA launched the summer show in response to industry demand, saying it would give the market three years to achieve success.
"What has happened in the past few weeks proves one thing: There's no need for a show in June," Michaud said. "Both at manufacturing and retail, there has been a marked tendency to attend fewer trade shows. Emphasis has been largely placed on the major events, notably on our January show."
He said the January market "is experiencing an unprecedented success," with buyer attendance up 12% this past January and the amount of exhibition space up 50% over the past five years.
"In the future, all our efforts will be dedicated to pursuing growth of the January show," Michaud said.
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