Modest market attendance doesn't equate to poor sales
Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, September 3, 2011
Larry Thomas Business Editor
Based on the reports I received from the Las Vegas Market and what I personally observed at the Tupelo Furniture Market, attendance at these August events was underwhelming.
There were no crowded hallways, empty parking spaces were relatively easy to spot, and long lines formed only when it was time for lunch. But before you write off the August market as disasters, a bit of perspective is needed.
First, order-writing was brisk - and not just in Tupelo, where promotional upholstery and closeouts remain king. Vegas exhibitors also said their order pads didn't gather dust, and most were pleased with orders written.
Second, numerous buyers from Top 100 stores shopped both markets early and often. Orders from two or three such buyers can make an exhibitor's market worthwhile, regardless of what happens during the rest of the show.
And third, recession-driven travel budgets have caused most retailers to cut back on the number of people they send to market. The days of the large entourages from key retailers are long gone. And in some cases, a retailer will skip a market altogether.
All those factors - not to mention that a number of retailers have simply gone out of business the past three years - combined to drive down attendance. But as AICO President Martin Ploy said succinctly, "You can't ship attendance. You ship orders."
It's obvious Ploy realizes that attendance alone is not an indicator of the health of a market. And at the risk of putting words into his mouth, I think he also realizes that underwhelming market attendance is the new normal.
In fact, many Vegas exhibitors told Furniture/Today staffers they were pleasantly surprised by both attendance and order-writing. Many had, indeed, prepared themselves for a disastrous market that had the misfortune of occurring in the midst of the debt ceiling debate in Washington.
Even the High Point Market, the granddaddy of all furniture markets, has suffered from an attendance standpoint. Some of the drop could be attributed to issues that have nothing do with the recession - price-gouging by local restaurants and hotels, for example - but those problems largely have been addressed in recent years.
And with key showroom buildings in Vegas and High Point now under common ownership, it is not in either market's best interest to build up one event at the expense of the other.
In short, I think we have to learn to live with modest market attendance. That's not to suggest market organizers should give up on efforts to attract more buyers and exhibitors, but it seems clear the days of massive crowds and long lines waiting to register in showrooms are behind us.
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