B's a big deal for Las Vegas
By Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, February 5, 2007
Las Vegas — With only three shows under its belt, the Las Vegas Market is set to open its second showroom building here next week — a move that will more than double the number of permanent showrooms at the World Market Center complex.
The WMC's heavily touted Building B, in fact, is some 300,000 square feet larger and has about 70 more showrooms than Building A, which opened for the inaugural market here in July 2005.
Market officials believe the upcoming market, which begins Jan. 29 at the WMC complex and Jan. 30 at the nearby Cashman Center, could draw a larger crowd than the debut event, thanks to the scores of new or expanded showrooms and the positive industry "buzz" about the market.
"I think it will be stronger than our first market," said Dave Palmer, general manager of the WMC. "And we'll probably have a better quality of buyers."
Palmer and other officials were reluctant to give specific traffic estimates, but have previously said more than 50,000 attended the inaugural market, the strongest attendance of the first three markets.
Festivities to celebrate the grand opening of the second building include performances by four Las Vegas show headliners — the Blue Man Group, Clint Holmes, The Rat Pack and Diavolo — and something called a "pyrotechnic ribbon-cutting" that kicks off the event at 5:30 p.m. on opening day.
Performances will be shown on the WMC's closed-circuit television system so marketgoers can watch the event from any of the dozens of plasma TVs located throughout the two showroom buildings.
The new building itself is 16 stories tall and includes about 300 permanent showrooms that occupy some 1.5 million square feet of exhibit space. Building A, by contrast, is a 10-story structure with about 230 showrooms in 1.3 million square feet of exhibit space.
Sky bridges link floors 2 through 10 of the two structures.
In addition to the 2.8 million square feet of permanent showroom space, Palmer said there will be approximately 550,000 square feet of temporary exhibit space at two sites.
At the WMC complex, the three tent-like Pavilions structures house some 350,000 square feet, while an additional 200,000 square feet has been leased at the Cashman Center.
Palmer said the total amount of temporary exhibit space will be lower than previous markets (last July's market had about 600,000 square feet at the Las Vegas Convention Center alone), but said the drop wasn't surprising since many former temporary exhibitors are now in larger permanent showrooms.
Moreover, the independently run Las Vegas Furniture Show at the Sands Expo Center, which had about 30 exhibitors last summer, has canceled its January show, further reducing the temporary space. Organizers said the event may return this July.
Shuttle service from the Las Vegas Market's 26 host hotels to the WMC begins Jan. 29 and starts the following day to the Cashman Center. The market also has added limited shuttle service from 12 of the hotels two days prior to the market's opening.
The day before the official opening, Jan. 28, has been designated as "Rep Appreciation Day." Food and beverages will available to sales representatives throughout the day, and a "happy hour" reception in their honor will begin at 4:30 p.m.
And if you think there's been a lot of hype leading to the opening of Building B, wait until Building C opens in the summer of 2008. Palmer said it will be the largest WMC building yet, with about 2.1 million square feet of permanent showroom space.
Construction is well under way on Building C and an adjacent parking garage. Palmer said WMC already has received commitments for about one-third of the space, and he believes demand will spike following this month's market.
