Inaugural Las Vegas Market Draws 62,000 Attendees

Las Vegas, NV, August 5--The highly anticipated inaugural Las Vegas Market at World Market Center debuted July 25-29, 2005 by delivering extraordinary buyer traffic and a first class market experience beyond expectations. World Market Center, developed by World Market Center, LLC and The Related Companies, LP, is the largest new trade show complex in the country connecting all categories of the home and hospitality furnishings industry, including furniture, home accent, lighting, rugs, floor coverings, wall décor, floral, outdoor, bedding, mattresses, home textiles, gift, table top and more. "This is the realization of a dream that has been five years in the making," said Jack Kashani and Shawn Samson, co-founders and managing partners of World Market Center. "Not only did we deliver on the promise of a new vision for the industry, but we exceeded even our own expectations for the inaugural market. The industry has spoken and Las Vegas Market is the market of the future. "We are grateful to our entire world class team for making this vision a reality, and we thank the industry for their overwhelming support. We are committed more than ever to fulfilling the totality of our vision, and along with our team, will work tirelessly to unveil the entire 12 million square foot campus on an accelerated basis." On opening day, Kashani and Samson, along with their partners Marty Burger and Ron Wackrow of The Related Companies, proudly welcomed attendees to the first Las Vegas Market with a spectacular ribbon cutting event. The opening ceremonies were held in the rotunda and featured a presentation by Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman who declared the event as "a defining moment for Las Vegas," and was followed by a grand opening celebration held on every floor of the 10-story complex. Exceeding all industry projections, Las Vegas Market attracted 62,000 attendees based on pre-registration and on-site registration figures for the inaugural event. With 1,200 exhibiting companies filling 2.5 million square feet of permanent and temporary exhibition space in three venues, Las Vegas Market was the largest show launch in U.S. history for any industry trade show. Domestic attendance at the inaugural show covered all 50 states, with the following ten states delivering the heaviest traffic: California, Nevada, Texas, Florida, Arizona, North Carolina, Illinois, New York, Washington and Utah. International attendance included representatives from 83 countries making the first Las Vegas Market a truly global event. In addition to attracting overseas buyers, a major initiative for show organizers was to infuse meaningful international content and community into Las Vegas Market, especially since the vast majority of U.S. buyers do not regularly attend home furnishings trade fairs overseas. Therefore strategic partnerships were formed with Messe Frankfurt and Koelnmesse to bring highlights of their European shows – Heimtextil, Ambiente and IMM Cologne, respectively – to Las Vegas. Together with Interior Lifestyle USA, the "show within a show" that ran parallel at Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas Market proudly hosted 161 international exhibitors which represents more than 12% of the total exhibiting companies. Last week’s Las Vegas Market was a welcome addition to the city’s annual convention lineup for the month of July, which is typically a slower season for the tourism industry. Las Vegas Market generated well over 100,000 room nights for the city of Las Vegas, including the room nights attendees booked within the show’s host hotel block consisting of 18 properties. The market’s free and continuous shuttle transportation program, which included vehicles shared with the collocated Association of Woodworking & Furnishing Suppliers (AWFS), ran 120 shuttles during the peak hours between 18 host hotels, Las Vegas Convention Center and World Market Center.

Related Topics:Fuse Alliance, Fuse, Coverings

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