San Fran Mart redefining identity
By Powell Slaughter -- Furniture Today, August 29, 2005
San Francisco — The San Francisco Mart is well on its way to a new identity as a year-round venue geared toward the design trade, focusing largely on gifts and decorative accessories.
At the Aug. 3–6 San Francisco furniture market — where attendance by exhibitors and furniture retailers was down sharply in the wake of the first big Las Vegas home furnishings market the week before — Mart General Manager Roseann Carini outlined a plan to maintain the location's value as an exhibition center and to get the "highest and best" use of the property.
First, the 300,000-square-foot Mart 2 will convert entirely to office use. City of San Francisco offices have occupied the building's lower floors for years.
"With the smaller windows and layout, it's more conducive to office use," Carini said. "The office market in San Francisco is picking up, it's a better use of the space, and it diversifies our business."
The second part of the plan involves development of the 10-story, 1 million-square-foot Mart 1 as a designer showroom venue. Its lower floors have long held showrooms such as South Cone and Brownstone, catering to Bay Area designers.
"We're in a transition, as you know. We said farewell to a business model we sustained for many years," Carini said. "We're extending the designer showroom concept up through the entire building."
She noted that furniture exhibitors still are interested in using the building to reach the local design trade.
"There are 7 million people in the Bay Area, so we feel we have a purpose in that regard," she said.
Karen McMullen, owner of Direct Designs Home, believes designer showrooms are a great use for the Mart. Her showroom there displays case goods, occasional and upholstery from such companies as John Charles Designs, Della Robbia, Creative Elegance, Allan Copley Designs and Parallax.
"We had 20 design firms in this morning," she said on opening day of market. "There's enough design business in California to make this an important center for designer showrooms."
The Mart also is stepping up efforts to attract gift, decorative accessory and wall décor companies, in addition to furniture.
The Mart is keeping the San Francisco Furniture Market on its calendar, with 2006 dates of Feb. 1–4 and Aug. 2–5. The markets will overlap with the San Francisco International Gift Fair at the nearby Moscone Center, and also with the San Francisco GiftCenter & Jewelry Mart in the San Francisco Design District.
"We're cross-merchandising the shows with each other," Carini said. "Accessories were a weaker category for us even when we were a regular furniture market. That's a business we can serve and be a very effective venue — area rugs, lighting, general gifts and accessories."
The Mart is backing the transition with physical improvements, including new lighting in the modern escalator lobby and new paint.
Plans also are in the works for renovating the historic lobby at the entrance, and for new windows and terra cotta treatments.
"We're working to make the first impression as positive as we can," Carini said.
The last phase of the Mart's transition involves a possible residential project.
"We're in the preliminary phase of researching residential condominiums on the top of the building," Carini said. "These will be luxury condominiums, with separate entrance and elevator. Essentially, we'd build a building on top of the building."
