Considering the very difficult environment in the home furnishings industry, this is a remarkable uptick.
Robert Maricich, President and Chief Executive Officer, World Market Center

Robert Maricich, President and Chief Executive Officer, World Market Center, addresses the crowd at the Building C ribbon cutting as actress Susan Anton and World Market Center executives look on. See photo gallery of the 2008 July Las Vegas Furniture Market here.

Records were broken, premieres were held and milestones were marked at the Summer 2008 Las Vegas Market, July 28-August 1, the first show to be held entirely on World Market Center Las Vegas' 57-acre campus since the Market's July 2005 launch. Flashback March 2003: Groundbreaking for World Market Center Heralds New Era For Furniture Industry.

The opening of the iconic Building C – a 16-story, 2.1-million-square-foot structure – created the most efficient Market to date, allowing manufacturers, buyers and designers from around the world to convene in a single location.  See photo gallery of the 2008 July Las Vegas Furniture Market.

Total registrations exceeded the historic average of 50,000 and were up 4 percent over the last July Market; total attendance was up 7 percent. In particular, there was a dramatic increase in attending buyers, with 15 percent more retailers and 93 percent more designers attending 2008 Summer Market than in July 2007.

"Considering the very difficult environment in the home furnishings industry, this is a remarkable uptick," said World Market Center President and Chief Executive Officer Robert Maricich. "At World Market Center Las Vegas we have a compelling platform to do business. We set out to create excitement and provide an environment of optimism—and we were successful by every measure."

Furthermore, many exhibitors reported that qualified buyer traffic was up in their showrooms and that order-writing was brisk, defying the challenging environment in which the industry is currently operating.

"Our written business at Market was up well over 20 percent, and it was our most successful Summer Market thus far," said Lee Fautsch, vice president of sales/home furnishings for Flexsteel Industries, Inc. of Dubuque, Iowa. "We need to be in Las Vegas – it's very important to us."

"The quality of traffic we've had has been excellent. The major re-launch of Pennsylvania House alone has made it a great Market," said Dave Pinamonti of Universal Furniture.

In all, more than 1,500 exhibitors showed their newest products, including 320 new companies and 120 companies who expanded their World Market Center footprint.

July's Market featured more than 200 international exhibitors from 20 countries. Of the non-U.S. companies exhibiting this summer, 30 percent were from Canada, 29 percent were European-based, 21 percent were based in Latin America and 20 percent were from Asia.

"We have been busy from 8 a.m. to closing," said Suzanne Kelly, Vice President of Home Furnishings of The Robert Allen Group in New York which opened a new 30,000 square-foot flagship showroom in World Market Center's Building C. "We're seeing people from across the country and meeting local designers for the first time. There are many international buyers here as well, especially from Mexico, Canada and even Dubai."

"Provasi has showrooms all over the world, and we are making this our headquarters in the U.S.," said Gina M. Fard of Provasi. "We believe Las Vegas Market will be the center point of the high-end in the U.S."

Perhaps the most prominent example of World Market Center's growing international appeal was the U.S. premiere of Fiera Milano's Design Italiano. The one-of-a-kind, museum-quality exhibit features the best in Italian furniture design from 1956 to today. The 8,000-square-foot exhibit consists of nearly 100 pieces from 13 top designers and manufacturers, including B&B Italia, Cassina, Flexform and Minotti. Design Italiano was conceived, organized and curated with the support of Fiera Milano, Regione Lombardia and the city of Meda. The exhibit runs through the end of the year on the first floor of Building C at Las Vegas Design Center.

Building C Further Enhanced Overall Market Experience

The debut of the 16-story building C allowed every exhibitor and buyer to experience Market exclusively on World Market Center's downtown campus in three inter-connected buildings. With the completion of Building C, World Market Center now stands at more than five million square feet of world class home and hospitality contract furnishings showroom and exhibit space, exceeding the size of any trade merchandise mart in the United States.

Andrew Gajdamowicz, of Lord Selkirk Furniture in Winnipeg, Canada, was one of thousands of attendees who said the opening of Building C and its 2.1 million square feet of showroom space made an enormous difference in his Market experience. "With the addition of Building C, World Market Center is much nicer and bigger. Not to mention, it's easier to see all the exhibitors here. Overall, World Market Center is a beautiful and fun environment."

"Las Vegas is becoming more and more important," according to Scott Reid, chief marketing officer of Lenoir, N.C. - based Broyhill Furniture Industries, Inc. "Having all the buildings on one campus makes it clean, new and fresh. Everything is integrated together. We were very pleased with the traffic we received, and written business was up because we introduced a lot of new products."

More than 12,000 buyers, designers and exhibitors attended the Rod Stewart concert following the Building C ribbon cutting.

Rod Stewart

Support for World Market Center Las Vegas came out in droves throughout the day on July 28, the largest day in the market's seven show history. During the global-themed ribbon cutting, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman commended management and everyone in attendance for contributing to its success.

Following the ribbon-cutting to mark the official opening of Building C, Grammy Award-winner Rod Stewart put an exclamation point on what was already the industry's biggest night with a high-energy performance exclusively for Market attendees. More than 12,000 buyers, designers and exhibitors came together for the free and exclusive concert, which featured many of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame star's greatest hits. The multi-platinum artist kept the crowd cheering, dancing and singing along well into the evening.

According to Maricich, "No one could have imagined that in three years we would be at this point. At a time when people are looking at the glass being half empty we are playing to win."

And one ingredient to that recipe is good, old-fashioned fun according to Maricich. Market-goers don't just come to Las Vegas for the provocative ideas and cutting-edge products. The event is also about having a good time. "In these challenging economic times, we felt we owed it out our exhibitors to pull out all of the stops," says Maricich. "We brought Rod Stewart to Las Vegas, in partnership with Serta, as a show of optimism and a celebration of fellowship."