Las Vegas Market Continues Housewares Growth


Furniture World News Desk on 10/22/2015

Following its successful summer launch of C11 as a permanent showroom floor for gourmet housewares, tabletop, gift and specialty food, Las Vegas Market announced that new anchor tenant HIC, Harold Import Co. and five other leading suppliers are the first of many newcomers expected to open permanent showrooms on the floor in time for the Winter 2016 Market.

“This past summer’s launch of C11 was very well received by both buyers and suppliers, and these unusually early commitments for the next Market signal a robust sales cycle and continued momentum between now and January,” said Dorothy Belshaw, president of Gift & Home Décor, International Market Centers. “These newly confirmed vendors represent a minimum of 20% growth in resources on C11 for the Winter Market. With an additional three to four newcomers to be announced soon, we are well on the way to meeting our goal of 50% occupancy on C11 for the Winter Market, which is an essential part of our strategy to reposition Las Vegas Market as the leading furniture, home decor and gift destination in the western United States, and we look forward to continuing to grow resources and to build relevant retail attendance.”

The six newly confirmed C11 tenants will bring an additional 25 new lines to the Winter 2016 Market. Newcomers include anchor HIC, Harold Import Co., a well-known supplier of housewares, serveware, dinnerware and gadgets; specialty food supplier Blue Cattle Truck Mexican Vanilla; barware, tabletop and accessories manufacturer Leadingware Group; tabletop, housewares and home décor supplier Magenta; specialty food and spice purveyor Pepper Creek Farms; and multi-line sales agency Peterson Associates, showcasing Boelter Brands, a leading provider of licensed drinkware, kitchen products, home décor and tailgating/entertaining products.

According to David Mulligan of HIC, the company will showcase its HIC-manufactured brands (HIC, Mrs. Anderson’s Baking®, The World’s Greatest™, Helen’s Asian Kitchen, Fante’s and Elizabeth Karmel’s Grill Friends®), along with its exclusive brands, including aerolatte, Brix, and Marcato. HIC also carries a large selection of well-known gourmet kitchen supplies from top brands such as Ergo Chef, plink, Deglon, Benriner, and many more. “I’m pretty pumped for Las Vegas Market. We are hearing lots of good things about it and vendors are excited,” said Mulligan. “The housewares world has been missing a great regional show since the demise of the Gourmet Products Show. We think that Las Vegas Market can fill that void, and also draw buyers from outside the region because Las Vegas is such a great destination.”

The Summer 2015 debut of C11 as a permanent showroom floor for gourmet housewares and tabletop products featured some 50+ major brands showcasing a gift-oriented assortment of housewares and tabletop items, including bakeware, casual tabletop cookware, gadgets, glassware and bar accessories, home and health items, hydration products, kitchen textiles, kitchen tools and gadgets, melamine tableware, publishing/cookbooks, serveware, small electrics and woodenware.

The floor is anchored by high-profile multi-line sales agencies – C. Stephens Inc., The Hub by Carson West Group, The Kitchen Source and Muir Sales – with an assortment of leading gourmet, gift and accessories lines, including Andreas; BIA/Danesco; Enclume Pot Racks & Storage; Fagor; Ginkgo; Hammer Stahl Cookware and Cutlery JK Adams; Kitchen Innovations; Kyocera; Le Souk Ceramique Microplane Grace Mfg. Omega Juicers & Blenders Oenophilia; RSVP International; S.A.L.T. Sisters; Simax; Tovolo; Vitamix; Zak Designs; and Zojirushi America Corp.

Vendors participating in the C11 debut were enthusiastic and looking forward to the future. “The Market was great and all of our manufacturers were happy. There is a lot of buzz in Las Vegas, and my manufacturers want to be involved to make this Market happen,” said Paul Johnson, owner of The Kitchen Source. “I like that Las Vegas attracts furniture buyers, as well as other categories of retailers, who may want to buy housewares, so it is an opportunity to attract a larger clientele. We have met many buyers that are new to us, and opened 8 to 12 new West Coast accounts, and about 65 from the Rocky Mountains and other states, including Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Iowa and Indiana. Buyers are telling us that Las Vegas is a destination they want to go to and they intend to make Las Vegas their West Coast regular show.”

Beyond vendor support, Las Vegas Market also forged retail partnerships with two leading organizations – Gourmet Catalog and HTI Buying Group – to support the August 2015 launch of C11. Offerings for retail members of each organization include networking and social events, customized market tours, personalized concierge services, buyer scholarships, dynamic educational opportunities and more.

About Las Vegas Market: 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. The Winter 2016 Las Vegas Market runs January 24-28, 2016 at World Market Center Las Vegas. 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/.