Exhibitors Ready for New York Show and Fair

Attendees Optimistic Despite Overlapping Shows

By Carole Sloan -- Home Textiles Today, 1/29/2007 12:00:00 AM

New York —

Despite an ever-increasing number of shows involving home textiles, exhibitors at the combined New York Home Textiles Show/New York International Gift Fair here this week are optimistic about results.

For some, the show circuit poses challenges, with the Las Vegas Market running at the same time creating issues in terms of both personnel staffing and samples for both venues.

Textillery Weavers, which had initially planned to be both in Las Vegas and here, changed course and is showing only here, said John Rose, president. "We just can't do two temporary shows at the same time," he explained. "And New York is very important for us; we're very optimistic."

Though the hospitality market is an increasingly important part of the company's enterprise, Rose added, "Retail still is an important part of our business, and we're excited about the coming year."

"We're booked every hour, every day" — a situation that is forcing the company to bring more people to work the show, said Pamela Kline, ceo of Traditions by Pamela Kline. The crunch, she believes, is partly caused by the simultaneous opening of the shows at the Piers with the Javits Center, the latter typically opened a day later. "I hope to have time to work with potential customers."

"I'm hoping that with all the shows going on in such a close time frame, the impact of this show will not be diluted," remarked Mary Grover, ceo of Malabar Grove. "It's hard to predict attendance for the show here," she added, "but we're tracking as we did last year and there's increased buzz."

Coming back for a second time to the Metropolitan Pavilion is Twinkle Home, with hopes for a better show this session, according to Katherine Lum, manager. "It was very slow last time, but we recently decided we would show again."

And while not showing at any of the official facilities, Zambaiti will be part of the 230 Fifth Avenue exhibitors showing this week. "We're trying it for the first time as a way to develop our designer and specialty store customers, a way to develop new customers," explained Claudia Parati, general manager.

For Peacock Alley, this week will be a stretch with the company showing both here and in Las Vegas, said Leslie Needleman, vp, creative. "With the incredible launch of Couture and towels in Dallas and Atlanta, we really expect so much to happen here."

At the same time, she added, "Vegas is just growing; we have to continuously have a presence there."