What Vegas is all about
Ray Allegrezza, Editor in Chief -- Furniture Today, February 20, 2006
Las Vegas means different things to different people. For some, it's all about the glitz and glamour of the nightlife. For others, it's the contradiction between the frenzy of the city and the peaceful grandeur of the mountains and desert that surround it.
For a furniture guy like me, Vegas now stands for a Very Exciting Gathering About Sales, because that's exactly what last week at the World Market Center was all about.
And forget the notion, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." When a show such as this wins rave reviews when it opens in July, then comes back and does it again six months later, the news hits the street in no time.
Based on what I saw, traffic was on par with the World Market Center's first show, which was said to draw some 60,000 attendees.
But even if foot traffic was down slightly last week, the order-writing this time was as good if not better than in July, most exhibitors said.
One, Ron Wanek of Ashley, said traffic at his showroom — which was so packed the WMC had to put benches out in the hallway so the reps could write orders — said his traffic at this show was "certainly not less" than it was in July, a show that brought him more buyers than any other show.
Comments from exhibitors outside the WMC's permanent building had the same take. John DeFalco of Primo International, which had a temporary booth at Mandalay Bay, said that well before the end of opening day, the Primo booth had been visited by 25 of the Top 100 retailers.
While I was chatting with John, Nebraska Furniture Mart, Big Lots and Kacey Fine Furniture all stopped in.
A number of retailers, including Sam Fishbein of Kacey, had rave reviews for not only the products but also for the presentation format at the Mandalay Bay.
"I think the Mandalay Bay show is incredible," Sam told me. "The spaces are open and compact, which means you can look, decide and get in and out quickly. If I spot something I intend to buy, I already have a good idea of how I want to merchandise it. Let the other guys spend half a day roaming around some 60,000-square-foot showroom. As for me, this works."
With a second building under construction and a third in the works, the World Market Center intends to make a good thing better. They are well on their way.
