The Las Vegas Market has pushed back the dates for its second 2009 show until September, and will shorten the market to a four-day event — Sept. 14-17.

Dates for next year's winter show in Las Vegas, a five-day event beginning Feb. 9, remain unchanged.

“Our research clearly shows that buyers and exhibitors don't want more days in a market; rather they want to focus on a market that is convenient and productive and is respectful of the value of their time and money,” said Bob Maricich, president and CEO of the World Market Center in Las Vegas.

“Las Vegas Market has emerged as the most efficient and productive market experience, and our new date pattern reinforces our commitment to maximize opportunities for participating exhibitors, buyers and designers,” he said.

Home accent vendors offered a mixed reaction to the announcement.

“I don't necessarily see it as good or bad, it is a change,” said John Haste, vice president of sales for Imax. “I am disappointed about the reduction from five days to four days. No matter what you do, there is always a last day of the show.”

David Gebhart, CEO of Global Views, also expressed concerns about shortening the show.

“I guess you could say I'm bummed out about it all,” he said. “I preferred to keep the market dates as they were, in February and July. I also preferred to be open for five full days. I gave them my opinion, but, oh well. I guess they had other plans.

“We pay rent year-round for 10 selling days in total. This reduces our days to sell by 20%. It just doesn't make any sense to me at all as we've always had good Friday sales volume in Las Vegas, but maybe we are an oddity. I wonder if I can get a 20% reduction in our rent? Bet not!”

Sterling CEO John Scott said that while the Vegas show has come a long way in a short time, he has concerns about this date change.

“It is impressive what Las Vegas has done in the time they've done it — no one can deny that,” he said. “They deserve credit for creating a wonderful market and bringing wonderful buildings to the marketplace. But they are forcing the buyers to make a decision of where to buy and when to buy, and that's concerning.”

World Market Center also revealed it plans to launch a new and separate Gift and Decorative Accessories show in Summer 2010 to further address the specific needs of that segment of the industry. No further information about those plans was available at press time.

Scott also questioned whether the introduction of this additional show would mean that the February and September markets would have even more of a furniture focus that could alienate the home accents customer.

Terry Stewart, president, CBK, said it is important to respond to buyers' needs, so from that perspective, the move makes sense.

“The Vegas market seems to be responding to what retailers are asking for and that is a more condensed, cost effective Vegas market,” Stewart said. “I think it is important for suppliers and markets to respond to the changing environment we are all operating in to make it as cost effective as possible, and efficient from a time commitment standpoint. It is prudent in today's and tomorrow's environment to be as responsive as possible to the customer base we all serve.”

Brian Casey, president of the High Point Market Authority, told sister magazine Furniture/Today that there are no current plans to change anything based on the Las Vegas move.

“They're kind of doing a disservice to their customers and to the industry, to a certain extent, by trying to splinter things,” Casey said.

“We'll watch what they're doing, but frankly, High Point is in a good leadership position for this industry. We have the support of all price points and particularly the high-end sector,” he said.

“Also they have shortened the window for fall selling with this move,” Gebhart said. “Now, instead of getting an order during market and reorder before holiday, we will be doing good to get the one order out to customers prior to the holidays. This move just shortened the selling window for our customers and the shipping window for us as a manufacturer.”

Maricich said the new dates occur when hotel rates in Las Vegas and other travel costs are “quite reasonable.” Plus the new schedule avoids January, a month that has several European shows, and August, a vacation month for many Europeans, he said.

Since its inception in the summer of 2005, Las Vegas Markets have been held in January and July.

Market dates for 2010 and 2011 are:

Feb. 1-4, 2010

Sept. 13-16, 2010

Feb. 14-17, 2011

Sept. 12-15, 2011