City Furniture skipping Vegas
By Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, January 22, 2006
Fort Lauderdale, Fla. — City Furniture, which sent 200 people to Las Vegas during the inaugural Las Vegas Market in July, will skip the second one — mostly.
The company says it is aiming to limit its buying trips and focus on High Point.
Keith Koenig, president of the 21-store Top 100 company based here, said he will attend this month's Las Vegas market for one day because it coincides with another business trip he's making in the area. But City's merchandising team is staying home.
"As much as we would like to, there's not enough time for us to shop all the markets," he said. "If you really think about it, two High Point markets, two Las Vegas markets, then Tupelo, and Atlanta for area rugs and accessories would require our merchandising team to be out of the office more than eight weeks of the year."
Trips to visit suppliers — especially those in Asia — complicate the buying process even more, Koenig said.
In July, City was the best-represented retailer in Las Vegas. It brought 100 employees and their spouses or significant others to the city for a trip that was part work and part thank-you to the people driving City's success.
Another Florida-based retailer, Rooms To Go, also said it will sit out this Las Vegas market, waiting until more of the World Market Center buildings come on line.
Despite the big-name dropouts, WMC officials said that pre-registrations for this month's market were comparable to July's. About 30% of the attendees will come from the East Coast, and more than 60% of the top 200 buyers have registered, along with many people who were not at the July show, said Dana Pretner, director of marketing and public relations.
WMC General Manager Dave Palmer said it would be no surprise if 15% to 20% of the July visitors end up skipping the winter show for now. But he also expects to see retailers who missed the first show, and more buyers from some stores.
"I think a certain amount of (retailers skipping the market) is understandable," Palmer said. "If you're an East Coast company looking for certain resources that don't have a presence at our facility yet, why would you continue to go?"
But he said that will change as the WMC opens more buildings and adds to its permanent exhibitor base.
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