The Las Vegas Buzz

With much fanfare, glitz and glamour, the Las Vegas World Market Center opened last month and a whole lot of people came to see it —about 62,000 people at final count.

Certainly that number isn't all buyers, but a majority of it is. More than 1,200 companies exhibited with the attendant staffs, and lots of other people showed up, too, including the lookie-loos, as one person dubbed them — potential exhibitors trying to figure out whether they did right or wrong in not showing at the inaugural event — and representatives from other market centers.

It's been a while since there was so much noise about an opening in our industry. It was exciting and upbeat — Las Vegas showgirls, acrobats, cascading waterfalls, transportation confusion, packed showrooms, sweltering heat, really long lines, the Beach Boys (at least a couple of them) and crowds.

Sure, it's billed as a furniture market, but the accessories business was well represented with exhibitors in all our categories showing in full force. Located primarily on the first four floors of the new building, in the nearby World Pavilions and in the cross-town Las Vegas Convention Center, home accent vendors showed their wares and counted big numbers of retailers in their showrooms. One had counted 1,000 stores coming in the door on Day 1.

Coming out of the week, the buzz about Las Vegas is positive. I'm not smart enough to know what the outcome will be, what January will look like or whether furniture and accessory buyers and sellers will make Vegas the premier show one day. Right now it's not High Point or Atlanta or Dallas or New York. But it definitely is something — something big.

Wonder what it will be one day?