LAS VEGAS – (March 29, 2016) – Las Vegas Market hosted 400+ retailers during its second ACE Convention pre-show event on March 2, bringing new buyers to campus and providing tenants with opportunities to write orders outside of traditional market dates. Representing 225 stores nationwide, ACE attendees had access to some 75+ Las Vegas Market permanent showrooms, representing hundreds of high-profile brands and lines complementary to their core hardware product offerings.
“As the leading furniture, home decor and gift destination in the western United States, Las Vegas Market continues to look for new ways to benefit its customers and provide innovative, off-market business opportunities for our permanent showroom tenants,” said Dorothy Belshaw, president of Gift & Home Décor, International Market Centers. “This partnership with ACE is a ‘win-win’ for buyers and sellers. ACE retailers from around the country were introduced to an extraordinary depth and breadth of complementary product categories; and participating Las Vegas Market tenants were afforded access to new business opportunities, new channels of retail distribution and new connections with buyers.”
“At ACE, our store owners are proud to offer products and services that are differentiated from the competition and localized to the neighborhoods they serve. The Las Vegas Market has been a great resource for our retailers to pick up unique home décor and gift items to complement their existing product mix,” commented Andrew Wolf, Associate Merchant - Holiday, Pool, Stationery. “The Market has also been a great place for our retailers to share ideas with each other and to collaborate with some of the best vendor partners in the industry.”
Jackie Moon of Next Step Reps, long-time tenant in Building C and second-time ACE pre-show event exhibitor, enthused, “We want to express a huge ‘thank you’ to Las Vegas Market for their efforts in making this ACE event the strongest ever! Having the ACE owners in the building and shopping was like having an additional show. We opened over a 100 new stores and received commitments from those retailers to start attending our major shows. The attendees not only bought from ACE-approved vendors, but from others as well.”
Las Vegas Market hosted the event prior to the ACE Hardware Spring Conference & Exhibition March 3-5, 2016, which drew more than 5,600 retailers to its event at Mandalay Bay. As part of the pre-show event, more than 75 Las Vegas Market showrooms in Buildings A and C were open to buyers. The Market also offered buyers its signature hospitality, with complimentary lunches; pre-Show specials; complimentary coat and bag check; and up to $40 in ride credits between Las Vegas Market and the ACE Convention. The first 10 buyers to check in at the Building C registration desk received $200 American Express gift cards; 10 additional $200 American Express gift cards were given away to first 10 buyers to show one paid invoice of $500 or more. A complimentary cocktail reception capped the day of shopping and sourcing.
Participating ACE buyers were registered to receive one of five Las Vegas Market Scholarships, including free airfare and two hotel nights for the Summer 2016 Market running July 31-August 4, 2016. Randomly-selected scholarship winners included Michael Cripe of Whitmore ACE Hardware, Manteno, IL; Angela Davis of Yeager Hardware in Van Buren, AR; Jennifer Mortell of Timberline ACE Hardware in Norwood, CO; Justin Nena of Nena ACE Hardware in Peoria, IL; and Kelly Wood of Pacific ACE Hardware in Winters, CA.
Las Vegas Market is the leading furniture, home decor and gift marketplace in the western U.S., presenting 2,700+ gift, home décor and furniture resources in an unrivaled market destination. Las Vegas Market features thousands of gift, furniture and home décor lines, allowing for cross-category commerce among these industries. Summer 2016 Las Vegas Market runs July 31-August 4. For more information, visit www.lasvegasmarket.com.
About Las Vegas Market and International Market Centers, L.P.
Las Vegas Market is the most comprehensive furniture, home décor and gift market in the United States, presenting a unique cross-section of 2,700+ resources in an unrivaled market destination. With two markets each year, retailers and designers can shop a broad assortment of product from thousands of manufacturers of furniture, mattress, lighting, decorative accessories, floor coverings, home textiles, tabletop, general gift and more — delivering the most complete, cross-category wholesale tradeshow for the furniture, home décor and gift industries in the United States.
For more information, visit www.lasvegasmarket.com. Find us on Facebook and Twitter.
Las Vegas Market is produced by International Market Centers, L.P. (IMC), the world’s largest operator of premier showroom space for the furnishings, home décor and gift industries. International Market Centers owns and operates 12.1 million square feet of world-class exhibition space in High Point, N.C. and Las Vegas. IMC’s mission is to build and operate an innovative, sustainable, profitable and scalable platform for the furnishings, home décor and gift industries. For more information on IMC, visit http://imcenters.com/.
