Las Vegas survey: Retailers prefer September market
WMC commissions poll of Vegas buyers
Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, November 18, 2008
LAS VEGAS — A survey of buyers who have attended the Las Vegas Market shows that they prefer September over other possible months for a late summer or early fall show, according to the market's organizers.
World Market Center officials released an executive summary of the online survey of 2,061 buyers to Furniture/Today. It was conducted in August by Tradeshow Week Research, a firm owned by Reed Business Information (also the parent company of Furniture/Today) and has a 3% margin of error.
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It showed that among all groups of buyers — even those who attend both the High Point and Las Vegas markets - September was preferred over July, August and October for a summer-fall market.
"Based on these results, it is clear that the buyer base at Las Vegas Market has given WMC a mandate that they prefer September," Bob Maricich, president and CEO of the World Market Center, said in a letter introducing the statistics.
"Buyers have sent an unmistakable message that they will be even more inclined to participate in the Las Vegas Market in September than in July. That means there will be more buyers if the market is held in September than in July," he added.
Maricich said that many buyers say they don't go to Las Vegas in July because of the blazing summer heat.
"Additionally, my 30 years of experience reinforces these findings simply because July is not an optimal time in the retail cycle," he said. WMC officials noted that they "inherited" the original January-July schedule from San Francisco, the predecessor to Las Vegas as the key Western market.
Maricich also noted that of the buyers surveyed, nine out of 10 ranked Las Vegas as "more effective" than other markets.
