For our exhibitor community, existing customers are incredibly valuable but our job at DMC is to expand your buyer base.
It's about delivering "the core and more."
As with any business, ours has lots of moving parts: from managing a five-million-square-feet complex to hosting buyers, managing permanent exhibitors, moving temporary exhibitors in and out, and ensuring that dozens of events run smoothly and efficiently.
But I think one of the biggest responsibilities we have is watching business trends and interpreting how they can positively impact our business together. And one of the key ways we do that is by bringing in new customers for our exhibitors. We understand and act upon the strategy that companies must reach new customers to be successful.
There are some great examples of this over the years. Back in 2014 we started encouraging our lighting exhibitors to look at the interior design channel as a growing customer segment. We even launched Light + Design on the 10th floor in 2016, a shared showroom of lighting resources catering to the interior design trade which ultimately ended up being a concept a bit ahead of its time.
Fast forward to the daily interior design traffic DMC enjoys and special services and events including Design Week, the Lighting Concierge program, Market Lighting Services, and our Design + Build Day. The point is that our focus is always on bringing new business opportunities to our customers.
Western and English are other examples. With the Dallas launch of WESA and AETA in the midst of the pandemic, we brought in new buyers and new exhibitors. The western lifestyle trend not only touches apparel and accessories, but gift and home as well, creating the kind of synergies that are truly unique to Dallas.
The list goes on: Archlight Summit, the architect and specifier lighting show launched in 2021, brings a new customer base to DMC that also benefits many of our lighting exhibitors. It’s been a big success ever since.
Hosting buying groups here on our campus is another example as we have a dedicated team working with these groups and planning their trips to efficiently find what they need in one place.
For menswear, our partnership with the PGA Buying Summit has created a synergy between events and delivered golf shops into our marketplace for men's products and other categories.
And the timing of when to host shows can help create greater traffic, energy and buying. In January the Total Home & Gift Market has several days that overlap Lightovation and then there is the succession of January events for Women's, Children's, Western, English and Men's—creating a "Fashion Week" for buyers to attend one event or multiple events.
Here's the bottom line: our business is your business and we only succeed together which is why we continue to make growth a priority.
Cindy Morris,
President and CEO, Dallas Market Center
