Fifth Annual Hospitality Link Event Introduces Hospitality/Contract Designers and Buyers to Las Vegas Resources

Furniture World News Desk on 3/24/2018

International Market Centers recently announced that eighteen Las Vegas Market showrooms opened their doors to senior hospitality/contract designers, specifiers and purchasing agents during the Fifth Annual Hospitality Link event on the World Market Center Las Vegas campus in February, facilitating networking and sourcing between the groups on the World Market Center campus.

International Market Centers and the Van Ess Group presented the Fifth Annual Hospitality link networking event on February 21-23. Participating vendors included: Charleston Forge; Currey & Company; Eastern Accents; Elk Group International; Global Views; GO Home; Gold Leaf Design Group; Howard Elliott Collection; Jamie Young Company; Kalco Lighting; Leftbank Art; Nourison; Palecek; Phillips Collection; Stylus Made to Order Sofas; Vanguard Furniture; Wendover Art Group and ZUO.



“Being able to meet with sales teams in their actual showrooms is invaluable and truly sets Hospitality Link apart from the other events,” said Carolyn McCoy of Simeone Deary Design Group. “You are able to see and feel the quality of the products and get an understanding of the price points associated with them.”

Participating firms for 2018 Hospitality Link included: Bar Napkin Productions; Beyer Brown & Associates; ForrestPerkins; KPS Group, Inc.; Bilkey Llinas Design; designONEstudio; Legacy Ventures; Design Directions International; Purchasing Managment Int - PMI; Simeone Deary Design Group; Mendil + Meyer Design Studio; The Ness Group; Twofold Studio; //3877; studio4design; The Stroud Group; and FH design. The interactive three-day event included meetings and networking activities designed to connect buyers/designers and the vendors. A highlight of the event was a mixer at the popular Top Golf Las Vegas, where attendees had a change to mingle and play a variety of golf-based games. Hospitality Link is the first hospitality networking event that occurs in permanent vendor showrooms.

“This was a great event as it introduced me to vendors and products that I wasn’t familiar with,” said Amanda Corbett of Forrest Perkins. “The selection of vendors was good, with a nice variety of product types and hotel levels (3-5 star).”

“Las Vegas Market is proud to host Hospitality Link, another ‘added value’ program that brings expanded access and distribution to our showroom tenants who are participants in the hospitality trade,” said Lee Hershberg, Vice President of Home Decor, International Market Centers. “The hospitality business is extremely relationship-driven and this program helps our clients get a ‘foot in the door’ to help shorten the lengthy sales cycle. At Hospitality Link, suppliers were able to showcase their full product lines, and the designers and buyers had the opportunity to see, touch and feel the merchandise to get a sense of scale and texture.”

Participating showroom representatives said that Las Vegas Market’s Hospitality Link is a valuable event for their businesses.

“Uninterrupted one-on-one sessions with the delegates in our own showroom, and the casual networking during meals and social time set this event above others in terms of quality time with the designers and buyers,” said Brad McFadden, Stylus Made to Order Sofas.

Tom Caldwell of Currey & Company agreed.

“It was very beneficial to meet with the individuals while reviewing the actual products of our company in our showroom, and to be able to explain what separates us from other resources they may be using,” said Caldwell.

More about Las Vegas Market: Las Vegas Market is the nation’s fastest growing gift and home décor market and the leading furniture marketplace in the western U.S., presenting 4,000+ 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 2018 Las Vegas Market runs January 28 to February 1, 2018. For more information, visit www.lasvegasmarket.com.

More about International Market Centers, L.P.: 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 12.2 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/.