Building C hosts high-end lines
By Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, July 28, 2008
LAS VEGAS — The World Market Center's long-running effort to attract high-end exhibitors is bearing its first significant crop of fruit this week with the opening of its third showroom building.
The 2.1 million-square-foot Building C is home to more than 100 upper-end lines, nearly all of which are showing at the market for the first time. WMC officials believe the addition of these lines — part of a stable of more than 300 new exhibitors — will broaden the market's appeal and make it easier for retailers to fill all of their product needs.
“There has been a real effort to upgrade our offerings for high-end buyers and designers,” said Bob Maricich, the market center's president and CEO. “These are the types of things they have been telling us they want to see.”
Some high-end exhibitors such as Lexington and Sligh are opening permanent showrooms in the new building. But many others have taken space in the Las Vegas Design Center on the lower floors of the building in one of three juried sections that are part of the temporary exhibits on the fifth floor of Building C.
“We have put a lot of things in place to keep the momentum going,” Maricich said. “In today's challenging economy, we have to make our event extraordinarily beneficial and well worth the trip.”
The juried exhibit sections have been labeled Context, Living Green and Design & Living. Context focuses exclusively on high-end lines, while the other two have a good representation of upper-end products, he said.
The Las Vegas Design Center, on the other hand, is aimed at exhibitors with permanent showrooms who want to keep them open year-round. Most of these tenants, said Maricich, do a substantial amount of business with interior designers.
One of the larger LVDC showrooms is maintained by the Robert Allen Group, which represents a number of high-end manufacturers and is making its Las Vegas Market debut.
In addition to the Robert Allen and Beacon Hill furniture and fabric lines, the 30,000-square-foot showroom will have at least nine high-end lines, including Swaim, Kindel, Ferguson Copeland, Guy Chaddock, Christopher Guy, Payne Street Imports, Bolier & Co., Frederick Cooper and E.J. Victor.
E.J. Victor is showing here for the first time and will occupy roughly 3,000 square feet of the space, said Vice Chairman Ed Phifer.
Altogether, the company will show about 50 SKUs in various licensed lines such as Randall Tysinger, Julia Gray, Newport and Carol Bolton.
“You have to go where the business is,” Phifer said, adding that this is a good way for E.J. Victor to test the market waters. “Robert Allen felt strongly that there is business to be had there and we wanted to be part of it. For a small company like us, this is the best way to do it.”
Gordon Guyon, president and CEO of Ferguson Copeland, said the arrangement with Robert Allen is allowing his company's products to be on display for attendees of the twice-yearly markets and also be open to designers on a year-round basis.
“We said we would love to be there,” Guyon said, adding that at this week's market, the company is showing about a dozen bedroom, dining room and living room settings from its Ferguson Copeland, Larry Laslo and Guy Chaddock lines. “By putting us all together, it might begin to make some financial sense.”
Lexington's new showroom features an eight-foot marble fountain at the main entrance, not to mention a large sandstone fireplace, coffered ceilings and travertine floors at the entrance to the newest addition to its Trump Home collection, Mar-a-Lago.
“We designed the space to highlight the elegance and luxury of the new collection and of Lexington itself,” said Phil Haney, president and CEO. “Lexington is known for making a statement in its showroom design.”
Overall, Maricich said he's optimistic the market will be upbeat and well-attended, despite the sales slump that has plagued the home furnishings business for more than a year.
“Everybody I have talked to says business is as challenging as it has ever been, but in spite of that ... there is a sense of optimism about this market,” he said.
“People are not coming to market to reinforce the status quo.”
He said Building C is about 85% leased, noting that most of the vacant space is in the Las Vegas Design Center. In total, the three WMC buildings, which contain about 5 million square feet of exhibit space, are more than 90% leased, he said.
Associate Editor Thomas Russell contributed to this story.
