Three major shows battle for buyer attention - New York Spring Home Textiles Show, National Bath, Bed and Linens Show, New York, New York, Heimtextil America show, Atlanta, Georgia - Special Supplement: Home Market Trends

Discount Store News, April 6, 1992

With three major shows competing for exhibitors and buyers this year, compared to one a year ago, it's almost a foregone conclusion that attendance will be stretched pretty thin. George Little Management's New York Spring Home Textiles Show, at the 26th Street Armory, goes head-to-head with the established National Bath, Bed and Linens Show at the Javits Center, while Messe Frankfurt's upstart Heimtextil America show in Atlanta will get a week's head start on its two competitors.

While the three show together might increase the home fashions universe slightly (Heimtextil, in particular, should attract a large number of first-time visitors from Latin America), it's no secret that all three can't survive long-term. The early line has two of the shows merging and attempting to run the third out of business. At Heimtextil in Frankfurt this past January, various combinations of show representatives were seen huddling off in the corner, negotiating just such a merger.

The George Little show is offering a bit more razzle-dazzle than usual, with free lunches for buyers, a special drawing for an all expenses paid European vacation, and various entertainment options. Heimtextil relies on the success of its other shows, in Germany and Japan, and its reputation for innovative and cutting edge display ideas, such as its MultiTrend Vision mixed media show, which will be included in the Atlanta show.

Each show has its particular strengths. And for every strength each show exhibits, there is generally a matching weakness. For instance, both NBBL and Little have the plus of their New York locations that take advantage of both the nearby major mill showrooms and the nightlife and cultural attractions that appeal so strongly to buyers nationwide. On the other hand, they also share the well-known drawbacks of New York, including substandard or inconvenient show sites, very expensive hotels and restaurants, and the scattering of showrooms and exhibit halls all over town.

Heimtextil has the advantages of proximity to major mills (Thomaston and Dundee, however, are the only two to exhibit), a convenient and relatively affordable expo center, as well as strength in attracting Latin American buyers.

The drawbacks? No one is really happy with Atlanta as a site, due to limited hotel and dining facilities. Also, buyers tend to look forward to a trip to New York, both as a perk of the job and as a culturally enriching experience. New York, for all its problems, remains a one-of-a-kind mecca for the design community.

So, this will be a pivotal market. Major exhibitors now vary in attitude from "I don't really care which one wins out, as long as the show ends up in Atlanta" (from a major bath supplier) to "A part of a buyer's job is to visit trend-setting retailers, and Soho is about as trend-setting as you can get" (from a major bed & bath designer.