Vegas market looking more like pretty sure bet
David Perry, Executive editor -- Furniture Today, November 18, 2001
The odds against a furniture market coming out of the ground in Las Vegas got a lot shorter earlier this month. Now a market there is looking like a sure bet.
This does not come as good news to some in our industry. We've heard plenty of skepticism about the proposal to build a sparkling new furniture complex in Las Vegas. The whole project will be dead by fall, one critic told me a few months ago.
Well, that critic was dead wrong. The proposed Las Vegas furniture market has entered a new phase of credibility. The developers spent about $14 million to purchase a 20-acre vacant lot near downtown. The way I see it, that's about 14 million reasons why we should take this project seriously.
The Las Vegas City Council does. They unanimously approved tax rebates, removing a key hurdle that could have threatened the whole project. Maverick Mayor Oscar Goodman said the events of Sept. 11 helped change his mind on the project.
Now, the developers are moving ahead. And it's time for us to take stock of this proposal.
There's been a lot of foolish talk about Las Vegas in my hometown of High Point. The press here seems intent on portraying it as a major threat to High Point. Various industry figures have taken potshots at Las Vegas. I admit I was an early critic. It's also true the Las Vegas people have said some things about High Point that were ill advised. So the potshots have not been limited to those coming from High Point.
But don't let the sniping fool you. Las Vegas is not going to wrestle the market from High Point. It couldn't if it wanted to, and I don't think it wants to. The industry's investment in High Point is at least $1 billion, probably much more. The market has never been more solidly entrenched in High Point, which finally is beginning to address its problems.
Las Vegas does pose a threat to the market in San Francisco, which for years has been the industry's West Coast venue. Conventional wisdom holds the industry can't support two West Coast shows. We don't know how the West Coast battle will play out, since Las Vegas has not released a tenant list — not a good sign, by the way.
Do we need another furniture market? It's not for us to say. Manufacturers will answer that question with their decisions about where to show. And then it is up to retailers to affirm or reject the market choices they have.
But Las Vegas developers do have building plans, significant tax rebates, some home furnishings leasing expertise, and a tract of land on which to build. They've also got a vision. Criticize the project if you like, but don't knock the developers for pursuing their dream.
Competition has a way of making everyone better.
Opinion columns are available online at www.furnituretoday.com.
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