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Las Vegas Market changes dates to Aug. 2-6

Vegas Kids, Gift + Home shows to overlap event

Heath E. Combs -- Furniture Today, December 28, 2009

LAS VEGAS — World Market Center officials announced today that they are moving the summer 2010 Las Vegas Market back about a month to Aug. 2-6.

The move, which comes a year after the WMC pushed its summer market dates to mid-September, is part of an effort by WMC officials to create two "mega-markets" a year.

WMC's mega-markets concept integrates a home furnishings market as an anchor event with other industry-associated events. Such mega-markets will be designed to attract a broad range of buyers and optimize sales opportunities for businesses, WMC officials said in a press release.

This coming summer, the Las Vegas Market will overlap the WMC's Gift + Home show and Vegas Kids juvenile furnishings show, which will now both be held Aug. 4-7. The gift and kids shows had previously been set for June 13-16.

The Aug. 4-7 dates will include a weekend, which market officials said is important to independent gift retailers.

WMC said it plans to hold its summer market in years beyond 2010 during a similar late July/early August time frame.

WMC also set its winter market dates for 2011 for Jan. 24-28, which will overlap the Surfaces floor coverings show at the Sands Convention and Expo Center and the WMC's InspireDesign hospitality design show.

The release said WMC plans to hold its future winter markets during a similar late January/early February date.

The date change also restores the summer market to five days. Officials previously had announced the dates as Sept. 13-16, which would have been a four-day run.

"Our ‘mega-market' approach, combined with the new summer and winter Las Vegas Market dates, represents an innovative new way to add value for our partners and empower businesses to increase their profitability in this new economy," said WMC President and CEO Robert Maricich.

"This diversified model clearly meets the industry's need to cost-effectively generate new leads and sales by promoting cross-category activity among complementary industry sectors," he added.

WMC said in the release its new dates had broad support from its advisory board.

The new schedule should reduce potential industry conflicts, allowing businesses to concentrate on the market, the release said. The Las Vegas Market's decision last year from July to September raised concerns among exhibitors who showed in both Vegas and High Point, whose fall market is in October.

This year, the September Vegas dates overlapped the High Point Premarket.

Several exhibitors at both markets had criticized the move to September, saying would reduce the number of key buying opportunities for retailers from four a year to three and pose a logistical challenge for product samples that would have to be moved from Las Vegas to High Point in just a few weeks.

The summer Tupelo Furniture Market for is scheduled for Aug. 20-22.

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Vegas shifts to August

Jan 4, 2010

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