Material World Adding Home Showcase

By Carole Sloan -- Home Textiles Today, 3/28/2005 12:00:00 AM

Atlanta — —

Atlanta —Material World, the fabric and sourcing show held every spring in Miami Beach, will add a New York show in September featuring a special home furnishings showcase.

'We've seen a bit of overlap over the years from some of our apparel exhibitors into the home market — especially in fabrics and trims,” explained Tim von Gal, executive vice president of Urban Expositions, producers and managers of Material World.

The Material World show held recently in Miami Beach marked the debut of the Home Furnishings Showcase which highlighted fabrics, resources and services for the home furnishings industry.

As part of the program, a seminar on home furnishings trends was presented by Trend House, one of the exhibitors. In total, there were 32 companies at the event that deal with both the apparel and home furnishings industries. Approximately 425 exhibitors participated in the Miami Beach event.

The New York show will be held at the Jacob Javits Convention Center from Sept. 28 to 30. Von Gal anticipates some 400 global and domestic exhibitors in 80,000 square feet at Javits.

Included in the New York event, as it is in Miami Beach, is Technology Solutions, an exposition and conference for information technology.

“We also are seeking other exhibitors that may not already be in the home furnishings area,” von Gal remarked.

As for the New York site, he explained, “New York is referred to as the capital of the world. There is the largest critical mass there in the fabric and apparel business.”

Initially, Material World is looking to “build the right critical mass of companies — both in apparel and home furnishings,” von Gal said. “We'll start right and build. We are taking the long view, not the short view of building the show.”