Merchandise Mart Properties Inc. announced late last month that 7 W New York will open its first temporary space, Market Suites @ 7 W, in time for the April tabletop market.

Located at 7 W 34th St. in Manhattan, the 18,000-sq.-ft. exhibit space will be open for a variety of events throughout the year, MMPI officials told Home Accents Today.

Leasing is under way for the Spring Tabletop Market, which takes place from April 9-13, 2008. The Suites will be located on the top (11th) floor of the building and will be constructed using a permanent, but flexible wall model to create a “high-end, gallery-esque-type experience,” according to Craig Dooley, vice president of marketing, gift and home. CBK and other companies currently on the floor will relocate to other space in the building.

Chris Collins, vice president and general manager of 7 W, said vendors have requested temporary space in the building in the past, and that the addition fits in with the overall strategy of MMPI.

“We have a long list of prospects we've worked with throughout the years,” Collins said. “The demand for the temporary market suites has always been there.

“This is not a new initiative within the MMPI portfolio,” he added, noting that temp spaces in Los Angeles and Chicago have “been done with tremendous success.”

He said the space will rent for $32 per square foot, with drayage and marketing costs included in that figure, on a show-to-show basis.

“This new initiative will be particularly impactful to the tabletop industry,” Collins said.

“For the past 10 years,” he added, “manufacturers could not enter the tabletop market unless they had a permanent showroom in one of the wholesale buildings — 7 W being one of them. The Market Suites @ 7 W will change all that.”

Officials said the addition of the temps will benefit the tabletop marketplace in general and the permanent exhibitors as well by bringing in more traffic and exposure to 7 W.