Las Vegas Market announced that overall pre-registrations for Summer 2014 are running 7% ahead of Winter 2014 – the largest event in the history of the Las Vegas Market – setting the stage for a robust, and potentially record-setting, Summer Market attendance from July 27, to July 31, 2014. The gift and home décor category is experiencing the most dramatic gains, with buyer registration pacing 18% ahead of the recent Winter 2014 Market and 83% ahead of the Summer 2013 Market.
"By virtually every measure – week-to-week comparisons against Winter Market, overall quantity of registrations, and percentage gains by category– attendee registration for the Summer Las Vegas Market is ahead," said Scott Eckman, Chief Market & Strategy Officer, International Market Centers. "These gains reinforce the strategic shifts we have made in positioning Las Vegas Market as the leading furniture, home decor and gift destination in the western United States, and reflect both the increase in resource density as well as the intensive efforts by our expanded Retail Relations team."
While registration growth has been strongest in the gift and home décor categories, overall Summer Market pre-registrations are ahead across all merchandise categories, including furniture, which is experiencing steady and consistent registration activity commensurate with its maturity at Las Vegas Market. According to Eckman, "Our gains in gift and home registrations are fueled not only by the dramatic resource growth in these product categories, but also through stepped-up efforts from the Retail Relations call center."
Las Vegas Market substantially expanded its Retail Relations team earlier this year, adding 10 new staffers to its outreach organization, which now comprises 30 people, with dedicated representatives for the gift, furniture/home décor and lifestyle categories as well as two field representatives. This commitment and investment to attract new buyers to Market is driving the increases in registration with nearly 70,000 phone calls to buyers.
The increase in registrations for Summer 2014 correspond with the dramatic resource expansion as part of the Las Vegas Market's three-year strategic growth plan, which has resulted in an increase of more than 1,200 new resources exhibiting in 850,000 square-feet of space since the January 2013 Market, including approximately 900 new gift lines and some 300 new furniture and home décor lines. Leading gift and lifestyle resources opening new showrooms for Summer 2014 include: Aesthetic Movement, Colonial Tin Works, Grace by Catherine Sullivan, Honey & Me, K. Hall Studio, Keena, Margot Elena, Mary Lake Thompson and Thompson's Candles; prominent home décor & specialty tabletop showrooms debuting in July 2014 include Artissimo, Bungalow 5, Kalaty Rug Corp., Lunares, Outpost Original Inc., and prominent Los Angeles-based sales representative group Vest & Associates. In Buildings A and B, new major furniture tenants include Ace Bayou, Agio, Décor-Rest, Gaucho Sheep & Leather Products Inc., Hinges Design and MLily USA.
