Annual JPMA show moves to Orlando

DSN Retailing Today, May 23, 2005

The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association will bring its annual JPMA Show to Orlando for the first time this year and is expecting a record turnout of manufacturers and retailers from the baby products business.

After 23 years in Dallas, the show will move to the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando May 23-25. JPMA communications director Amy Chezem said the new location is a better family destination for attendees, with plenty of theme parks nearby, and more convenient geographically for most members. And it gives the show more room to spread out and accommodate expansion in the fast-growing baby goods business.

"The show in Dallas used to be held on two floors in showrooms and offices," said Chezem. "But now that we're in a convention center it will allow us to have an open booth format and give us more room to grow in the future." Chezem said the JPMA is going to hold its 2006 event at the same location.

This year's show is expected to attract more attendees and exhibitors than in 2004, when more than 1,600 people turned out for the swan song in Dallas. "We already have 2,000 preregistered attendees, which is more than we had at the show last year, and about 1,500 of those represent retailers," noted Chezem.

And the show will feature far more exhibitors than last year. About 430 vendors are expected to exhibit on the show floor in Orlando compared to the 325 that turned out in Dallas in 2004. And nearly 200 of those exhibitors will be first-timers to the show, another record.

"Our numbers are growing all around and we expect it will be a bigger and better show," said Chezem. According the JPMA, the juvenile products industry generated more than $6 billion in sales last year in infant and toddler products, a figure that does not include apparel.

The show will kick off the morning of May 23 with the annual Innovation Awards recognizing the best new baby products of 2005. The show will also serve as the venue for the JPMA annual membership meeting on May 24. The show's closing party will be held the evening of May 24 at Universal's Islands of Adventure theme park.

Major vendors on the show floor will include Fisher-Price, LeapFrog, Kolcraft Enterprises and Baby Einstein. Two days of seminars also are on the schedule with several headed by leading baby magazines including American Baby, Parent Talk and Baby Talk.