New features at Las Vegas market

Published on : Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Las Vegas Design Center exhibitors came up with burgeoning opportunities soon after the re-opening in June after the lockdown period.

Furniture vendors opening High Point showrooms between markets for more relaxed, one-on-one buyer visits escalated during the pandemic’s darkest days, especially with High Point First Tuesday events highlighting the practice.

Meanwhile, a quieter version of the same has been going on for years in places such as World Market Center’s Las Vegas Design Center, Atlanta’s AmericasMart and Dallas Market Center, where designer-oriented showrooms have long stayed open year-round. Those locations got even more play for many exhibitors during the pandemic, when buyers developed new habits for off-market showroom visits, particularly when it came to regional retail business in addition to accessing the design trade.

After re-opening in June 2020 following a three-month COVID shutdown, Las Vegas Design Center saw a big bump in day-to-day traffic spurred by more drive-in business from retailers in SoCal, Arizona and Utah to complement designer traffic, LVDC General Manager Cain Brodie told Furniture Today.

“We’re back to pre-COVID levels of traffic, but the buyer mix is different, and the sales are higher,” he said, crediting buyers’ ongoing desire for one-on-one visits and high consumer demand for home furnishings.

“We have seen an increase in traffic regionally with an uptick of buyers from Oregon, Washington, California, Idaho and the Dakotas as opposed to before the pandemic,” Phillips said.

“Like anything else, the more you do, the more you can develop a project, the more traffic you build,” she said. “Our reps for the West Coast, central and mountain states can and do utilize that space, especially with new customers. We do training there and entertain people who are looking for new assortments on their floors.”

Tags: Atlanta’s AmericasMart, COVID-19, furniture and accessories, furniture USA, Las Vegas Market, pandemic, USA furniture