Las Vegas Market Forges Retail Partnership With Gourmet Catalog

Las Vegas Market has forged a retail partnership with Gourmet Catalog Buying Group to support the launch of the new C11 showroom floor – dedicated to gourmet housewares, tabletop and specialty food lines – at the Summer 2015 Las Vegas Market, Aug. 2-6.

“Las Vegas Market is delighted to be working with Gourmet Catalog to develop exclusive and individualized at-market activities for its Western members,” said Dorothy Belshaw, president of Gift & Home Décor, International Market Centers. “Janis Johnson [president and founder of Gourmet Catalog] is a thought leader in the gourmet housewares industry, and we anticipate that her early advocacy for Las Vegas Market’s gourmet category extension will help us to exponentially develop our overall specialty gourmet retailer attendance. This pioneering partnership is a win-win for buyers and suppliers, further establishing Las Vegas Market as the leading furniture, home décor and gift destination in the Western United States.”  

Since its launch in 1981, Gourmet Catalog Buying Group has served the needs of independent retailers. Today, the organization represents some 344 retail locations nationwide and partners with more than 200 vendors to offer merchandise discounts, freight allowances and special dating for its members. Gourmet Catalog executives are working with Las Vegas Market to develop specialized programs – involving a mix of networking and social events, customized market tours, personalized concierge services, buyer scholarships and dynamic educational opportunities – for its members attending the August 2015 market. 

“We’re excited to partner with Las Vegas Market to further extend the exclusive networking and shopping opportunities offered to our retail members,” said Johnson. “Las Vegas Market’s plans to develop a robust resource for Western gourmet kitchenware retailers fills a void in the housewares industry calendar, and offers our members – from the Western states in particular – a relevant and useful additional resource.” 

To date, more than 25 gourmet and specialty housewares brands have confirmed their intention to participate in the launch of C11 at Summer Market, showcasing a well-rounded concentration of gift-oriented housewares and tabletop items, including melamine tableware, gadgets and serveware, as well as specialty food. Other categories represented on C11 will include cookware, bakeware, woodenware, glassware and bar accessories, hydration products, kitchen tools, kitchen textiles, casual tabletop, home and health items, and publishing/cookbooks. 

The confirmed, and growing, roster of C11 launch participants includes: Chukar Cherries, Columbia Empire Farms, Iveta Gourmet, Knack3, New Canaan Farms, Pacific NW Gourmet, Spokandy and Top Shelf Glasses. The C11 gourmet collection enhances the high-end and gift-driven housewares suppliers already in the Las Vegas Market, including Alessi, Certified International, Charles Viancin, Chilewich, Couleur Nature, Corkcicle, Govino, Hester & Cook, Home Essentials, JURA, La Cafetiere, Lamson & Goodnow, Lotta Jansdotter Tabletop, Mary Lake Thompson, Menu, Picnic Time, Savora, S’well, TAG, Thomas Paul Melamine and Umbra, among others. 

The launch of C11 marks the third and final phase of Las Vegas Market’s strategic growth plan to position itself as the leading buying platform for furniture, home décor and gifts in the Western United States. In addition to the C11 opening, highlights of the upcoming Summer Market include a celebration of the Market’s 10-year anniversary, as well as the continuing growth of C5, another new permanent showroom floor for boutique home décor, high-end home textiles and accessories, and the repositioning and re-imagining of the Market’s temporary exhibits as The Pavilions at Las Vegas Market, a dramatic, free-standing, climate-controlled temporary trade show space showcasing some 90,000 net square feet of innovative and emerging gift and home décor resources.