Direct from Market: Las Vegas Market

By Caroline Kennedy and Meredith Schwartz -- Gifts & Decorative Accessories, 7/30/2008 1:00:00 PM

July 30, 2008 — The Las Vegas Market is rocking; the champagne is flowing and there is plenty of celebrating. The newest addition to the World Market Center campus, Building C, was officially opened with a bang — “fireworks” made of streamers soared upward in the courtyard between the market complex’s three completed buildings. Celebrity Susan Anton emceed the ribbon-cutting ceremony and introduced WMC president Bob Maricich, WMC managing partners Shawn Samson and Jack Kashani, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, and Ron Wackrow and Mike Brenner of The Related Companies, who all wielded the official giant scissors. In his opening remarks, Maricich stated, “Seven years ago, this began as a vision

Rod Stewart rocks the house.

… It has been three years since the opening of Building A. Today we celebrate tenacity and optimism for a new world marketplace.” The ribbon-cutting ceremony was followed by an opening night concert by rock star Rod Stewart, who played to a packed house of more than 10,000 buyers, exhibitors and industry guests.

Opening day of the market got off to a busy start that saw attendees streaming into the three buildings and long lines at registration desks throughout the day. Registered attendance was reported to be up 35 percent over the January market. On the upper floors of the new building, the hallways seemed busy with people, browsing showrooms, exhibits or trying to find their appointed destinations in the new building. Some exhibitors even reported early order-writing.

The temporary exhibits, all brought on campus for the first time, are set up in a block of unleased showroom spaces on the fourth floor of the new building. The wide aisles and straightforward pattern make them easy to browse, but minimal signage and numbering — mostly on the floor — makes it tricky to find a particular destination. We found a number of familiar faces from the gift shows including Tervis Tumbler, Pearlessence and Country Home Creations.

Throughout the first day, there was a palpable buzz of excitement as those serious about doing business, as well as the curious, explored the new venue and anticipated the evening’s big events — the official ribbon-cutting ceremony and the rock concert.

On Tuesday morning, however, some market-goers wondered where all those bodies that had filled the pavilion to capacity for the concert had gone, at least in the new building, where lower floors were more sparsely attended. A good number of exhibitors spoke of a slow start to the day, attributing the shortfall to everything from too much late night fun Vegas-style, to appointments at the more established showrooms in Buildings A and B, as well as, of course, to the economy. Many noted that “the new traffic patterns [of buyers working the market] haven’t been established yet” and remained hopeful that traffic would pick up later in the day (as it seemed to) or week, especially with the weather-related flight delays preventing some market attendees coming into Las Vegas from the East and an earthquake in the Los Angeles area possibly causing delays as well.

One exhibitor, taking the long view measured in years, told Gifts & Decorative Accessories, “It will take a long time to build [sales and business here], but it will be worth it,” A happy few reported already reaping those rewards, including K. Hall Designs. And following the pattern of this summer's earlier markets, many vendors mentioned that those buyers who are here are buying.

Ribbon Cuttings

OneCoast ribbon cutting

Many showrooms were also celebrating grand openings with ribbon-cutting ceremonies and champagne toasts – and not just in Building C, although there were plenty there. Among the Building C ceremonies were ribbon-cuttings at the OneCoast showroom, which moved into a new larger showroom, and the Franz Collection.

Kathy Ireland and Francis Chen

For the Franz Collection, this is the company’s first U.S. corporate showroom, and designer Kathy Ireland joined owner Francis Chen to mark the occasion. While the showroom presents the range of the Franz line, including the collections designed by Ireland, the showroom is a showcase for the new Jean Boggio for Franz collection. The Jean Boggio Collection is a higher end furniture and décor collection created by French designer Jean Boggio. By presenting whole décor concepts, “We are trying to move Franz Porcelain to a higher level in fashion,” noted Chen in his opening

Jean Boggio for Franz

remarks. Pieces range from playful figurines to sculptural lamps to porcelain tile inlaid chairs.

When asked how the new collection might inspire new directions in her design work with Franz, Kathy Ireland replied, “Working with Francis Chen and Franz to bring art into the home is a wonderful partnership. There are many areas in which we can expand. And in fact, we are having a design meeting later today. One area that we are looking at is expanding our architectural style guides.”

Jim Shore cuts folk art cake

In Building A, artist Jim Shore cut the ribbon to officially open the new Crazy Mountain showroom housing his “Jim Shore, exclusively for Crazy Mountain” home décor collection. A special cake created to resemble one of Shore’s home décor pieces was served. Shore notes that all the pieces in the collection are inspired and influenced by folk art that he has collected, lives with and loves. But his designs are adapted to blend with today’s homes and lifestyles, and to appeal to a broad customer base. One example is a striking tramp art-styled box that was inspired by an original piece that he owns; he feels its styling will fit as much into a rustic lodge décor as well as a more contemporary one.

Artisan Studio cut the sculptured metal ribbon

Artisan Studio, a new division of upscale sculptural wall décor company Artisan House, made its debut in the temporary section. And in the spirit of the product’s medium, instead of a fabric ribbon for the debut ceremony, a metal ribbon crafted especially for the occasion was cut. This division offers a more moderately priced range of sculptural décor by many of the same Artisan House designers.

Showroom Debuts

CatStudio

While some building C exhibitors, such asArt Classics Ltd., moved over from buildings A or B to gain more space, the majority are new to the Vegas market.

CatStudio, known for its geography collection of hand-embroidered pillows is one such “newbie.” Helen Watson noted, “We made this investment in our first showroom because we believe in this market for the future. Those vendors who are still taking a wait-and-see attitude about Vegas are making a big mistake. Those who are here are reaching out to a new market and are getting known by being here.” G&DA got a sneak peek at the new beach towel designs that will debut in January.

Midwest soft-launched its new showroom in Building C. The company only brought a part of its line to this market, so the showroom has a more minimalist look to it compared to the other Midwest showrooms. Midwest’s Renee Solczak commented, “We didn’t know what to expect, but our traffic has been strong. We’re seeing many new customers — from Connecticut to California. Buyers are looking for more everyday product that they can bring in now … they are looking for new product, but they are also looking for new places to find it.” The official opening of Midwest’s showroom will take place in February 2009, and then, according to Solczak, “It will be over the top!”

Barreveld moved over from Building B. The space is much larger and set up to give the feeling of walking into someone’s home. The entire showroom is broken down into different room settings – living room, dining room, conservatory, etc. The back of the showroom, which actually faces out on another hallway, opens into a very contemporary space for DK Living, which is a stark contrast.

SPI/Belaverra now has a home of its own, with its new corporate showroom. “We have expanded our base of customers and opened many new accounts,” said Ron Knutson.

Elements, div. of Lifetime Brands

The Elements division of Lifetime Brands is showing a line created specifically for the home décor and furniture market that will only be shown in its new Las Vegas showroom. According to Alan Kanter, so far it has been well received. The themed collections will be completely changed every four to six months. “Newness is freshness in the market,” he remarked.

Over in Building A, The Phillips Collection took over a prime showroom spot right off the escalators on the second floor. The company is known for its collections of design forward “hand touched” contemporary pieces. Jason Phillips noted that the company is making a push to come out with more eco and outdoor pieces. They will also be debuting a furniture collection in High Point in October.

Italian Showcase
An attention-getting exhibit, Design Italiano, on the ground floor of Building C showcased examples of the best of Italian furniture design from 1956 to 2008. The exhibit marks the beginning of a collaboration between World Market Center and Fiera Milano, the Italian tradeshow organizer. Mr. Sandro Bicocchi, chairman and CEO of Fiera Milano, explained that because there are new challenges in the market today that we all face, they felt that, for the next five years, they needed to think of new ways of growing their fair. “We need to stop drinking out of the same glass; we need to drink from the ocean. We have to be more global.” Seeing how World Market Center and The Las Vegas Market have grown in size and international reputation and with an eye to the future, Fiera Milano feels that establishing a partnership with WMC is a good step toward becoming more global. Fiera Milano will continue to have a presence at WMC to build relationships with buyers and exhibitors. It will also invest in building up and marketing Macef over the next three years to increase international awareness of Italy’s premier gift and home tradeshow.

What’s In in Vegas

Eangee Home Design

Billed as the gift building, Building C does house a large number of gift and particularly decorative accessories resources on floors four through nine, including a sizeable selection of holiday decorations and permanent florals. However the furniture industry influence remains felt, with a more heterogeneous mix of home products ranging up into larger accent pieces. The juried Green showcase in particular skewed heavily toward larger items, with a few standouts such as Green Glass, Eangee and the intriguing Naturescast, a Phillipines-based green manufacturer, which makes jewelry as well as furniture and decorative accent pieces. Outside the showcase, however, buyers can find additional green gifts such as the Lightstone candles, which are made with plant wax, natural perfumes and eco-friendly packaging.

Cyan Designs

Consistent with what G&DA saw in Atlanta and Dallas, birds, especially owls; black and white, metallic finishes and sophisticated or urban lodge looks continue to dominate. Branches appear on everything from pillows by Suburban Silk to candles by K. Hall Designs to vases by Cyan Designs.

In addition, watch for yellow, especially combined with grey, white, and black; already popping on fashion racks, the colors are starting to show up in home. Groupings of multiples that are merchandised for use together, as well as a display effect, are seen in everything from candleholders at 18 Karat to Buddha heads at Phillips Collection to wall décor at Art Classics Ltd. Metallic finishes on ceramics as well as actual metal, appear on candles and reed diffusers from Trump Home by Pearlessence and vases from KoKoWare and Lux Avenue Design.

Lojo Balls

This market’s standout find is Lojo Balls: a European product which made its U.S. debut at the Intl. Contemporary Furniture Fair, they are high design objects that zip open to double as a floor lounger and an ottoman; brightly colored indoor-outdoor versions are tween and dorm friendly but sophisticated enough for adults, while a higher end leather version appeals particularly to men.

Lamoon

Another standout is from Lamoon. Its Modular Interior Pattern sets consist of interlocking dense foam designs that can be put together to create intricate lacy floor mats, wall décor, lamp shades, or whatever. The come in a variety of bright colors.

Curious as to why some buyers came to The Las Vegas Market, we stopped a pair of brothers from Staten Island, NY. “This is where it is happening,” remarked Alan Bram of DormUniverse.com. Their only criticism? They were disappointed in the children’s furniture area. They had expected it to be more.