Just how many Vegas markets will there be?
Ray Allegrezza, Editor in chief -- Furniture Today, September 29, 2003
From what I've been reading, Las Vegas has plenty of room to accommodate the growing number of conventions and trade shows that have set up shop there.
According to www.off2vegas.com, a useful site about Las Vegas, the city has more floor space for conventions, trade shows and corporate business meetings than any other city in North America. In the past year, attendance at the various shows and conventions exceeded 4 million people.
Now, with all those shows — I counted over 100 just for the month of April — it's not surprising that people sometimes are confused about which show is which.
And some of us in furnitureland perhaps are unclear about the industry shows set to debut in Vegas sometime soon.
Since one of the mandates of Furniture/Today is to provide timely and accurate information, I believe we should clear up any confusion about Las Vegas furniture shows.
For example, if one refers to "the Las Vegas show," is that a reference to the event planned by the World Market Center, or a reference to the show being readied by the International Furniture & Accessories Marketplace?
No, Virginia, they are not the same show. The World Market Center event is billed as offering, eventually, 7.5 million square feet of home furnishings permanent showrooms and temporary exhibit space. Initially set to open in 2004, that market now apparently is going to debut in 2005, according to WMC executives.
Earlier this year, the group held a ground-breaking ceremony, but at press time hadn't begun construction.
The IFAM show, scheduled to debut in February 2004 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, is being spearheaded by the BIG boys. BIG stands for the Bentley International Group, and has nothing to do with the physical size of those involved with that organization. They should come out of the chute with a 1.1 million-square-foot show, and say they'll have 3.5 million square feet available in 2005.
Oh, and by the way, did I mention the possibility of a third show? No kidding. Word on the street says that a number of very influential offshore resources, allegedly unhappy with High Point and the two future Las Vegas venues, are looking at land in Las Vegas in order to host their own show.
I don't know about you, but I could certainly use a scorecard. This is beginning to sound like a scene from an old cowboy movie, where one gunslinger turns to the other and snarls: "This town just ain't big enough for both of us."
But before we all duck for cover, let's keep in mind one important thing: We have time before the big shootout at the Not So OK Corral.
After all, none of the cowboys has actually fired the first shot yet. Stay tuned.
