Las Vegas is clearly a market on the grow
Furniture Sketchbook column
David Perry -- Furniture Today, February 6, 2006
Something big loomed over the streams of market-goers flooding through the World Market Center’s hallways and showrooms last week.
It was something really big, as in a 16-story, 1.6 million-square-foot showroom building that will be open at this time next year. That hulking, monstrous structure literally cast its shadow over the 10-story World Market Center, which will be the biggest kid on the block for only three markets.
And then, in 2008, there will be yet another bigger kid on the block: Phase Three of the eight-phase World Market Center growth plan calls for construction of an 18-story, 2-million-square-foot facility. That third building is scheduled to open in 2008.
The clatter of construction at the WMC’s second building last week provided the soundtrack for the second Las Vegas Market. And the building itself, mostly open to the elements but taking shape fast, provided a powerful icon for this fast-developing market.
In business we are always trying to figure out which companies are growing and which aren’t. Everyone likes to partner with a hot company.
In Las Vegas last week, it was easy to see that that market is on the upswing. While reports on attendance varied, as they always do at any market, it looked to me as if the retail turnout was comparable to the first show. Business appeared to be brisk, a word that is often thrown around at markets but that rings true in Las Vegas.
More important, I think, is the trend line: This market is growing rapidly.
There is a psychological power to a big new building under construction. We don’t often see a sight like that at market these days. On several occasions, as I made my way into a side door of the World Market Center (I can’t reveal my secret access points), I saw people staring up at the building rising high over our heads. It was almost as if they couldn’t quite believe it was there.
But it is. And it will be open next January. The Las Vegas Market is riding high and building fast.
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