AmericasMart plans massive expansion
Tom Edmonds -- Furniture Today, January 11, 2004
ATLANTA — AmericasMart, the apparel, gift and home furnishings trade complex in downtown Atlanta, is preparing for a massive expansion.
On a two-acre parcel it acquired adjacent to the existing complex, AmericasMart will build a 2 million-square-foot expansion, boosting its exhibition space by 33%. It made the announcement on the eve of the opening of the January market here.
John Portman, chairman and developer of AmericasMart, will design the space. Construction is projected to start early next year, aiming toward a 2007 opening of the $200 million expansion.
According to Jeffrey Portman, president and chief operating officer, the new section will be dedicated to furniture and other home furnishings, which AmericasMart officials say are growing categories for the Atlanta trade show.
"When my father gets through with the design it will be a beautiful addition to the city," Jeffrey Portman said in an article in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
For more than 30 years after it opened in 1957, the Atlanta market was an essential regional furniture market for the Southeast. Many of the major furniture exhibitors withdrew from Atlanta in the early- and mid-1990s as the Tupelo show emerged and the importance of regional markets diminished.
However, AmericasMart has remained vibrant as a show for home accents, rugs, gifts and apparel, attracting 548,000 visitors annually. And in recent years, more furniture has found its way back into AmericasMart showrooms.
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