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Calgary market cancelled

By Michael J. Knell -- Furniture Today, January 8, 2006

Winnipeg, Manitoba — Market Showplace, the annual market held by Furniture West each summer in Calgary, Alberta, will not be held this year.

Targeted at independent retailers in Western Canada, Market Showplace has experienced declining attendance and a dwindling exhibitor base in recent years, not unlike other regional markets in Canada and the United States.

Furniture West Chairman Terry Clark said the factory association hasn't given up its rights to Calgary's Round-Up Centre — which it holds through to 2008 — and may bring the market back in a different format. This year's market was scheduled for June 24–26.

"We're stepping back for one market year to give the exhibitors and the retailers the chance to reassess the shape of the market," Clark said.

Furniture West has held the market every year since 1972, shifting its venue between Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta, and Vancouver, British Columbia.

Regional markets in Canada haven't fared well in recent years. Two summer events in Toronto are cases in point — the Summer Furniture Show held by the Ontario Furniture Manufacturers Assn. hasn't established a solid following, and the Quebec Furniture Manufacturers Assn. tried to create a June version of the Canadian Home Furnishings Market a few years back, but only one was ever held.

The OFMA is expected to decide in the next few weeks whether it will hold a summer market in 2006.

Market Showplace's best years were when Mega Group, the cooperatively owned furniture buying group, held its annual merchandise market there. Mega stopped participating in the show after 2004.

"We saw little or no value in the show anymore and plan nothing at this point to replace it from a merchandising perspective," said Michael Graydon, Mega's president and CEO. He said Mega will still have a regional meeting for its Countrywide division, which coincided with Market Showplace last year, "but given the cancellation the dates are now more flexible as is the location if required."

Canada's most successful regional market in recent years has been the Salon du Meuble de Québec, which this year is scheduled for Sept. 16–28 in Quebec City. But its support also has been waning.

Clark said that for the Canadian shows, "Las Vegas has created a new dynamic." Last year's Calgary show in August closely followed the first Las Vegas market and lost some attendance to the new venue. This year, the Calgary show had been slated to return to a June time slot, seen as better serving the retail cycle.

In the next couple of months, Furniture West plans to hold regional focus groups and survey market stakeholders to determine not just whether the market should continue, but what its format should be.

The 2006 market's cancellation won't hamper Furniture West's ability to serve its members or carry out other programs, Clark said.

This year, the association will concentrate on expanding its dedicated furniture-only LTL (less than truckload) logistics program for retailers throughout Western Canada. Furniture West has been operating the program for three years.

"We're not a giant in the logistics business but we have provided and will continue to provide a service to retailers," said Joe Malko, president of Furniture West.

Malko noted that when manufacturers banded together to form Furniture West in 1971, their common goal was to find new ways to control the costs of transporting raw materials to their factories and finished products to their customers.

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Furniture West cancels Calgary market

Jan 4, 2006

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